[ratnobMember]

JAM has updated the front page of its website so that it more explicitly lists the various stations that it serves:
http://www.jingles.com

[Barras]

ratnob, its already been mentioned at the bottom of this page, I`ve counted 63 radio stations in the JAM banner…

http://jinglemad.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4934/jam-jingle-airchecks/p13

[ratnobMemberAuthor]

Ah, okay – I find the long thread hard to keep in up-to-date with.

[Barras]

Just trying to keep current JAM Airchecks in the one area…

Some great montages from other collectors at the moment, what might make it easier is, refer to the last page…curently it`s page 13….

http://jinglemad.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4934/jam-jingle-airchecks/p13

[mjb1124Member]

Thanks for posting that direct page link – although I am an active participant in that thread, it does get a bit hard to see the latest posts when viewing the forum on my smartphone.

I definitely appreciate the updated station list on the JAM site, and am looking forward to the new packages that will hopefully be posted soon.

[WAVAMember]

“Hot new JAM releases for AC and Classic Hits formats are coming soon”

Which is great news but if the AC release is KOST that must be, what, almost 2 years old? In todays competitive online world I would have it out there shouting about it from the top of Mount Wilson the moment it hit the air. If CC want an exclusive on it then fair enough but JAM need some fresh blood with some radical ideas injected in to the company for it to evolve and survive.

Look, I love JAM as much as everybody but they really are getting left behind and that is sad. If 63 is their current US client base I’m sorry but that’s very pitiful. I don’t have accurate figures but rival companys like TM and RW have clients running to several hundred and in the case of RW even in the thousands with their various products.

[LenGroat]

I’m not the best person to ‘defend’ the comments below, as I’m a confirmed ‘Jammite’, but I also feel I have some fair points to make.. so…

WAVA = ” JAM need some fresh blood with some radical ideas injected in to the company for it to evolve and survive”

I’m not sure it needs to ‘evolve’, Its existing packages are near-faultless and fit all radio music genres.

It COULD ‘survive’ 100 years just on re-singing the LARGEST library of back-catalogue jingles (and the BEST ones too) from its very rich. mixed library of PAMS and JAM packages. There will never again be such a large company, as Jon has melded together the fruits of the best writers, players and singers from every year from the late 1960s and the end of the century. THAT era has become the ‘core’ years when the jingle industry was GREAT.

Today’s largely synthetic tracks, created on a computer by non-musicians, and sung by small groups or screechy (yes!) soloists will never form such a wealth of material.

WAVA = ‘I love JAM as much as everybody but they really are getting left behind and that is sad’.

I agree with this, but the fact is that Jon was one of the youngest people in the organisation and inevitably time has taken its toll with staff retiring or sadly passing away, combined with the awful homogenisation of what was once a great radio industry, ‘thanks’ to the large characterless US groups, and Global, Bauer and Orion etc,. in the UK. Maybe he WANTS to be ‘left’ behind so he can stick to his very high (musical) principles? The ‘clause littered’ brief for the BBC Radio 2 jingles (and not having the rights) clearly discouraged some good jingle companies, leaving the field open to others…

This discussion forum is inevitably looking back more and more as there is so little to celebrate nowadays? The sound-alike packages produced in London that litter the UK airwaves quasi-national stations, will never generate the excitment of the classic work of Bill Meeks, Tom Merriman, or Jon Wolfert…

[WAVAMember]

I’m not sure it needs to ‘evolve’, Its existing packages are near-faultless and fit all radio music genres.

Except CHR, Rhythmic CHR & Country.
I don’t know about what its like in the UK or elsewhere around the world but I would find it strange if a true CHR station would be going with JAM.
The last CHR package to come out of JAM was our Hot Wired custom at WFLY Albany and that was over 10 years ago.
I do however accept JAM is perfect for oldies/classic hits stations and to an extent AC.

[mjb1124Member]

JAM actually did do one more CHR package after that – Pro Choice for WPRO-FM Providence. I thought that package sounded perfectly up-to-date for 2002, and was a distinct evolution in style even compared to the afrorementioned Hot Wired package. Of course, that was a good 10 years ago, and admittedly there’s nothing in their current library that would be suitable for today’s CHR, but I’m sure JAM could produce something hot if given the chance. They did just recently do a very modern-sounding (and decidedly atypical for JAM) AC package for KBZN, which hopefully will be posted soon.

I honestly think a lot of the problem is that they’ve been typecast, and people only go to them when they want the traditional “Dallas” sound, which is why the majority of their recent output has been in that vein. Basically, they’ve only “evolved” as much as their clients wanted them to. (I think this can be applied to other companies as well, as I don’t think Reelworld have really “evolved” much in the last 8 years or so, and the older RW packages that were recently posted display a wider variety of styles than we hear these days.) Perhaps they could stand to improve and modernize their marketing and business model a little (I’m hardly an expert on these matters), but I don’t think the problem lies with what they have or are capable of producing.

[michiMember]

If I win the MegaMillions, I will get JAM to do a new CHR custom package for J1 Radio.

[WAVAMember]

I don’t think Reelworld have really “evolved” much in the last 8 years or so, and the older RW packages that were recently posted display a wider variety of styles than we hear these days.

I would say the other companys have evolved rapidly in the last 8 years with the introduction of services like One from Reelworld and Kissville & K2 from TM which is bang up to date with the sound of todays CHR updated every month. There is a country service from TM too but I can’t remember what they call it. Some of the K2 jingles don’t sound like they have come from TM at all and the One services from Reelworld sound different to some of their off the shelf packages.

[WAVAMember]

Have any collectors got recent samples of One for CHR or K2?
Is that kind of stuff out there? Audio is only available to subscribing stations.

[JAM / PAMSMember]

I love JAM as much as everybody

Thank you.

In todays competitive online world I would have it out there shouting about it

Just because something isn’t on the website doesn’t mean we aren’t shouting about it in direct/private presentations. There are packages you don’t even know the name of yet that we’ve done many times.

If 63 is their current US client base I’m sorry but that’s very pitiful.

Who ever said that the handful of station logos that flash by on our website is our entire US client base?

I would find it strange if a true CHR station would be going with JAM.

Is there some law that says we have to be in the CHR jingle business? Why would we want to make jingles like that today?

JAM is unique in that we don’t have to answer to a corporate owner, investors, stockholders, or anyone else. Creatively, satisfaction is measured by what we do and the quality of it. Business-wise, satisfaction is measured by the ability to have a successful business doing what we want to do. You are judging us by models which may apply to others, or perhaps by your own pre-conceived notions of what is “supposed” to happen. As far as thinking that true success is only achieved by doing jingles for every radio station on earth, all I can say is “been there, done that, listen to The JAM Song”. We are not playing that game at the moment, and everything is just fine, thanks.

I honestly think a lot of the problem is that they’ve been typecast

There is some truth to that. As I have said many times, we make what we’re asked to make.

The ‘clause littered’ brief for the BBC Radio 2 jingles (and not having the rights) clearly discouraged some good jingle companies

It didn’t keep us from submitting ideas. I wasn’t discouraged by the brief nearly as much as how the entire process was handled. And that’s all I’m going to say publicly about that.

[ratnobMemberAuthor]

A brilliant response, if I may say so, Mr Wolfert.

[MarcMannetje]

Jon, as a successful creative consultant I couldn’t agree more with you: creativity is ‘what pushes the world forward’. It means daring to follow your heart. It means having the courage to go left while the majority goes right. By staying faithfull to your authentic roots, love for music and production excellence, you prove that JAM takes pride in just being… JAM. And you should be proud. You created (and still are creating) a heritage sound that influenced emotions, memories and feelings of millions of people worldwide. Thank you for that.

[dreke61Member]

If only every company had a director like Jon.

[tyty21]

agree on those points, john! if I ever were a PD, even if the majority might go with RW, I’d still pick a dallas sound to go for a station, i would try my best to bring radio back to where it was when dallas, well… ruled the air. and who do you think would be my first and top choice, why jam of course!

[LenGroat]

Drek: “If only every company had a director like Jon.”

If we applied that to all the jingle companies, AND the UK radio groups, the UK radio industry would not be in the awful mess of loss-making companies running heavily syndicated non-local radio, with the pathetic Ofcom’ lack of ‘rules’.

Radio is about music, jingles, and relevant local coverage and PERSONALITY… NOT syndicating a ‘brand’ created by people with no ‘radio blood’ in their heart….

Thank goodness we still have Jon and his team

[bossjockMember]

Jon Wolfert said….
“There are packages you don’t even know the name of yet that we’ve done many times”. ..WOW..I’m looking for ideas for some new JAM personal cuts and am wondering when we will be able to listen to demos of these “unknown” packages / ????

[mjb1124Member]

I would say the other companys have evolved rapidly in the last 8 years with the introduction of services like One from Reelworld and Kissville & K2 from TM which is bang up to date with the sound of todays CHR updated every month. There is a country service from TM too but I can’t remember what they call it. Some of the K2 jingles don’t sound like they have come from TM at all and the One services from Reelworld sound different to some of their off the shelf packages.

I definitely will give TM credit for being the first to come out with the idea of monthly updating services, and continuing to come up with out-of-the-box ideas for branding (like K2 with the sonic logos inserted into song intros). They’re probably the most innovative out of the US jingle companies today, with the most diverse output.

Reelworld, on the other hand, basically copied TM’s idea with Reelworld One – and while I don’t fault them for striking while the iron’s hot, I don’t think they should be seen as innovators for that reason either. And while their current product works well on the air and reflects the sound of today’s pop music, I don’t hear a radical departure from the stuff they were doing for KIIS and WLIT in the mid-2000’s. The way I see it, they’ve basically done the same exact thing that JAM has done with most of their recent AC packages – taken their signature sound and adapted it to the music currently being played on the format. Reelworld’s signature sound just happens to be more popular right now.

Again, though, it all boils down to what stations ask for. I’m sure JAM, Reelworld, and everyone else are capable of expanding their sonic range beyond what is currently available for syndication. I would love to see JAM come out with a Kissville/Litehouse-type service, or at least a new CHR package. But if they are satisfied with the returns from their business model, then we can’t fault them for sticking to their guns. If they’re content with the fact that they had their heyday in the late 70’s-early 90’s, and are now serving a small but loyal customer base, good for them. Thanks Jon for sharing your thoughts on this discussion, and I definitely look forward to whatever you all come out with in the future.

[robynretro]

JAM actually did do one more CHR package after that – Pro Choice for WPRO-FM Providence. I thought that package sounded perfectly up-to-date for 2002, and was a distinct evolution in style even compared to the afrorementioned Hot Wired package.

You missed one: “The Kit” (Yeah, I know it was a Top Format package originally, but still, IMHO, it was pretty good in its timeframe).

http://www.jingles.com/audio/d_Kit.mp3

Robyn

[Author]

Posts