Martin Guigui's Sticky Love or How to Succeed in Jingle Writing Without Really Trying

By Chris Murray

When a musician records a piece of material, there’s a certain sense of accomplishment involved. The act of documenting a work of art provides a sense of closure, like securing a place in music history. Although music is an art, it’s also a business. The music industry generates billions of dollars yearly, and when there’s that much money involved in anything, there will always be those who seek to gain at the expense of others. Local musician Martin Guigui knows that side of the business too well. 

In 1993, The Martin Guigui Band debuted their CD Anxiety on the Vegee Music label. Anxiety featured a catchy single called “Sticky love.” In fact “Sticky Love” was so catchy, the song has reportedly appeared illegally in television ads for Toyota and AT & T. In addition, the Paul Schaefer Band has now played “Sticky Love” three times on The Late Show with David Letterman.” 

The reported thievery came to Guigui’s attention via friendly phone call. “I sent out sample tapes to anyone I knew who was somehow connected to the business,” Guigui said. One was a lawyer friend connected with CBS Records. “He was in D.C.,” he said, “and he called to congratulate me because he heard the luck from “Sticky Love” in a Toyota commercial.” Guigui was dumbfounded. “I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about. And he told me that was lawsuit material.”

Guigui recalled sending a sample tape to a former CBS recording artist residing in Florida. He knew this particular artist had been dropped from the record label and “I Know that he had been writing commercial jingles to make ends meet.” Although Guigui called the jungle writer, nother ever came of it until Guigui received another phone call in 1994. “I got a call from a friend in Bristol, Vermont,” he said. It was yet another call to congratulate Guigui for his success as a jingle writer. “This guy calls me and says ‘Hey, congratulations on the AT&T commercial!’ I couldn’t believe it!” Guigui decided it was time for action. “This song was copyrighted in 1992,” he said “And it was being used without my knowledge or permission.” Subsequently, Guigui was not receiving any royalties from the use of his song. “I called AT & T,” he said, “They couldn’t give me any information without having the exact time it aired. They gave me the bureaucratic run-around.”

Guigui contacted a lawyer in Los Angeles and the publishing organization ASCAP. “ASCAP did an inquiry through a computer survey,” Guigui said. This produced the exact times the commercial aired. And his lawyer attained the AT & T contract list of jingle composers. “The guy from Florida was on their list,” he said. The case is now in litigation. “He’s got a lawyer now,” Guigui said. “So my lawyer is talking to his lawyer.” Guigui confirmed this case is about a lot more than money. “I’m trying to get the ads pulled,” he said. “I'm not looking for compensation, I just want to stop this guy. My Lawyer,” he continued, “has decided to go after the royalties. Not what he was paid for to produce the jingle, but what he gets each time it’s played.” 

The David Letterman situation came about in 1994 “One night last summer I got a message from a friend congratulating me,” Guigui remembered, “He had heard the Chaefer Band playing ‘Sticky Love.’ At first, I ignored it. But then I started getting calls from friends all over. One friend has a satellite dish so he saw the band do the entire song,” he said. 

After further investigation, it was revealed that the Schaefer Band followed protocol. “They definitely didn't rip me off,” Guigui said. “They did the proper procedure, they just didn't know who to contact. One of the band members had a taped copy of the CD,” he continued, “so they knew that it was the Martin Guigui Band, but they didn’t know who represented me.”

Guigui sees the Letterman situation as a positive, In addition to the free nationwide exposure, guigui said “I’ll be getting royalties and free tickets to the show.” And he attributed any progress made to the fact that he is represented by a publishing company and a lawyer. “If I didn’t have anyone representing me,” he mused,”I’d probably still be on hold.”

Guigui recommends that bands who are planning to record material should register with a performing rights organization. The four widely recognized groups are Harry Fox Agency, SESAC, ASCAP, and BMI. “ A lot of bands and musicians shy away from copyrighting their material with the Library of Congress,” he said, “because it used to cost $20 a song. Now it’s only $20 to copyright an album because you can register it as one body of work.” And if that seems too steep a price, Guigui suggests an alternate route. “You can put a copy of the tape with lyrics in a well-padded, secured envelope and mail it to yourself by certified mail. When you receive it, don't open it. That will stand as legal proof of when you wrote the composition, because the package has the date acknowledged by the federal government.”

In addition, there is the National Academy of Songwriters, “It’s hard to become a member,” Guigui said. “You need to have a full release and be receiving royalties.” The bonus is the low cost and the protection you receive. “It’s only $5 a song or $7 a body (an entire album.) And they have a song bank which files your song by title and lyrics.” Guigui,who has yet to see his song used on television, said “At first I was angry about the jingles because the guy ripped me off. Afterwards, I was entertained. This (litigation) is more drama than a soap opera. And it was all based on greed.”

On tap fir Guigui is a new album due out in June of 1995. He promises that “A lot of different musicians from Burlington will appear on it.” As for television commercial jingles, Guigui said “I’ve learned my lesson about sending original music to jingle producers and I hope he's learned not to rip off Vermont artists.”

Chris Murray is a college-educated American patriot willing to write for food and love while trying to avoid the American government.