This Fortnight in Music Supervision and Sync (04/05/18)

Film and TV

Atlanta’s Music Supervisors Aren’t Breaking Records, They’re Educating The Youth (Vibe)
Jen Malone and Fam Udeorji may have the titles of music supervisor and consultant, but everyone has a hand in the pot. They include director Hiro Murai, editors Kyle Reiter and Isaac Hagy as well as creator Donald Glover. With their ears in tune with hip-hop and R&B’s past and future, the group has given artists a platform they normally wouldn’t be exposed to. (See also – Playlist: Atlanta team picks their favorite songs from Season 2)

Inside the Creepy, Modern Soundtrack of The Handmaid’s Tale (Harper’s BAZAAR)
The music cues in The Handmaid’s Tale can feel disconcerting. After an episode of the dark, dramatic series, which is set in a dystopian alternate reality, a song that could be on your Spotify playlist often plays during the end credits. If it throws you off, that’s on purpose.

How Deadpool 2 recruited Céline Dion for that emotional power ballad (EW)
There are certain things you expect from a superhero movie sequel: explosions, villains, action set pieces. One thing that most of them don’t have is an original power ballad sung by the inimitable Céline Dion.

A Force To Be Reckoned With: Sarah deCourcy On Her Multifaceted Career In Music (Synchblog)
Sarah deCourcy is a triple threat: she is a composer, producer, and musician whose work has ranged from producing hits for top DJs, to scoring TV promos and working as Kylie Minogue’s live musical director. We recently sat down with Sarah to discuss her varied career, and the importance of taking control and diversifying your craft as an artist.

The 10 Best TV Theme Songs (Baeble Music)
In the days of “Netflix and Chill,” it’s clear to say that as a society, we watch a lot of TV. But whether you’re watching Netflix by yourself or with bae, you’ve got a favorite show, and with your favorite show comes its catchy theme song that’s always stuck in your head because you’re watching it all the time. 

Call Me By Your Name music supervisor Robin Urdang on her movie & TV career so far (Mandy News)
Robin Urdang is a TV and movie music supervisor who has worked on hits Call Me By Your Name, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Broad City, Younger and ParaNorman. Here the award-winning supervisor tells Mandy News how she got into the industry, details of the amazing productions she’s worked on and what aspiring music supervisors can do to follow in her footsteps.

On Legion, Psychedelia Meets Indie Rock to Make TV’s Best Superhero Soundtrack (Pitchfork)
Since FX’s superhero drama Legion prides itself on being the kind of show that isn’t afraid to be confusing, its series premiere opens with a sort of overture. “Happy Jack” by the Who scores a montage of slow-motion scenes from a man’s life, from birth to juvenile delinquency to a suicide attempt.

Everything you need to know about our first birthday party (GMS UK & Europe)
Last week we rang in the next year of GMS with all our brilliant members, sponsors supporters and friends. 200+ guests from the world of music, media and more took to Picturehouse Central in busy Piccadilly Circus to celebrate our first birthday and everything that we’ve achieved since April 2017.

Sync Story: Inside National Geographic and Zedd’s placement (Music Week)
National Geographic might not be renowned for its association with EDM, but Zedd’s recent collaboration with the channel could change all that. The Grammy-winning Russian DJ and producer composed an original track inspired by National Geographic’s One Strange Rock, a 10-part investigative series directed by Darren Aronofsky and Jane Root and narrated by Will Smith.

Film & TV Composer Profiles: Dustin O’Halloran (Goldo Sync Report)
Dustin O’Halloran is the elegant, self-taught musical luminary behind profoundly touching films, such as Lion, Like Crazy, Marie Antoinette, Breathe In, and many others. His imaginative work has been lauded by international audiences, garnering an Emmy win for his delicate theme for Amazon’s Transparent, as well as an Oscar nomination for his collaborative score with German composer, Hauschka for Garth Davis’ Lion.

How the iconic music of 2001: A Space Odyssey came to be (Vox)
Several composers were hired to write an original score for 2001, but Kubrick eventually discarded those contributions in favor of his classical music “temporary” tracks.

The 1st Annual Canadian Sync Awards Nominees (CMW)
Canadian Music Week and The Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada is proud to announce the 1st Annual Canadian Sync Awards, sponsored by songtradr, as part of the Global Creators Summit. The Canadian Sync Awards are the only awards in Canada to recognize the contribution that sync makes to the creative industries.

Just Like Heaven: Music in You Were Never Really Here (Paste Magazine)
Jonny Greenwood’s humming score buoys most of You Were Never Really Here, his obsessive guitar strums and percussive beats augmenting Joe’s restlessness.

CBC Music provides the soundtrack to your favourite shows (Tv,eh?)
Sometimes it’s not only the visuals and storylines that make a television series great. The right music can really make a scene shine. The CBC knows what makes a good show, and with that in mind, have created playlists for numerous primetime programs on their platform to connect us with the series and characters we love.

Adrian Younge makes music for everything from orchestras to Netflix’s Luke Cage (Digital Trends)
Younge and A Tribe Called Quest founding member Ali Shaheed Muhammad have been hard at work in Younge’s studio,  working on the music for season 2 of Luke Cage. Younge took time out from his music to talk with Digital Trends about everything from his latest 50-minute epic for just one episode of the Netflix series, to his passion for analog and his aspirations to be the next Quincy Jones.

Supervisor Spotlight: Amy Ashworth (GMS UK & Europe)
Amy Ashworth has been working in sync for several years and has an impressive number of film, TV and documentary credits to her name. We spoke to her to find out how she got into the craft and about the most exciting projects she’s worked on.

The Very Best Schoolhouse Rock Songs by Bob Dorough (Vulture)
Bob Dorough, the musician best known for writing and performing some of the most beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs, has died at 94. For anyone who grew up learning grammar and multiplication tables by listening to songs like “Conjunction Junction” or “Three Is a Magic Number,” it’s like a light in our childhood playrooms has gone out.

Industry Innovator Spotlight: Jennifer Harmon (Goldo Sync Report)
Jennifer Harmon is the brilliant and devoted Senior Director of Film/TV at ASCAP. Transitioning from a path of psychology and neuroscience into the music industry, she has worked at the eminent performing rights organization for 14 years, supporting and advocating for an illustrious community of composers nationally and internationally.

Three Girls and Game of Thrones lead Bafta TV Craft Awards 2018 (Radio Times)
BBC1 mini-series Three Girls and Game of Thrones were the big winners at the Bafta Craft Awards 2018.

It’s ‘Alright’: How Kenny Loggins Helped Change Music in Film With Caddyshack (Billboard)
In “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,” author Chris Nashawaty details how the hitmaker-in-the-making found his footing with the comedy’s soundtrack.

The Song Covers In Westworld Have A Deeper Meaning Than You Think (Refinery 29)
Westworld is known for embedding recognizable songs in its soundtrack. Season 1 featured a string of covers of dark rock songs, like “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones. Series creator Jonathan Nolan said that these modern songs were supposed to allow viewers to “short-circuit or shorthand an idea or feeling.” The songs were teaching modern audiences how to read a scene.

Composer Corner: Nico Muhly on Howards End (GMS UK & Europe)
Continuing along the TV show route, our next Composer Corner segment is courtesy of Nico Muhly, who discusses his most recent work on the adaptation of the classic novel Howards End.

Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards: Bold And The Beautiful, Sesame Street Top Winners (Deadline)
CBS’ The Bold and The Beautiful and HBO’s Sesame Street had seven wins apiece tonight to lead the way at the Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The show, which honor daytime television programming crafts and are put on by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Music Supervisor Interview: Chris Swanson (Goldo Sync Report)
Chris Swanson is an astute and multi-faceted music industry trailblazer, dedicated to generating rich opportunities for the artists and creatives surrounding him. As a music supervisor, he has contributed to an array of indie darlings and notable serials, including Wild Wild Country, Easy, One Mississippi, and Drinking Buddies.

20 TV shows with the best soundtracks and music (FanSided)
There’s nothing more stirring than a song or melody. It can take you back to a time, position you inside a moment, and establish a feeling that will eventually become a memory. That’s why we hand picked 20 TV shows with the best soundtracks and music.

Venom’s Trailer Used Music From the Avengers: Infinity War Trailer (Screen Rant)
The new trailer for Venom finally unveiled the symbiote in all his horrible glory – but while Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock isn’t part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he did borrow a little something from it. If the music in the Venom movie trailer sounds familiar, it’s because it’s actually the exact same music that was featured in one of the trailers for Avengers: Infinity War.

Gaming

A Conversation With Bear McCreary, the Composer King of Comic-Con (The Ringer)
The man behind the music in God of War, The Walking Dead, Outlander, Battlestar Galactica, and myriad other sci-fi, fantasy, and horror creations on his composing idols, his aversion to being typecast, becoming the sound of sci-fi, and more.

Songs for Screens: How ‘Run Wild’ Sprinted Onto EA Sports’ FIFA 2018 Trailer (Variety)
To announce its downloadable FIFA 18 World Cup tournament feature, EA Sports premiered a new trailer starring Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo that debuted a new song, “Run Wild,” by Nigerian-born rapper Thutmose and German singer/songwriter NoMBe. In just four days of release, the trailer has already racked up over 10 million views across Facebook and YouTube alone.

Jessica Curry and Jim Fowler on the spectacular PlayStation In Concert (GMS UK & Europe)
Jessica Curry is an English composer, radio presenter and former co-head of the British video game development studio The Chinese Room. She won a BAFTA award in 2016 for her score for the video game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. Jim Fowler is in-house composer at PlayStation, based in London. He’s currently working on new titles such as Media Molecule’s Dreams and Blood And Truth, the first feature-length VR game from London Studio. Duncan Smith sits down with the pair.

Video game soundtracks: They deserve more respect (A Journal of Musical Things)
What do people talk about when they get a new video game? It’s usually a comment about the combat mechanics, the crystal-clear graphics or some other visual element to the game. Rarely does someone say “Wow, the sound design in that game was great!”

Bungie says it plans to release Destiny’s original soundtrack, Music of the Spheres (Polygon)
This past December, Destiny fans got their chance to hear the game’s original, unreleased soundtrack composed by ex-Bungie musician Marty O’Donnell, Michael Salvatori and former Wings frontman Paul McCartney. That soundtrack, titled Music of the Spheres, wasn’t made officially available; fans published it to YouTube, Mega and Soundcloud. Now it appears that Bungie is going to release the soundtrack, officially, according to members of the studio.

Sumthing Else to release Tencent’s game soundtracks globally (Venture Beat)
Sumthing Else Music Works has cut a multi-title licensing agreement with Tencent Games to distribute soundtracks based on the Chinese company’s mobile games. The deal between Shenzhen, China-based Tencent and the New York-based music label shows the companies think that Western audiences are interested in hearing the music that they hear in mobile games made in China.

Retro game soundtracks are getting a vinyl revival (Wired)
Everything from the Nintendo 64 masterpiece Banjo-Kazooie to NES classic Castlevania are getting long-awaited vinyl releases.

Composer Gordy Haab talks scoring Battlefront II, Iden’s Theme, and love for Star Wars (Flickering Myth)
Gordy Haab is an American composer that has been working in the film, television, and video game industry since the early-2000s. Last year, he had the honor of scoring the EA’s published game Star Wars: Battlefront II.

A Hip-Hop Video Game Timeline: From ‘Parappa the Rapper’ to Breaking Twitch (High Snobriety)
With its status as an all-encompassing culture, hip-hop has found its way into all sorts of industries ranging from fashion, skateboarding, film, sports, and even gaming. To some it may seem like an unlikely union, but doubt not; for hip-hop music and video games have quite the history, whether it’s soundtracks, style, playable characters, or even easter eggs.

The History Of Zelda, Meditative Soundtracks And The Ambient Video Game (Electronic Beats)
Since the late 1980s, Japanese video game designers have been creating worlds that take players away from the modern urban landscape. Shigeru Miyamoto’s 1980s experiment in immersive visual design and ambient music, The Legend of Zelda, heralded the ensuing era of the modern ambient video game.

Monster Hunter: World‘s Music Is Fantastic And Sometimes A Little Weird (Kotaku)
Monster Hunter: World is chock full of fun given its potential for multiplayer shenanigans. Yes, its battles are epic—hunting down fearsome monsters takes patience and discipline. But you know what else is great? The music which scores its brilliantly strange world, and its collection of crazy monsters’ theme songs.

Best Game Soundtracks April 2018 (ZAM)
No matter what sorts of games have been on your plate this month, there have been plenty of fine melodies (and ambiances!) to go around. Here are eight albums worthy of your attention.

Advertising

Sync Story: Inside Paloma Faith’s Skoda placement (Music Week)
Skoda’s collaboration with Paloma Faith has achieved sync magic, reverberating from the world of rights and licensing straight into pop culture. The latest part of Skoda’s ‘Driven By Something Different’ campaign – which also sees the company team up with the Prince’s Trust to encourage young people into the arts – sees Faith cover Mama Cass Elliot’s 1969 track, Make Your Own Kind Of Music.

How An Ad Agency Picks A Song For A Commercial (Magnetic Magazine)
A look at the players at an ad agency who will have an impact on how a song is chosen for a commercial.

A Brief History of the Absurdly Catchy Nuts.com Rap Commercial (Slate)
It’s the KARS-4-KIDS of snack food jingles.

Your Shot: Traktor and Rosapark on Making ‘The Worst Song in the World’ (LBB Online)
French supermarket chain Monoprix and its agency Rosapark recently channeled their creative energy into mimicking the unashamedly cheesy goodness of bad music, the result being something they’ve dubbed ‘The Worst Song in the World’.

‘Blurred Lines’ Decisions Offer Lessons For Advertising Agencies Using Sound-Alikes (Forbes)
The foregoing decisions create a risk of serious potential liability for advertising agencies, their clients and other parties that use musical compositions that sound similar to an existing copyrighted composition (so-called “sound-alike” recordings).

The Most Radicalist: Bringing new music to The Great Escape (GMS UK & Europe)
Our friends at The Most Radicalist, the music blog dedicated to featuring new music from emerging artists, will be co-promoting two events this year for both The Great Escape and The Alternative Escape together with independent record label Hand In Hive.

UK Top Shazamed Ads: April 24 | May 01 (The Drum)
The Drum’s Shazam chart is based on the number of times each ad has been Shazamed over the past week using the music identification app. Here are the charts from the last couple of weeks.

The most Shazamed ads of the week (US): April 27 | May 04 (Clio)
Every week, Clios.com, in partnership with Shazam, rounds up the most Shazamed ads of the previous week. These are the top spots from April 27th to May 4th.

Advice

Should Sync Teams Attend Cannes Lions? Cloud 9/Downtown Music Benelux’s Steph Perrin Weighs In (Synchblog)
A worthwhile networking opportunity or simply an excuse to attend some great parties? We chat to Steph Perrin, Head of Sync at Cloud 9 Music and Downtown Music Benelux, to hear her thoughts on whether sync teams should be heading to Cannes this June…

Super-Secret Pro Tips for Approaching Any Music Supervisor (Digital Music News)
Music supervisors are really, really, really busy.  Don’t take it personally.  But here are some tricks to approaching them and scoring a huge placement.

Events

SPOT + Conference (Denmark, May 11th – 12th)
SPOT and SPOT+ is the Nordic rendezvous for the Danish and international music industries. And has been so for many years. The themes for SPOT+ 2018 are data, sync, equality, and music supervision – all relevant topics in the creative industries.

1st Annual Canadian Sync Awards (Toronto, May 12th)
Canadian Music Week (CMW) and The Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada (GMSC) are excited to present the 1^st Annual Canadian Sync Awards sponsored by songtradr. The Canadian Sync Awards are the only awards in Canada to recognize the contribution sync makes to the creative industries. Purchase tickets here. CMW also has its own dedicated sync summit.

Music Biz 2018 (Nashville, May 14th-17th)
Music Biz 2018 will bring together global power players and industry enthusiasts committed to the future of music monetization for 100+ panels, presentations, workshops, private meetings, cocktail parties, live music, and more. Synchtank founder Joel T. Jordan will be speaking on the Beyond the Sync: A New Era of Music Licensing for Film, TV and Podcasts panel.

Creators of Film and Television Music Panel (Los Angeles, May 15th)
Join us for an evening of great insights as The California Copyright Conference and The Society of Composers and Lyricists join forces to welcome Wendy & Lisa, Deborah Lurie, and Kathyn Bostic as they each let their music do the talking, and discuss how their prowess in composing music helps lift the scenes and storytelling of the projects they work on.

A New Soundtrack: Panel and Discussion (Glendale, May 16th)
The Alliance for Women Film Composers, Women In Media, and The Bridge Recording present: A New Soundtrack – A panel and discussion exploring the art, craft and business of music for film and television, through the eyes and ears of composers, songwriters, music supervisors, studio music executives and directors.

Sync Summit Nashville (Nashville, May 18th-19th)
SyncSummit Nashville will again bring together the world’s top music supervisors, ad agencies, brands managers, composers, labels, publishers, management companies, artists, producers and technologists in America’s musical heartland for two days of networking, discussion and dealmaking.

For more events worldwide check out our ultimate list of music industry and sync conferences in 2018.

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