Film and TV
From Miss Americana To Trolls World Tour, Sizing Up the Grammys’ Visual Media and Soundtrack Contenders (Variety)
World conditions make this year’s Grammy voter choices in the visual-media categories somewhat harder to predict, in part because so many of us have been staying home watching television.
Interview: Luca Guadagnino & Robin Urdang Talk About The Music Behind HBO’s We Are Who We Are (Genius)
When curating the soundtrack for the series, Guadagnino and Urdang went to great lengths to find music that captures not only the time and place in which the show is set, but also mirrors the journeys of personal growth and self-discovery that play out over eight episodes.
Girls Like Tatiana DeMaria Rule On The American Pie Soundtrack (American Songwriter)
It’s been more than 20 years since American Pie became a sleeper hit of the summer of 1999; its huge box office success leading to the beginning of a popular franchise.
If You Need Me, I’ll Be Singing Usher And Kiana Ledé’s Song From Netflix’s Jingle Jangle All Day (Popsugar)
The movie’s soundtrack hasn’t dropped yet — it won’t premiere on Netflix until Nov. 13, after all — but we got a sneak peek at what the film will have to offer thanks to the release of Usher’s new song, “This Day,” which will be featured in the movie.
The movie score you didn’t know Eddie Van Halen wrote (Looper)
In 1984, Van Halen made one of the more fascinating moves in his career when he teamed up with Donn Landee to compose the score of the teen dramedy The Wild Life, written and produced by an up-and-comer named Cameron Crowe.
Top TV Song Last Week – October 1st: “Control” by Nahaze | October 7th: “Chase It” by NoLuv Nevo (Tunefind)
The last two weeks have seen tracks from Netflix’s Baby and Starz series Power Book II: Ghost top Tunefind’s popular songs list.
Songs For Screens: Phoenix’s Thomas Mars On Scoring And Overseeing Music For On the Rocks With Sofia Coppola (Variety)
In the last three years pre-pandemic, the group has established what Mars describes as an “archiving system” from any in-person recording sessions for its 2017 album “Ti Amo” and forthcoming follow-up so that each member can complete any remaining work remotely.
Production Music Association unveils Mark Awards winners 2020 (PMA)
The Production Music Association (PMA) has unveiled this year’s winners of the Mark Awards in a virtual ceremony on Tuesday (10/6). Named in honor of the late Andy Mark, who was a library owner and founding member of the PMA, the Mark Awards recognize the very best in production music.
How The Requiem for a Dream Song Became the Default Sound Of Epic Drama (Vice)
The last minutes of Darren Aronofksy’s Requiem for a Dream are a sweaty, shivering fever of an anti-drug PSA that finds the film’s four main characters each curled in the fetal position, reeling from the effects of addiction.
I Hate Suzie. The Music Supervisors Behind The Soundtrack (Guild of Music Supervisors)
We had the pleasure to speak with the Music Supervisors, Zoë Ellen Bryant & Peter Saville from Carbon Logic (Peaky Blinders, Save me too, Deadwater Fell, Blinded by the Light) who curated the outstanding soundtrack for the show
Okay, Well, I Can’t Stop Listening To The Tenet Soundtrack (Vulture)
We know a lot of work goes into the scores for Christopher Nolan’s movies. And we also know that the scores themselves do a lot of work:…
Every Song In Netflix’s The Boys in the Band (Screenrant)
The Boys in the Band soundtrack features slow jams and several jazz standards. Here’s a complete list of every featured song in the Netflix movie.
Times Square: A Forgotten Punk And New Wave Movie Soundtrack Turns 40 (Forbes)
First released in October 1980, Times Square, a coming-of-age film directed by Allan Moyle, was originally poised to be a punk and New Wave equivalent to Saturday Night Fever.
Gaming
The Women Who Invented Video Game Music (Wired)
Composers like Eímear Noone and Manami Matsumae created some of the most iconic songs in games that have defined the industry.
How Do You Bring The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Soundtrack Into 2020? We Asked The Man Who Did (NME)
The game defined a generation, and its songs – Bad Religion! Rage! – absolute slayed. It’s back, leaving audio lead Justin Joyner with an unenviable task.
Sony/ATV And Sony Music Masterworks Partner To Launch Hyperbrawl Tournament Video Game Soundtrack (MBW)
This joint creative effort reflects the One Sony initiative, which works to expand collaboration among Sony’s vast network of businesses.
How FIFA soundtracks became cultural tastemakers: ‘The music you listen to defines your life’ (GOAL)
They are hand-picked to represent the next generation – Goal talks to EA’s president of music, Steve Schnur, about how each soundtrack is assembled
Expressions Of Power In Video Game Soundtracks (ABC)
As a medium where almost anything is possible, video games present countless storytelling opportunities to delve deep into what power really means, and composers play an important role in communicating that power through music.
Star Wars: Squadrons Composer Channeled X-Wing Dreams Into An Immersive Soundtrack (SPIN)
With titles such as The Old Republic, both Battlefront games and Jedi: Fallen Order to his credit (along with a few non-Star Wars games for good measure), Haab’s soundtracks have become an integral part of the Star Wars universe over the last several years.
Recreating Final Fantasy VII‘s Epic Music For Its Remake (wshu)
I talked with Music Supervisor Keiji Kawamori and composer Mitsuto Suzuki about what they wanted to keep from Nobuo Uematsu’s beloved original soundtrack, while updating the music to fit the modern take on the game.
Advertising
Music’s Color Correction: Why Audio Companies Need To Tune In To Diversity (shots)
J Bonilla, Co-Founder and Creative Director of The Elements Music, reflects on how advertising’s audio businesses need to continue to push diversity, examines his own failures to address the issue, and recounts why 2020 is the year we could really see change.
Mastercard Sees Benefits From Sonic Branding (WARC)
Mastercard, the payments company, believes that effective sonic branding can help enhance brand attributes such as differentiation, image, identity and emotional connectivity with consumers.
Songs For Screens: Kane Brown Talks Returning To Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, ‘Dueting’ With Dr Pepper (Variety)
In the years since his 2018 multi-format smash “Heaven,” breakout country star Kane Brown has filled his dance card with a long line of duet partners. And he considers his year-plus partnership with Dr Pepper to be among those duets, too.
Classic Rock Is Still Favored Soundtrack For Today’s Cutting Edge Brands (Hypebot)
Even as the pandemic rages on amidst a myriad of other crises, the tech sector continues to see a number of impressive innovations, and while the products they’re developing may be new, the music being used to market them is far from it, with a distinctly classic rock flavor.
Business
Epidemic Sound Posted $42m In Net Revenues In 2019 – And A 23m Operating Loss (MBW)
Epidemic Sound, the controversial Swedish production music company, saw its revenues jump significantly in 2019 – but also posted a hefty eight-figure annual operating loss.
State of Sync: How the entertainment industry is adapting (DISCO)
Here’s a look at how your peers are navigating the sync licensing and music supervision landscape through the COVID-19 pandemic.
BMG Production Music Rejigs Global Management (Televisual)
BMG Production Music (BMGPM) has announced several internal promotions to its senior global management team, the launch of an internal creative agency in the UK and a strengthening of its specialist trailer division and expansion of its East Coast sales division.
Twitch Licenses Music Now. But the Music Industry Says It’s Skirting The Rules (Rolling Stone)
Industry leaders are concerned that Twitch’s new feature, Soundtrack, may be designed to avoid paying for sync licenses — which generate significant revenue for labels, publishers and artists.
Events
The Guild of Music Supervisors & Mondo.NYC Present The Third Annual NYC Guild of Music Supervisors Education Event & Film Festival – Thursday, October 15, 2020
Join us for an immersive full-day virtual symposium to meet, network and learn from some of the top music supervisors and industry executives about how they do what they do.
PMA Academy: Global Month – A Focus on Europe – Tuesday, October 13
In this panel organized by the European Production Music Committee of the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP), we’ll check in with our European colleagues, examining how COVID-19 has affected film and TV production, music licensing and performance and mechanical royalty streams.
GMS Fall Fundraising Panel: TV Studio & Music Supervisors – Thursday, October 22
Thursday, October 22, 3:30pm PT – GMS Fall Fundraising Panel: TV Studio & Music Supervisors. Details TBA.
For more events check out our comprehensive list of music industry conferences which is regularly updated to include virtual events:
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