We run through the latest and greatest in sync licensing and music supervision over the past fortnight, including the latest industry news, advice, and deals.
Film and TV
The Young Pope has the best music cue since The Right Stuff (The Ringer)
At the heart of Paolo Sorrentino’s beautiful, unsettling, hilarious, surrealist television masterpiece beats a theme song, a throbbing techno heart: “Levo” by German techno artist Recondite.
Hear Bruce Springsteen’s unreleased Harry Potter song (Rolling Stone)
Springsteen penned “very uncharacteristic” ballad for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Though “I’ll Stand By You Always” did not end up in the film, it finally surfaced on SoundCloud on Friday after being released as part of a bootleg compilation on the Bruce Springsteen torrent site Jungleland.
Guild of Music Supervisors expands into the UK market (Music Business Worldwide)
Although details of the UK branch of the GoMS remain thin on the ground, respected UK sync exec Ruth Simmons called its imminent arrival in London “long overdue”. Simmons, CEO of SoundLounge, has revealed that she will be on the advisory board of the UK’s Guild.
“Oh Yeah”, the song from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is catchy, irritating and the origin of an investing fortune (The WSJ)
The catchy tune “Oh Yeah” has been used in Hollywood comedies and advertisements for the past 30 years, ever since Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, giving the tune’s co-creator seed money that helped him amass an investment fortune.
Behind the scenes of music supervision (The music solution)
Neophonic Music Supervisor, Janet Lopez is a rising star in the industry with credits such as VEEP (HBO), Banshee (Cinemax), Kevin From Work (ABC), All The Way (HBO films), among many other successful projects. In this interview she gives us a peek into today’s world of music supervision.
La La Land: Here’s a track-by-track breakdown of the soundtrack by the film’s music director (Independent)
The film’s music director and soundtrack producer, Marius de Vries, spills a few of the behind-the-scenes secrets from the film.
The most Oscar-nominated person alive is not an actor or a director (Forbes)
John Williams has more Academy Awards nominations than any other living person. With an astounding 50 nominations (and five wins), he only trails Walt Disney, who was nominated 59 times.
Framing your show one lyric at a time: The role of the music supervisor (NATPE)
NATPE17 brings together the brightest stars in this unique universe for a conversation that will illuminate and inform regarding how each component aligns to create true onscreen magic.
Women behind Canadian TV: Andrea Higgins (The TV Junkies)
As head of music supervision at Arpix Media, Higgins works with composers to create original music or is responsible for finding the ideal song for a particular scene. Her vast resume includes working on current Canadian TV favorites Killjoys, Wynonna Earp, Heartland, X Company and Workin’ Moms.
Spotlfy playlist: Discover Current TV Songs (thebusmedia)
Music supervisors are choosing music for currently airing and streaming TV shows. They are ahead of the trends with signed and unsigned artists. This list is a reflection of the hottest current songs on TV.
The Stranger Things soundtrack proves scores can take lead roles too (GQ)
Celebrating pop music on television is like looking at the sun. You have to do it at an angle or through some kind of filter, otherwise you can’t see straight.
Arrival, La La Land among Film Music Critics nominees (Variety)
The International Film Music Critics Assn. has announced nominations for the 13th annual IFMCA Awards for excellence in musical scoring in 2016. Leading the pack are Michael Giacchino and Justin Hurwitz with five nominations each, and Abel Korzeniowski, with four.
Gaming
More business advice for the video game music composer (Gamasutra)
Video game composer Winifred Phillips dishes out some best business practices for game audio pros collected from three online resources – a Gamasutra article by a former audio designer for Rockstar North, an awesome discussion thread on Reddit, and a roundtable discussion at GameSoundCon.
Why we ❤️️ video game music: The background soundtrack of our lives (Laced Records)
There are other reasons that video game music enjoys fans beyond the act of playing games themselves: in the era of portable, digital convenience; of YouTube, Spotify and smartphones—game music makes fantastic background music.
Advertising
Super Bowl Syncs 2017: 10 of the Best (Synchblog)
With music having the ability to make or break an ad, we take a look at some of our favourite syncs from this year’s Super Bowl ad campaigns.
UK Top Shazamed ads: Jan. 31 | Feb 07 (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.
The most Shazamed ads of the Super Bowl (Clio)
The Big Game is also the biggest night in advertising, so in partnership with Shazam, Clio rounds up the most Shazamed ads of Super Bowl 51.
How Pepsi used pop music to build an empire (Pitchfork)
For nearly 60 years, Pepsi’s mission has been to tie its soda inextricably to modern music and the aspiration of youth culture. Pepsi’s unchallenged relationship with musicians is so ingrained in our culture that it exists in a fictional universe as a means to sell real Pepsi in our real universe.
Music that made the ad: Creative works special feat. AMV BBDO, Wieden+Kennedy, TBWA and more (The Drum)
Teaming up with Clio Music, The Drum explores the beautiful marriage of music and creativity – and remember some past Clios winners.
Super Bowl commericals 2017: Sony/ATV lead synchs, but it’s a big year for indie publishers (Billboard)
In all, there were more than 30 commercials featured during Super Bowl LI that used music, of which 26 appear to be synch licenses and four of custom songs. The tally represents a huge uptick in independently published music.
Sound marketing: Stranger Things plus the best music-driven Super Bowl trailers and ads (Forbes)
CEO of SCORE A SCORE Jordan Passman runs through his favourite trailers and ads that aired during the Super Bowl, along with their standout soundtracks.
Marian Hill’s Airpods synch pushes ‘Down’ way, way up (Billboard)
A decade removed from Apple ads breaking artists like Feist and The Ting Tings, rhythmic pop duo Marian Hill has hit the mainstream thanks to the first AirPods headphones commercial.
I’m with the brand: how artists and advertisers can work in harmony (The Drum)
Bands are increasingly climbing into bed with brands, and ‘selling out’ has long since lost its stigma. But how can the relationship work for everyone?
Business
UMPG appoints Rochelle Holguin VP Creative Strategy (Music Week)
Reporting to UMPG chair and CEO Jody Gerson, Holguin will work closely with the company’s sync and A&R teams, as well as UMG’s film/TV development group, to create new partnerships and promotional opportunities with streaming services, TV/film studios, digital, social and other emerging platforms.
Film, TV and Gaming agency Syncsmith adds NAAFI to their roster (thump)
Syncsmith, an experimental electronic music sync agency working for TV, film and video games, has added Mexican collective NAAFI to their roster.
BMG launches global production music services agency (Music Week)
The new operation includes offices in LA, Nashville, London, Hilversum and Berlin, and has a catalogue of around 400,000 tracks spanning all genres.
Netflix signs exclusive music publishing deal with BMG (MBW)
The deal covers music featured in Netflix Originals programming, including Stranger Things (season 1, pictured), Last Chance U, The Do-Over, Ridiculous 6 and Chelsea.
Warner/Chappell Production Music promotes Aaron Gant to SVP (MBW)
Warner/Chappell Production Music has promoted Aaron Gant, a 25-year veteran in the industry, to Senior Vice President of Production.
Tips and Tricks
Music and brands: Tips from Vice, Converse and Levi’s (Music Ally)
Advice for independent labels and artists hoping to strike better brand deals, from the ‘I’m With The Brand’ panel session at AIM’s Indie-Con 2017.
A Lion in five: Tips for entering to win an Entertainment Lions for Music (Clio)
Launched in 2016, the Music Lions celebrate creative musical collaborations and original music content. Entries will need to demonstrate original production, promotion or distribution of music for brands; work where a recording artist or platform is innovatively leveraged to communicate with consumers.
A letter to brands who use music: Put the band first and reap the rewards (The Drum)
MullenLowe president and former Converse chief marketer Geoff Cottrill pens a letter to brands looking to work with musicians.
Events
NARIP Advertising Music Supervisor Pitch Session (Atlanta, February 22nd)
Join NARIP and Jackie Shuman of Good Ear Music Supervision, known for her award-winning work with brands including Apple, Google, Pepsi and Nike, for a this session on advertising music. Not in Atlanta? You can pitch remotely or via Skype.
ALL ABOUT: Sync & Brands (London, February 27th)
Join the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC) for a night of discussion on sync licensing and brands later this month. Singer-songwriter Imogen Heap will be chatting with Phil Cummings (A&G Sync), Liz Williams (Felt Music) and Nick Ryan (sound designer).
NARIP Film/TV Music Supervisor Pitch with Billy Gottlieb (LA, February 28th)
Join NARIP and Billy Gottlieb, music supervisor on projects such as Lethal Weapon, The 100, Bones, Fringe, for a this session on Film/TV music. Not in LA? You can pitch remotely or via Skype.
Looking for a more comprehensive breakdown of events? Check out our list of key worldwide music industry and sync events in 2017.
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