This Fortnight in Music Supervision and Sync (11/06/2021): The Music Supervisors Lighting Up This Emmys Season, Bopper Honors Pride Month & More

Film and TV

From The Crown to Bridgerton, How Music Supervisors Light Up this Emmys Season (Variety)
From the period-specific tunes of The Crown to the surprising instrumental reworkings of modern pop hits in Bridgerton, this season’s Emmy contenders in music supervision showcase the growing field’s continued influence.

After 30 Years as Hollywood’s Coolest Film Composer, Danny Elfman Still has Something to Prove (LA Times)
Recently Elfman, who just turned 68, opened his studio doors for an extended conversation on his life’s work as a composer — a resume filled with Oscar, Emmy and Grammy nominations, but best known for his 16 film scores for director Tim Burton.

Bringin’ it Backwards: Interview with Frankie Pine (American Songwriter)
Along with her television expertise, she has extensive film credits, serving as music consultant on successful films such as Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13,’ and on the soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning movie ‘Traffic’ for which she received a Grammy nomination.

Top TV Song Last Week: ‘Moved’ by LACES (Tunefind)
The second part of Lucifer season 5 was released on Friday and has already had a near take over of Tunefind’s most popular music chart. The first episode features an emotive track from an artist who is also no stranger to the top of sync placements.

The Enduring Appeal of Italian Composers’ Dramatic ‘Library Music’ (New York Times)
Sonor is one of several labels in the last few decades that have resurrected Italian classics from the European library genre (in July, it will release Nico Fidenco’s lost soundtrack to the 1977 film “Emanuelle in America” and Sandro Brugnolini’s “Utopia”).

How HBO Max’s It’s A Sin Music Supervisor Crafted the Perfect Needle Drop (Variety)
The initial idea was for the show to rely on score rather than commercial music. “It would be used for pivotal moments,” says music supervisor Iain Cooke. But the music for the series continued to evolve and grow that by the end, Cooke says, “we ended up with three and a half times that.”

Soundtrack to Gully Film Featuring Travis Scott Includes Music by Dua Lipa, 21 Savage, Ty Dolla $ign, More (Variety)
“..The characters in this film take you on a wild ride and whether it be the songs or score, music serves as an integral part of amplifying and connecting the journey between this group of friends.”

Lucifer Musical Episode: Here’s the One Song Producers Couldn’t Use – and How Tom Ellis Solved the Problem (The Wrap)
After years of dreaming about it, the Lucifer team finally pulled off a musical episode during the second half of the drama’s fifth season, which launched Friday on Netflix. 

Gaming

The Soundlings Left their Mark all Over TV’s Top Soundtracks, Now they’re on to Video Games with Knockout City (Spin)
What happens when you take the basics of dodgeball, add in some of what makes Rocket League so addicting, and mix it with a retro-futuristic setting with visuals similar to Overwatch?

All Sonic the Hedgehog Games with the Series’ Best Music (Screen Rant)
Sega’s iconic Sonic the Hedgehog series has been around since 1991, and in the years since its initial release, it’s held up as one of the longest-lasting franchises in video game history, regularly standing alongside Nintendo’s Mario in terms of recognizability.

What Makes Super Mario Bros. So Catchy? (ABC)
The Super Mario Bros. theme is the most recognisable piece of video game music. Composer and presenter of ABC Classic’s Game Show, Meena Shamaly, explains what makes it so catchy.

The Music of Horizon Forbidden West: Meet the Composers (Playstation Blog)
It made sense to split and divide. Van Tol played both ringmaster and conductor, briefing and guiding the group throughout production. He also wanted a different approach to the game’s score.

Business

Sync Licensing Company Bopper Honors Pride Month and LGBTQ+ Artists (All Access)
FILICE said, “Bopper has been incredibly supportive. Not only do they value and promote my music, but they understand what I’m trying to achieve, and recognize the importance of representation in music.”

Inside Hipgnosis’ $2.2B Valuation, NFT Plans and Synch Wins: ‘We Bought Well’ (Billboard)
To date, investors have piled £1.1 billion ($1.56 billion) into the London-based, Guernsey-domiciled royalty fund, enticed by steady returns from a unique asset class, and a lucrative, fast-growing streaming market.

Warner Chappell Production Music Reveals New LA and Nashville Studios (Music Week)
WCPM (Warner Chappell Production Music) has announced the details of two new recording studios – SkyLight Studios in Los Angeles and Sandtrack Sound in Nashville.

How Premier’s Josh Deutsch is Scaling Up Music Supervision (Billboard)
When he was ready to start working somewhere other than home again earlier this year, he found space at The National Arts Club, a 137-year-old Gothic Revival landmark building in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park, a short walk from his apartment.

WMG Partners with Social Media and Music Tech Firm Songclip (Music Week)
The deal will open up WMG’s catalogue to Songclip’s API, which enables music integrations across video, dating and gaming apps.

$1.4bn-Valued Epidemic Sound Grew its Revenues by 49% in 2020, with a Net Loss of $17.8m (MBW)
Epidemic Sound, of course, hasn’t always been the most popular entity amongst certain factions of the music industry. But it’s generating significant sums of money – and new financial results published by the company in Sweden today (June 2) have allowed us to take a fresh view on the health of its finances.

Songtradr Acquires Creative Music Agency MassiveMusic (MBW)
MassiveMusic, which has approximately 85 employees with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, will now lead the B2B Music Services Division of Songtradr Group.

Netflix and BMG Strike Long-Term Music Publishing Deal Outside U.S. (Variety)
Netflix has struck a new long-term exclusive agreement with BMG for the management and administration of its music publishing rights worldwide outside the U.S., the companies announced on Wednesday. The companies forged a similar deal in 2017.