Film and TV
In the 1950s, Doris Day Was an Oscar Best Song Magnet (Billboard)
Day was just the second woman, following Judy Garland, to introduce two Oscar winners for best song.
The Wine Country Soundtrack Is Honestly Iconic (Refinery 29)
The film’s music which, per Jenny’s (Spivey) request, includes nothing that was released after Outkast’s “Hey Ya!,” is the kind of music that will make you want to call your girlfriends.
Hear Elton John’s Uplifting New Song ‘(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again’ From Rocketman (Rolling Stone)
Elton John and Taron Egerton unite on “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” a soulful new song John wrote with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. The track appears in the closing credits to the upcoming John biopic, Rocketman, and on the film’s soundtrack.
Music Supervisor Scott Vener Talks About Placing Songs, Working With Kanye West, & Getting The Nod From JAY-Z (Genius)
A soundtrack can make or break a TV show, but if music supervisor Scott Vener’s involved, chances are it’s going to make it. Vener’s big break came in 2004, when he was asked to curate the soundtrack for HBO’s Entourage.
A Guide to the Sync, Music & Brands / Esports Panels at Midem 2019 (Synchblog)
During Midem 2019, key global industry players will give insights, present case studies and consider best practice in the sync field, sharing their views on the current and future landscape through the following programme:
The Man Behind The Game Of Thrones Album With The Weeknd And Travis Scott Shares Its Secrets (Forbes)
While several scores of original music have been released throughout the show’s run, the first proper companion album of all original songs just dropped a short time ago, with some of the biggest names in the music business—artists like Maren Morris, The Weeknd, Ellie Goulding, Travis Scott, Mumford & Sons and Lil Peep – sharing songs that fit the tone of the show.
Composer Spotlight: Patrick Warren (Pop Disciple)
Illuminated composer, producer, and arranger discusses his fateful introduction to the Chamberlin, magnifying the fierce resilience and big hearts of South Side Chicago residents in his soulful score for The Chi, manifesting dread and mystique alongside T Bone Burnett and Keefus Ciancia on True Detective, the distinct honor of working with Tom Waits, and the qualities he seeks in his collaborators to achieve musical alchemy.
Rising Star Tom Walker on Bond, Bravia, Bob Marley and Why Cover Songs Can Be So Important (Synchblog)
No Sheet Music Covers chats to singer-songwriter Tom Walker about his humble beginnings covering classic songs, to covering his own music for the Sony Bravia campaign in 2018.
Top TV Song Last Week: “The Beast” by Old Caltone (Tunefind)
Passionate Lucifans have been binging on both the show and the soundtrack, with the premiere of Lucifer season 4 on Netflix last week. Their love for the music of the series knocks another show off the throne and Lucifer claims the top TV song last week.
MUSIC+SOUND AWARDS TALK TO…Rebecca Rienks – Music Supervisor, NBC Entertainment (MAS Awards)
Rebecca Rienks’ career spans 15 years and 120+ film, television and soundtrack credits, ranging from low-budget documentaries and critically lauded indie projects to worldwide ad campaigns and Oscar-winning films.
Game of Thrones, This Is Us Soundtracks Top TV Songs List (Hollywood Reporter)
In addition to the HBO and NBC mega-hits, top television songs for the past month also include tracks from SEAL Team, The Resident, and Barry.
Inside The 2019 ASCAP Screen Music Awards: Recap (American Songwriter)
The 34th Annual ASCAP Screen Awards returned to the historic Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills last night to recognize the biggest names in today’s film, television and video game music industry.
Listen to the soundtrack for rave film Beats, featuring The Prodigy, Orbital and Inner City (FACT)
Scottish coming-of-age rave film Beats is out in cinemas today. To mark the occasion, you can listen to an official playlist of the killer JD Twitch-curated soundtrack, featuring classic rave anthems from The Prodigy, Orbital, Inner City, LFO, Outlander, Model 500 as well as Hud Mo’s 2015 banger ‘Scud Books’.
The Sun Is Also A Star Soundtrack Reflects The Immigrant Stories In The Film (Bustle)
The soundtrack for The Sun Is Also a Star comes from artists from around the world or who come from families who immigrated to American themselves.
Gustavo Dudamel to Conduct Score for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (Hollywood Reporter)
The music director of the L.A. Philharmonic will helm the recording of Leonard Bernstein’s iconic score. Steven Spielberg has assembled an award-winning group of music veterans to revive Leonard Bernstein’s iconic score for his adaptation of West Side Story.
Cult Hit Show Letterkenny Puts Canadian Indie Artists in the Spotlight (Tunefind)
Canadian bands and artists are finding new fans from the United States, thanks to Letterkenny’s recent release on Hulu. Now in its sixth season, this Canadian hit comedy features an indie-heavy soundtrack curated by the team at Supergroup Sonic Branding Co, based in Toronto.
BMI Honors Terence Blanchard and William Ross at 2019 Film, TV & Visual Media Awards (Billboard)
Broadcast Music, Inc celebrated film composer and jazz musician Terence Blanchard and composer William Ross Wednesday night at the BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards, honoring them with the BMI Icon Award and Classic Contribution Award, respectively.
Gaming
’The Esports Broadcast Format is Not Finished’ — Gustav Käll, Universal Music Group (The Esports Observer)
For Gustav Käll, head of esports at Universal Music Group and the head of Enter Records, music in video games and musical performances at esports events need to match the interests of the esports audience, and Enter Records’ objective is to find music artists who do just that.
Designing Sounds for a Game (Gamasutra)
Pavel Shylenok gives us a behind the scenes look at how he creates sounds at his game dev studio Knocknock Games.
See How They Made The Music For PS4’s Days Gone (GameSpot)
Sony has published a neat mini-documentary about the music of the latest big PlayStation 4 exclusive, Days Gone. In the video, composed Nathan Whitehead, who worked on the Purge film series before this, talks about how he went about creating the music for the game.
Music and Esports: the new frontier for the music industry (Midem blog)
The international sectors of music and esports are coming together for the first time at Midem, to demonstrate the new business opportunities the two industries can gain from each other.
Cord Worldwide and Laced Records: Helping bring music to your game — and your game to vinyl (MCV)
Up until recently, Cord Worldwide was a provider of music and audio solutions such as sonic branding for the film and advertising industries. Meanwhile, record label Laced Records was delighting video games music fans with its great catalogue of indie and triple-A scores such as Doom and No Man’s Sky.
Advertising
Revealed: Billboard’s 2019 Branding Power Players (Billboard)
Their Branding Power Players report describes the achievements of 83 executives from the live sector, consumer companies, branding agencies, talent agencies, management companies, the media, digital firms, publishers and record labels.
Remembering Doris Day and her influence on music in advertising (AdAge)
Ads from Heineken to Samsung have featured the legendary performer’s music in their ads.
A primer for using music in marketing (AdAge)
Brand Playbook looks at best practices for using copyrighted music—and how to avoid snafus.
Apple Honours the Best of British Music in Evocative Spot (LBB Online)
Set to the powerful lyrics of “What We Do” by Swindle, Rider Shafique, D Double E, Daley and P Money, the film is a reminder about the importance of celebrating the process of creativity and how the Mac has backed these artists throughout their journeys.
Why Sound and Voice Are the Future of Brand Experience (Muse by CLIO)
Over the past few years, there has been an explosive growth in sound technology, unleashing an entirely new landscape of powerful audio touch points between brands and consumers.
Edward White Scores Goodfellas-Inspired Warburton Ad Starring Robert De Niro (LBB Online)
Warburtons has featured two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro in its most recent gangster-inspired ad campaign, ‘GoodBagels’, scored by Edward White in collaboration with Leland Music and Engine Creative.
Dos Equis Made ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ Even More Ridiculous in ’80s-Soaked Ad (Muse by CLIO)
Bonnie Tyler’s gloriously goofy 1983 power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was already a campy classic. But a brand version, with silly lyrics touting Dos Equis, is more glorious and goofy than we ever thought possible.
Business
Soundtracks in the Streaming Era: A Conversation with Spotify’s Head of Entertainment Sales Andi Frieder (Synchblog)
We chat to Spotify’s Andi Frieder about the streaming platform’s collaborations with Film/TV studios over the past few years, from the Stranger Things “Upside Down” mode to the Games of Thrones: The End is Coming playlist.
Brittney Ramsdell upped to SVP, Film & TV Synchronization for Republic, Def Jam, Island & Verve Label Group (MBW)
Brittney Ramsdell has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Film & TV Synchronization for Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Verve Label Group.
Supercharged Supervision: Big Sync CEO Dominic Caisley Talks Joining Forces with Songtradr (Synchblog)
Big Sync Music CEO & Co-Founder talks joining forces with music licensing platform Songtradr and explains what’s in store for this powerhouse duo.
Killer Tracks Launches New Production Music Series ‘In Reality’ (SHOOT Online)
Killer Tracks, a Universal Publishing Production Music company, today announced the launch of In Reality, a new production music label focused on songs for unscripted television.
Industry Insider: Third Side Music VP Of A&R, Brontë Jane On Doing Publishing & Sync Licensing Right (Magnetic Magazine)
LA & Montreal’s Third Side Music is one of those companies who handles publishing and sync licensing for their hundreds of artists such as Kurt Vile, Broods, The Cinematic Orchestra, BADBADNOTGOOD and many more.
Tips and Tricks
How to Be a Music Supervisor, or Get Heard by One: David Weiss, Ramsay Adams and David Hnatiuk Launch New Course (Synchblog)
We sit down with David Weiss, Ramsay Adams and David Hnatiuk to discuss their fantastic new online course, How to Be a Music Supervisor, or Get Heard by One.
Film/TV composers Launch ‘Your Music, Your Future’ Initiative to Help Musicians Get Fairly Compensated (Billboard)
Your Music, Your Future will offer composers free resources to help them understand deals for television, film and video game composition, and the financial implications that come after signing.
Events
Buma Music in Motion (May 21st-22nd, Amsterdam)
Buma Music in Motion brings together the very best minds and talents in the creative industries. Over the past 8 years, some of the world’s most influential composers, music media executives, producers, synch agents, music supervisors, creative directors and many other top professionals have participated.
“Reality TV Music – Real Money!” Presented by the California Copyright Conference (May 21st, Sherman Oaks)
Our panel reveals insight into music placement in unscripted programming. They’ll cover…
- Profitability
- For music placement, what a music supervisor looks for in a show
- How composers create the music
- The best ways of networking for music opportunities for unscripted programming
- Who are the decision makers?
- Other topics include: How music is used in scenes • What musical direction is unscripted programming taking in the future • Musical styles of artists that work for reality television, and much more.
Midem (June 4-7th, Cannes)
During Midem 2019, key global industry players will give insights, present case studies and consider best practice in the sync field, sharing their views on the current and future landscape. Check out our handy guide to the sync/music & brands related panels at this year’s conference.
New artist showcase and song camp launches (June 8-11th, Hollywood)
The writers camp will be held at various Hollywood Studios from 8 to 11 June and will involve writing to specific briefs from music supervisors each day. There are spaces for up to eight songwriters to attend.
For more great events check out our recently updated list of key music and sync conferences worldwide.
Jobs
Associate Music Supervisor – Leland Music (London)
Leland Music, leading independent music supervision agency, is looking for an Associate Music Supervisor to join the London team.
Senior Creative Sync & Licensing Manager – Bucks Music Group (London)
Bucks Music Group is looking for an experienced Senior Creative Sync & Licensing Manager to join their Award-Winning Sync Team.
Check out more on our jobs board here.
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