This Fortnight in Music Supervision and Sync (20/04/18)

Film and TV

Scandal Music Supervisor Shares Her Favorite Song Selections From 7 Seasons (Billboard)
For seven seasons of OMG twists and turns on the drama starring Kerry Washington, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has provided the soundtrack. “It’s really hard to see this end,” says Patsavas, who has also worked her music magic on Grey’s Anatomy, another Shonda Rimes-created show.

From Riverdale to Scrubs, here’s what makes a good musical episode (Washington Post)`
There seems to come a time in every showrunner’s journey when they stop and ask themselves: Is it time for a musical episode? Quite often — and sometimes against better judgment — the answer is yes.

Hear Squarepusher’s eerie hour-long ambient kids’ TV soundtrack (FACT)
The BBC’s long-running CBeebies children’s network has released a new special called Daydreams designed to help kids fall asleep featuring an original ambient soundtrack by Squarepusher.

These Are The 11 Best Millennial Teen Movie Soundtracks Ever (NYLON)
If music is more emotionally significant for teens than anyone else, then it makes sense that movies about and for teens have such good soundtracks.

15 Fresh Prince Songs That’ll Make You Think Of The Show Every Time You Hear Them (Bustle)
Sometimes these songs were the background for outlandish dance numbers, like Carlton’s love of rocking out to Tom Jones, or the infamous Las Vegas “Apache” dance. Other times, someone in the family was heard singing them at the top of their lungs.

New Stevie Wonder song will end Scandal after seven seasons (Film News)
The final episode of hit TV drama Scandal will close with a new Stevie Wonder song when it airs in America on Thursday night. The show, starring Kerry Washington as political fixer Olivia Pope, is ending after seven seasons – and one final twist, before the soul icon’s brand new tune is revealed.

Black Lightning Composer on the Sound of the Series (Comic Book)
Music is a big part of television. From songs chosen for specific scenes to the subtle sounds of a score in the background, music helps give a show’s scenes and stories support by guiding viewers feelings and expectations. The CW’s Black Lightning is no exception.

Lost In Space Composer Christopher Lennertz On Project He’s Been Waiting For His Whole Career (Deadline)
Deadline’s new below-the-line video series Production Value goes behind the scenes with professionals working in television—onto sets and into their creative spaces—the series aims to give viewers an understanding of why these artists love their jobs, and the day-to-day gist of working in their professions.

The Music Behind the Guru: Inside the Making of the Wild Wild Country Soundtrack (Variety)
Despite working with a “micro-budget,” music supervisor Chris Swanson weaves an inspired sonic accompaniment to the Netflix hit.

Alina Baraz Rules Top TV Songs Chart For March 2018, Thanks to On My Block (Billboard)
Alina Baraz’s “Electric,” featuring Khalid, rules The Hollywood Reporter’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind and Shazam, for March, thanks to its appearance in Netflix’s On My Block.

Grease at 40: Olivia Newton-John, Frankie Valli & John Farrar Reflect on the Music (Billboard)
In the past two years, soundtracks to musical films like The Greatest Showman, La La Land and Beauty and the Beast have scored big on the Billboard 200 chart. But even those success stories can’t compare to the blockbuster Grease soundtrack, which everyone was hopelessly devoted to after it was released 40 years ago on April 14, 1978.

Gustavo Santaolalla’s music travels from TV to film to the concert stage (The Frame)
If you listen to Mexico’s most famous rock band, Café Tacuba, you likely recognize Gustavo Santaolalla’s name as the group’s producer. And if you saw the films Babel or Brokeback Mountain, you’ve heard the Oscar-winning soundtracks he composed. But you may not know his history as a musician and performer. He’s currently re-visiting that part of his career.

How the music in our favorite films is changing before our ears (Daily Cal)
Visuals have gotten a lot of the credit for what is making films more immersive. Less obvious is the way scores have changed the way we engage with films.

John Williams to Be Honored at BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards (Variety)
Composer John Williams will be honored for his 60-year career by Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) at its 34th annual Film, TV and Visual Media Awards. The event is scheduled for May 9 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

John Carpenter will provide the score for new Halloween movie (EW)
Blumhouse Productions founder Jason Blum has confirmed that director John Carpenter will provide the score for the new Halloween film, which Blumhouse is releasing Oct. 19.

Making Music For The Movies (JPR)
The wide-eyed man walks down the hallway to a particular door. What awaits behind it? Is the music happy and carefree, or tense, with the sound of low string notes?

Rampage: Inside the Globe-Trotting Mission to Compose Its Score (Variety)
Composer Andrew Lockington took a decidedly international approach to his music for the Dwayne Johnson actioner Rampage, including traveling to Costa Rica to record the sounds of wild howler monkeys and employing a Ugandan children’s choir.

Jamie xx and SebastiAn score Romain Gavras film (Mixmag)
French filmmaker Romain Gavras has tapped Jamie xx and SebastiAn to soundtrack his forthcoming film The World Is Yours. The film will premiere at Cannes Film Festival this year, which is taking place between May 8 – 19.

A Quiet Place Composer Couldn’t Afford a Full Orchestra (The Hollywood Reporter)
The modest budget worked to Marco Beltrami’s advantage: “I didn’t need it because the film is truly intimate and contained.”

What It’s Like Auditioning To Be Star Trek’s Newest Composer (Kotaku)
This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, I talked with composer Austin Wintory (Journey, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate) about what it was like auditioning to be the composer for Star Trek: Discovery, and why he’s glad he did it even though he didn’t get the gig.

Venom Movie Soundtrack Gets Black Panther Composer (Movie Web)
Composer Ludwig Goransson is moving from one major comic book movie to another. Goransson recently composed the original score for Marvel’s Black Panther, and now Sony has tapped the Swedish composer to score the soundtrack for their upcoming Venom movie, starring Tom Hardy.

Predicting Who Will Score The Next James Bond (Film School Rejects)
Everyone has their own idea of what James Bond should sound like. Some cling on to the big band sound of John Barry, others like the more modernist style of Thomas Newman, and there’s at least one person out there who thinks it should be Junkie XL.

Young M.A.’s Music Will Be The Soundtrack To A Pornhub Adult Film (Vibe)
Young M.A. is gearing up for the release of her debut album Her Story in the Making, and she’s using her directing chops to call the shots for a new PornHub feature film The Gift, in which her songs will be the soundtrack to the “women only” production in “key scenes.”

Top TV Song Last Week: “Unknown (To You)” by Jacob Banks (Tunefind)
Our top TV Song last week is by Jacob Banks, featured in the final moments of a recent episode of Suits. Fans of Banks will recognize this is a new take on the track “Unknown” from his 2015 EP. 

In death, Leonard Cohen’s voice popping up in hit TV shows, video games (The Star)
Since his death in 2016, the late Canadian singer’s gravelly baritone has been popping up everywhere from highbrow Montreal art exhibits to the end credits of the hit American TV shows Billions and The Americans.

Q&A with Michael Paquette, the fierce lead composer of Trailer Park (Goldo Sync Report)
Since joining the Trailer Park team in 2010, Michael has been an instrumental force behind trailers, promos, and teasers for blockbuster films, such as The Hunger Games, Crimson Peak, Power Rangers, and Jurassic World, as well as the global television phenomenon, Stranger Things.

All of the songs covered in Westworld (Thrillist)
It’s kind of hard to keep track of every song that ever had its day in Sweetwater. Thus, behold: this compendium of all the cover songs Westworld has used, where it appeared, and (likely) why.

Kate Simko releases her score for independent film 20 Weeks (Resident Advisor)
For this soundtrack, Simko pared down her London Electronic Orchestra ensemble to a smaller lineup of single string and harp players. It’s meant to “create a more naked and exposed sound reflecting the vulnerability of the characters,” according to a press release.

These Are The Best Music Movies Of All Time (Refinery 29)
If you can’t attend Coachella and listen to the music, you can watch movies about bands. Movies that capture a slice of the backstage dynamics going on, perhaps, at Coachella. Movies that mimic the thrill of live music performances, and leave you buzzing. Movies you can sing along to.

Netflix’s Lost in Space Reboot Borrows Grandeur of Original Score (Variety)
With every reboot of a classic TV series, the producers face a key question: Reprise the musical theme of the old show or go for an entirely new sound appropriate to a new cast and concept? Zack Estrin, executive producer of Netflix’s Lost in Space, chose the former, with a twist.

All of the Music Played During Atlanta Season 2 (Complex)
Make sure keep coming back to this post, as we’ll be updating it every week following a new episode of Atlanta Robbin’ Season air. Turn it up!

Kendrick Lamar’s ”Backseat Freestyle” record is featuring in the new trailer for Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer 2 movie (XXL Mag)
Kendrick Lamar is fresh off of curating a chart-topping soundtrack for the Black Panther movie, but his music is still being prominently featured in Hollywood. The newest trailer for The Equalizer 2 movie starring Denzel Washington features the Compton rapper’s “Backseat Freestyle” record being played throughout.

UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors 1st Birthday playlist (Edith Bowman)
Radio DJ and Soundtracking podcast host Edith Bowman was asked to create a playlist to celebrate the UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors’ 1st Birthday. Check out her excellent selections! 

Run The Jewels’ El-P to score Tom Hardy-starring Al Capone biopic (NME)
Run The Jewels‘ El-P will score the upcoming Tom Hardy-starring Al Capone biopic, Fonzo. It was announced previously that the project would be helmed by Josh Trank. The filmmaker is best-known for directing 2015’s Fantastic Four and Chronicle.

Here’s how news jingles are created (CNBC)
The origin of music news themes can be traced all the way back to when film studios began incorporating music and sounds in newsreels. The music says a lot about the network and even the newscast it introduces — even if most viewers might not notice it.

A sneak peak into the first ever #GMSPodcast (Guild of Music Supervisors)
Check out this behind the scenes preview of the Guild of Music Supervisors’ podcast with president Thomas Golubić and music supervisor Andrew Kahn of Good Ear Music Supervision (GEMS). 

Top TV Song Last Week: “Down the Road” by C2C (Tunefind)
Another punchy ends credits song to close out the show, this one is a bluesy earworm that was suggested by Silicon Valley  creator Mike Judge. Almost as eagerly anticipated as the new episode each week, Silicon Valley’s end credits song selections have a cult following all their own.

Secrets of the Score #015: Mateo Messina | Blockers (Goldo Sync Report)
Grammy-winning composer Mateo Messina has graced Oscar-winning films, indie hits, and popular television shows with his distinct, moving and wildly innovative musical voice.

Black Panther Soundtrack Meets Outkast With New Mixtape (CBR)
J. Period, who worked on last year’s Hamilton Mixtape, said his latest effort will “explore the roots of hip hop in the African drum, themes of empowerment and identity, and the musical intersections between the Afro-futuristic world of Black Panther and intergalactic funk of Outkast.”

Gaming

Kid Koala Channels Video Game Heaven On ‘Big Trouble in Little Battle’ (Clash)
The soundtrack to Floor Kids is entirely original, featuring 42 tracks and 71 minutes of original instrumental hip-hop and break music. We’re able to share ‘Big Trouble in Little Battle’ and it fuses an old skool feature with some 16Bit sounds, resulting in something strikingly original.

Grand Theft Auto 4’s music library getting pruned as licensing agreements expire (Polygon)
Grand Theft Auto 4’s music library is getting a trim as licensing agreements expire on the now decade-old game. So if you’re a player and you notice that an update coming at the end of the month wipes out some songs, this is what is going on.

Tommy Tallarico Interview About LEVEL 6 and Music in the Gaming Industry (VGCultureHQ)
VGCultureHQ had a unique opportunity to interview industry icon, Tommy Tallarico. Tommy has currently launched a Kickstarter to fund his sixth album, LEVEL 6, and he took the time out to speak with us about the album, why he’s so successful with his Kickstarter campaigns, and his take on music in the video game industry.

The Most Influential Piece of Music in Video Games Was Composed in 1888 (Kotaku)
Two monotonous chords, subdominant and tonic. Lonely abstract melodies appearing out of time, complementing the naked structure. You may not know its name, but you’ve heard this ambient piano piece somewhere before.

The key to writing an iconic video game theme is nailing those first few seconds (The A.V. Club)
Nobody buys a video game for its soundtrack, but, as the Game Boy’s Robocop made achingly clear, sometimes that soundtrack ends up being the most memorable part of the game.

Icelandic Choir Scores Soundtrack For Legendary Video Game (The Reykjavík Grapevine)
Schola Cantorum, the chamber choir of Reykjavík’s prominent Hallgrímskirkja, will be featured on the soundtrack by Bear McCreary for Sony‘s upcoming video game God Of War.

DOOM original game soundtrack released on vinyl for the first time (Vinyl Factory)
Demon slaying video game DOOM‘s original soundtrack is being released on vinyl for the first time, this summer by Laced Records. 

New Detroit: Become Human Video Dives Into Game’s Soundtrack (Twinfinite)
The latest preview video for Detroit: Become Human is all about the music, digging into its inspirations as well as how it impacts the story and its characters.

Ever heard of a “wet” soundtrack? Nier: Automata‘s composer Keiichi Okabe says it helped set the game apart (Games Radar)
When Nier: Automata arrived on PS4 and PC in February 2017, it made its presence known with a unique, eclectic soundtrack. Fourteen months later, the game has racked up a plethora of awards nominations and wins, including Excellence in Musical Score as part of the SXSW Gaming Awards and Best Score/Soundtrack from The Game Awards.

Checking the Score: Interview with Moss Composer Jason Graves (Hardcore Gamer)
Checking the Score is a feature about video game music, composers, musicians and tools of the trade. Hardcore Gamer recently had the privilege of interviewing Jason Graves, a renowned composer who has worked on countless film, television and video game scores.

Composing video game music for Virtual Reality: The role of music in VR (Gamasutra)
Virtual Reality is one of the newest platforms for gaming, and it’s an exciting time to be a video game composer.

The rise of the ambient video game (The outline)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its contemporaries are sensory soothing software several decades in the making.

God of War Soundtrack Gets Early Release on Spotify (Business Insider)
Ahead of the video game’s highly anticipated release, the God of War soundtrack composed by Bear McCreary has been released on Spotify – available on PlayStation Music.

VGM remixing: a hidden treasure trove of video game-inspired ear candy (Den of Geek)
The VGM remixing scene consists of a vast, eclectic group of enthusiastic amateurs and music industry professionals who have taken a love and respect for video and computer game soundtracks, and reinterpreted their favourites in a variety of surprising ways. 

Deadmau5 reveals he’s making his own first-person shooter video game (DJ Mag)
It’s no secret that Deadmau5 is a big gamer, he regularly streams games of PUBG and even has some cosmetic items on Rocket League — so it’ll come as no surprise that he’s developing his own first-person shooter.

Video Games Are Reshaping The Music Industry: Here’s How (I4U News)
Video games are making astounding advancements in sound and music—and they might have the power to influence the mainstream music industry because of those innovations.

Advertising

Meet Camille Hackney, The Atlantic Records Matchmaker Who Brokered The Music For That Cardi B Amazon Ad (Fast Company)
As EVP of brand partnerships, Camille Hackney is the person who brings together companies and artists like Bruno Mars and Lizzo.

Songs for Screens: How JanSport Tapped Artists (Who Already Were Customers) for Its Latest Ad Campaign (Variety)
Music supervisor Todd Porter’s latest project sees him shining a light on emerging artists like New York-based DJ/producer Equal, Seattle rock band Naked Giants and Sacramento rapper Chuuwee in a series of digital commercials and short films for American backpack brand JanSport

‘You’re seeing her story’: Paloma Faith scores hit with Skoda sync (Music Week)
Paloma Faith is set to secure a Top 40 hit with her song from the Skoda Karoq TV commercial. In the Midweek Chart, her cover of “Make Your Own Kind Of Music” – first released in 1969 by Mama Cass – is at No.35. 

Clio Awards Announce 2018 Music Marketing, Use of Music Juries (Billboard)
The Clio Music award segment honors work that spans artist promotion, music marketing, brand collaborations and the use of music in advertising.

Why Would an Ad Create the ‘Worst Song in the World’? (Adweek)
The amusing new ad from French food-and-sundries retailer Monoprix poses a pretty basic question: Why would a young woman suffer through an impossibly bad song instead of just skipping it? There’s an answer, but you have to wait until the end.

Sync Story: Inside Tinder/Findlay’s placement (Music Week)
Tinder’s #representlove initiative is campaigning for interracial couples to be represented by emojis on digital platforms. The online dating giant has launched a petition, and its Tinder Emoji spot distils its argument into engaging video form. ‘Isn’t it time emoji represented all love?’ it asks.

Selling Products With a Swelling Score (The New York Times)
Classical music has long had a place in commercials, but now it is being used as more than a jokey device or a signal of sophistication.

How the iPhone X made this dance music duo’s career (NY Post)
The tech giant Apple is known for its crazed fanboys that wait hours in line for the latest releases, but few people have as much reason to love the company as the dance-music duo Sofi Tukker.

Sync Story: Inside Lady Leshurr’s Captain Morgan placement (Music Week)
Set to a banging beat from producer Swifta Beater, Live Like A Captain finds Lady Leshurr extolling the virtues of responsible drinking. The Birmingham MC stars in a video for the two-minute promo, which reprises Rae Sremmurd’s viral mannequin challenge campaign and was used to launch Captain Morgan’s new Live Like A Captain campaign.

UK Top Shazamed Ads: April 11 | April 17 (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 02 – 08 | April 09 – 15 (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 2nd to April 15th.

Business

Riptide Music Group expands creative team (Music Week)
The sync and rights management company, based in California, provides music for advertising, movie trailers, TV programming and promos, major motion pictures, video games, and multi-media production.

Keywords adds music services to its offering with Cord and Laced acquisitions (PC Games Insider)
Games giant Keywords is once again splashing its considerable cash with some acquisitions to bolster its new music services offering. The firm has snapped up Cord Worldwide, a consulting service that’s focused on music branding and strategy, and Laced Music, a record label that centres about video games music.

BMG acquires Asia-Pacific production music firm Big Bang & Fuzz (MBW)
BMG has made a play for the Asia-Pacific sync business through the acquisition of production music house Big Bang & Fuzz (BBF). The firm will allow BMG’s Production Music arm to service the Asia-Pacific region for TV and radio broadcasting, film and trailer production, advertising and brand clients.

Advice

Best Ways To Approach Music Supervisors – MUBUTV: Insider Series – SE. 7 (MUBUTV)
MUBUTV’s Ritch Esra sits down with top Music Supervisor Sarah Webster (Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2) to discuss the role of Music Supervision today – What it is, how it’s changed over the last few years and how to most effectively get your music heard.

Innovative Sync Licensing Opportunities to Keep On Your Radar (Symphonic)
Symphonic take a look at developing avenues for Sync licensing placements that you’ll, without a doubt, want to keep in mind for your next release. Check it out!

Artist Advice: How Do You Get Music In Commercials? (Magnetic Magazine)
There is a process that takes time and requires timing, luck and skill for you to get your song in a commercial.

Events

The UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors Masterclass – How to Contract a Composer (London, April 25th)
The final masterclass will be on the topic of contracting a composer and will feature Maggie Rodford and Alexander Ross of Wiggins.

Music Professionals in Entertainment Panel (Los Angeles, April 26th)
Want to learn more about having a career in Film & TV music? Join this free music in media panel discussion to learn the essentials of having a career in the Film & TV Music world with some of the top people in the industry. To RSVP, please email adrianna@whitebearpr.com.

Music Media Summit (Santa Barbara, April 29th – May 1st)
The Music Media Summit brings together the businesses of music, TV, film and technology for 2 days and 3 nights of speakers, meetings, workshops and a little fun. Our mission is to create an intimate environment to make deals, build relationships and share ideas

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.

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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