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
Insecure Music Supervisor Shares His Process For Keeping The Show’s Soundtrack Fresh (Complex)
Kier Lehman has a dope job. Not only does he get paid to hang out with Issa Rae and Melina Matsoukas, he has to talk with them about music, since he’s the music supervisor for Insecure.
Q&A with David Lynch’s Music Collaborator Dean Hurley – Part 1: Working On and “Protecting the Experience” of Twin Peaks: The Return (Synchblog)
Dean Hurley is a wearer of many hats – in addition to running David Lynch’s Asymmetrical Studios, he is also the director’s longtime musical collaborator and music supervisor. In this two-part feature, he speaks to us about working with Lynch on Twin Peaks: The Return, and “protecting the experience” of the show.
Hans Zimmer’s Inescapable Shadow (The Ringer)
The man behind the bombastic scores of Christopher Nolan’s biggest movies changed how Hollywood sounded; now, it sounds like only him.
James Gunn used Tyler Bates’ music during shooting of Guardians of the Galaxy (Variety)
It’s fairly unusual for a director to ask a composer to write music for his movie even before shooting begins. But it’s practically unheard of to play that music on the set while the actors are performing. Yet that’s exactly what happened on Guardians of the Galaxy..
Top TV Song Last Week: Right Now by Leo Soul (tunefind)
Last week’s top TV song took some detective work, but tunefind finally tracked it down: Leo Soul’s “Right Now” took the top spot after it played during a steamy scene between Tommy and LaKeisha on Power.
Is the success of a movie score measured only on screen? (The Washington Post)
Unlike nearly every other craft area of filmmaking, a film’s score has the potential to exist as a separate aesthetic product, as a piece of music that can be enjoyed in and of itself without the attendant images.
Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirmed to Score Live-Action The Little Mermaid Alongside Alan Menken (/FILM)
Lin-Manuel Miranda continues his streak as Disney’s darling, first jumping on the House of Mouse’s ship to co-write the songs to 2016’s animated Polynesian-set adventure, Moana. He then was announced as the co-lead of Mary Poppins Returns, and now, Miranda is signing on to score the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid with one of his idols, and the original composer of the 1989 animated classic, Alan Menken.
How Atomic Blonde director David Leitch used music to turn a stuffy Cold War film into a spy thriller (Uproxx)
What’s better than a ’80s thriller starring Charlize Theron as an undercover spy in Berlin? One with a killer soundtrack that highlights her epic fight scenes and sudden epiphanies with classics from New Order, Kanye West, and David Bowie.
First Ever Emmy Nominees for Music Supervision (tunefind)
As tunefind have covered on their blog, The Television Academy will award the first ever Emmy for Music Supervision this September, finally fully recognizing the role of music in creative storytelling. Congratulations to the historic first nominees in this new category, announced July 13th.
The Handmaid’s Tale’s Michael Perlmutter on the rise of the music supervisor (CBC radio)
Perlmutter, a music supervisor, is happy he’s been recognized for this work on The Handmaid’s Tale because he says it’s part of a larger focus on the craft and art of music supervision that’s happening right now — which also includes finally making them eligible for Emmy awards.
Team Behind Suicide Squad: The Album Reunites for Netflix’s Bright (Variety)
With the success of “Suicide Squad: The Album,” Atlantic Records is re-teaming with director David Ayer for another film-music project, “Bright: The Album,” the companion to the Netflix movie Bright starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton.
Tyler Bates Balances Careers as Guitarist and In-Demand Film Composer (Variety)
Composer Tyler Bates is difficult to pigeonhole. At times he’s the maestro of fun, lavish symphonic scores such as the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. At other times, he’s been the heavily made-up guitarist accompanying Marilyn Manson on worldwide concert tours.
The rise of movies about boys with good playlists (The Verge)
Male pastiche film directors are marketing their movies with soundtracks that are essentially personal playlists. Those playlists aren’t necessarily relevant to the story, or organized for emotional effect. They’re simply filled with songs that fit the director’s personal definition of cool.
Gaming
NBA 2K18 Soundtrack Revealed With 50 Tracks Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, More (Forbes)
We don’t know much about the gameplay or features for NBA 2K18 yet, but on Friday we learned about the official soundtrack.
Dear Esther is the latest video game soundtrack to go on tour (IB Times)
Rather than a straightforward concert performing the soundtrack composed by The Chinese Room co-founder and host of Classic FM’s video game show Jessica Curry, the music will accompany a live play-through of the 2012 game.
Video game music systems at GDC 2017: pros and cons for composers (Gamasutra)
In the previous article, Winifred Phillips looked at the basic nature of five interactive music systems discussed in these five GDC 2017 presentations. In this article she asks some important questions: why were those systems used? What was attractive about each interactive music strategy, and what were the challenges inherent in using those systems?
How an indie game became the star of a Nine Inch Nails music video (Gamasutra)
Speaking to Ars Technica, game developer Jeff Minter shared the strange set of circumstances that landed his indie game Polybius the starring role in a Nine Inch Nails music video.
Advertising
Sync Story: Inside Mallrat’s Google Pixel (Music Week)
From the same corner of the pop world as Grimes and Skrillex, Brisbane artist and brand new Nettwerk Music signing Mallrat is beginning her ascent in earnest. Taken from the teenager’s Uninvited EP, out now, “For Rea”l has been chosen by Google to soundtrack their colourful new Pixel smartphone spot, and the match makes perfect sense.
UK Top Shazamed Ads: July 11 | July 18 (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): July 03 – June 09 | June 10 – July 16 (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 July 3rd to July 16th.
Portugal. The Man’s ‘Feel It Still’ Leads Top TV Commercials Chart for June (Billboard)
Portugal. The Man’s hit “Feel It Still” debuts at No. 1 on Billboard & Clio’s Top TV Commercials chart, powered by Shazam, for June, after the song’s appearance in Apple iPad Pro’s “On Any Given Wednesday” commercial.
Marian Hill: ‘An Apple advert kick-started our career’ (BBC News)
Within days of the advert airing, the song had racked up 12 million views on YouTube and Down became the most searched-for song in America – ahead of Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars.
Business and Legal
Synchtank Client Spotlight: Cutting Edge On Launching Music.Film (Synchblog)
Cutting Edge Group Sync Manager Alex Sheridan takes us through the launch of music.film, the go-to destination for licensing film score.
Lessons Learned From LAMC: Streaming, Syncs and Immigration (Billboard)
The Latin Alternative Music Conference hosted a series of panel discussions tailored for the different conundrums that arise when U.S., Latin and Latin American artists try to swim in the mainstream of the music business in the United States.
Music Supe Chip Herter Will Head New Haystack Library for Butter (studiodaily)
Music supervisor Chip Herter has been named Director of Creative Sync Services at Butter Music and Sound. The Los Angeles-based position will include heading up the company’s new music library, Haystack.
Synch Exclusive Part 2: Tony Scudellari (SynchAudio)
As Senior Vice President of Television Music at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Tony Scudellari is a major force in today’s music and television industries. In his role, he oversees music for all of Sony Pictures Television’s programming, which includes new media.
Neil Ormandy Co-Writes James Arthur’s Hit “Say You Won’t Let Go,” And Builds Successful Sync Company, SILO Music (Songwriter Universe)
Neil Ormandy has had a notable career as a versatile songwriter, producer and musician, and he’s built a successful sync company called SILO Music, which specializes in creating music for TV shows, films, movie trailers and commercials.
Fox Promotes Mamie Coleman To SVP Creative Music And Production (Deadline)
The Fox Broadcasting Company has found a new SVP Creative Music and Production in Mamie Coleman. She has been promoted to the position where she will continue to oversee all day-to-day music production at the network, negotiating and executing the music and talent licensing agreements for all of Fox’s primetime show marketing and promotions.
Jimi Hendrix Estate Renews Licensing Deal With Sony Music Entertainment (Variety)
In a year that marks both the 75th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix’s birth and the 50th anniversary of his galvanizing debut album, “Are You Experienced?,” Sony Music Entertainment and Experience Hendrix L.L.C. have agreed to renew their licensing partnership, which was first signed in 2009. The agreement covers the continued “curation” and distribution of the rock icon’s catalog and archives via all media formats and platforms.
Sony Music And MelodyVR Agree Licensing Deal (VRFocus)
MelodyVR, a virtual reality (VR) music content platform which is a subsidiary of EVR Holdings PLC, has announced a new licensing and distribution agreement today with Sony Music Entertainment. This will give MelodyVR the right to produce and distribute VR content created with Sony Music artists.
Tips and Tricks
On Making Music Supervisors Happy: Be Prepared with Instrumentals, Alternative Mixes (Hypebot)
Placement of music in TV and Film via sync licensing is growing into one of the most lucrative means through which artists get their music into the ears of consumers. Music supervisor act as the gatekeepers to such sync deals however. Here we look how to keep them happy and up your chances of a placement.
Events
Key Worldwide Music Industry & Sync Events List 2017 – Updated (Synchblog)
We’ve updated this gargantuan list for you yet again! You won’t find a more comprehensive list of music industry events out there, bookmark it now.
London Sync Sessions (Barcelona, 14/09/17 – 15/09/17)
In the true Glastonbury spirit of “taking a year off to let the grass grow”, 2017 see’s the London Sync Sessions move to Barcelona. In collaboration with Future Music Forum, they will be bringing the same pulsing debate and top tier networking to the sunny streets of Spain’s Catalonian capital.
Music Week Sync Awards 2017 (London, 19th October 2017)
Music Week’s Sync Awards will return for the 4th year in 2017, once again celebrating the best sync individuals, teams and placements across a broad range of media over the past 12 months.
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