Film and TV
How Blockbuster Soundtracks Are Launching New Artists to Stardom (Rolling Stone)
Industry insiders on why, now more than ever, placement on hit soundtracks like Black Panther is a key step in a rising act’s pop breakthrough.
Neil Young shares original soundtrack for fantasy western Paradox: Stream (CoS)
Young’s “fantasy western” is part film, part concert, and the soundtrack is comprised of studio and live performances from Young and his band, The Promise of the Real, as well as session players Jim Keltner and Paul Bushnell and an orchestra recorded on the MGM Soundstage.
Soundtrack for Stephen Hawking Film Theory of Everything Set for Reissue on Transparent Blue Vinyl (Billboard)
The soundtrack to The Theory of Everything will get a limited-edition vinyl reissue on April 27. The re-release follows the deaths of the film’s composer, Jóhann Jóhannsson, on Feb. 9, and Hawking, on Wednesday.
Edgar Wright Announces ‘Baby Driver Volume 2’ Soundtrack (/Film)
Baby Driver, the musical that substituted car cashes for dance numbers, is about to unleash a whole new set of songs for your listening pleasure. Director Edgar Wright has announced ‘Baby Driver Volume 2: The Score for a Score’, featuring more songs, exclusive tracks, remixes, and more.
The Greatest Showman soundtrack equals Adele’s UK chart run (BBC)
The Greatest Showman soundtrack is number one in the UK for the 11th week in a row – more than any other album in modern chart history except Adele’s 21.
Top TV Song Last Week: “Alps” by Novo Amor & Ed Tullett (Tunefind)
The big season finale of This Is Us gives us our top TV song last week, playing through the end montage as we see Kate and Toby get married to the sounds of “Alps”, by Ed Tullett and Novo Amor.
Annihilation: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury Talk Its Haunting Score (Rolling Stone)
The Portishead member and the film music veteran on making the human and alien sounds of the sci-fi thriller.
HEADPHONE HIGHLIGHTS: Dean Hurley: Image and Sound (Red Bull Radio)
David Lynch’s music supervisor selects influential film and TV soundtrack moments, from Taxi Driver and Ghost Dog to Ren and Stimpy.
A Truly Chicago Story: Inside The Musical Universe Of The Chi (NYLON)
Music supervisor Barry Cole dove deep into Chicago’s rich history, both its past as a hotbed of blues and R&B and its present turn as a well of soulful, honest, incisive music.
Behind the Music: Thoroughbreds’ Erik Friedlander (Hidden Remote)
As Thoroughbreds hits theaters nationwide, Hidden Remote has acquired the opportunity to interview a key crew member of the film: the composer, Erik Friedlander.
The Americans Music Supervisors Pick Their 10 Favorite Song Cues (Variety)
From Fleetwood Mac to Roberta Flack, Pete Townshend to Peter Gabriel, P.J. Bloom and Amanda Krieg Thomas on the series’ best musical moments.
Three Billboards Composer Carter Burwell to Headline Ghent Film Festival (Variety)
American composer Carter Burwell will headline the 18th World Soundtrack Awards with a live concert as part of the Ghent Film Festival, on Oct. 17 in Ghent, Belgium.
Listen to the Best Songs From Movie Soundtracks in March (The Wrap)
TheWrap asked up-and-coming singer Russell Dickerson to compile his favorite tracks from the movies in theaters as well as those about to hit, like the long-brewing horror sequel “Strangers: Prey at Night.”
Critics Pick the Standout Song Moments on TV (IndieWire)
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Tuesday. This week’s question: What is the best use of a song on a TV show?
How Atlanta Gets Its Sound: Everybody Plays a Part, Says Music Supervisor Fam Udeorj (Newsweek)
Music supervisors Jen Malone and Fam Udeorji are responsible for curating Atlanta’s sound. In an interview with Newsweek, Udeorji—a staff writer before transitioning to his current role—explained how all of the creative team is involved in the highly collaborative process of choosing the show’s soundtrack.
The Head and the Heart Rule Top TV Songs Chart for February 2018 (Billboard)
The Head and the Heart’s “Rivers and Roads” rules The Hollywood Reporter’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind and Shazam, for February, thanks to its appearance in ABC’s The Good Doctor.
How Wes Anderson Perfected the Music-Nerd Soundtrack (Pitchfork)
Charting the impact of the director’s use of music in his work across the last 20 years in anticipation of his latest film, Isle of Dogs.
Jack Antonoff on the Love, Simon soundtrack: ‘I wanted to go all-in’ (EW)
The Bleachers’ frontman chats with EW about the importance of Love, Simon, how he curated the soundtrack, and what he loves about music in movies (hint: It all comes back to Reality Bites).
Sync Story: Inside the Shape Of Water / Andrew, Gordon & Steel’s placement (Music Week)
When songwriters Mark Gordon and Paul Steel went to America for last June’s LA Sync Mission songwriting camp, hosted by the BPI, MPA and DIT, they had no idea what would come of it.
The Music of High Maintenance Isn’t Your Dad’s Stoner Jams (Pitchfork)
The show about a weed dealer (that isn’t actually about the weed dealer) extends its multicultural empathy to its soundtrack.
“The Soundtrack Show” is a New Podcast for Film Score Lovers (Nerdist)
The Soundtrack Show – a HowStuffWorks production – delves into film scores, offering a different look at how movies and TV shows use music.
13 Songs Gilmore Girls Fans Will Forever Associate With The Show, From “O’Oh” To “Where You Lead” (Bustle)
If Gilmore Girls holds any record in the TV Hall of Fame, it has to be the number of pop culture references it managed to reference per episode.
Sebastian Robertson on Survivors Guide to Prison Score, Writing With His Famous Dad (Rolling Stone)
The seasoned composer discusses drone-oriented new doc soundtrack, why he was reluctant to follow his father Robbie into the family business.
Skywalker Sound and the challenges of making audio for VR film (engadget)
Lauded Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, best known for his work on movies such as Birdman and The Revenant, recruited Skywalker Sound, an arm of the Lucasfilm motion picture group, to work on making the best spatial, 360-degree audio possible for Carne y Arena.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Has a Music-Only Cut Available As a Bonus Feature (/Film)
For fans who buy Star Wars: The Last Jedi, in any format, there will be a way to access a music-only cut of the movie. That means you’ll be able to watch a version of the movie that lets you hear only the Oscar-nominated score composed by John Williams as you watch.
In memoriam: music supervisors Greg Sill, Cathi Black and Pilar McCurry
The music supervision community is devastated to announce that it has lost three members: Greg Sill, Cathi Black and Pilar McCurry. Please check out this tribute to Greg, and donate to The Addiction Recovery (MAP) Program in his memory. The GMS is planning a vigil to remember and celebrate the lives of Pilar, Greg and Cathi in mid-April and will update everyone as plans are confirmed.
Gaming
The Nordic Folk of God of War: Composer Bear McCreary on Making the Next Iconic Video Game Score (Billboard)
Emmy-winning composer-musician Bear McCreary has scored everything from The Walking Dead to Battlestar Galactica, but it took nearly four years for his most daunting project to come to fruition: crafting the music for Sony’s new action-adventure video game, God of War.
Composer hopes Cuphead Juno nod will change perceptions about video game music (CBC News)
When orchestral percussionist Kristofer Maddigan began his years-long journey composing the soundtrack for a video game his friends were creating, he mostly kept the passion project to himself. As a genre, video game music doesn’t get a lot of respect.
Classic FM announces PlayStation in Concert: a celebration of video game music (Classic FM)
Classic FM is partnering with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and PlayStation for the live world premiere of PlayStation in Concert, at the Royal Albert Hall.
Video Game Composers: The Tech of Music in Virtual Reality (GDC 2018) (Gamasutra)
In her previous article, video game composer Winifred Phillips focused on some abstract, creative concerns facing video game music composers and audio folks working in VR. In this article, she turns her attention to more concrete technical issues.
Video Game Composers Who Deserve Your Attention (ComicsVerse)
Today, video games have epic soundtracks comparable to that of big-budget Hollywood films. Too often, however, the people behind the music, the great video game composers, are overlooked.
Kid Koala reveals the Origins of his “Build Your Crew” video from the Floor Kids soundtrack (CoS)
The video game song was inspired by Grandmaster Flash, the Castelvania soundtrack, and more.
The Untold Story of The Sims, Your First Favorite Jazz Record (Noisey)
The songs that soundtracked the game’s Build Mode introduced millions of unknowing kids to new age jazz. The musicians behind it were just trying to make something that wouldn’t interfere with your landscaping.
Advertising
Supervisor Spotlight: Dan Neale (The UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors)
Dan Neale is Managing Director of Native Music, the supervision and production company who work on bespoke compositions, re-records, music placement and searches and more. He’s has been working in the music and advertising industries for many years and specifically working in sync for close to 14 years.
30 Songs We’ve Discovered Thanks To Apple Commercials (Synchblog)
We take a walk down memory lane with some of Apple’s finest music moments from their commercials.
Sync Story: Inside the Jorja Smith/Spotify BRITs placement (Music Week)
During last month’s BRIT Awards, those watching on TV were treated to a special collaboration between Spotify and Jorja Smith during the commercial break.
UK Top Shazamed Ads: March 13 | March 20 (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): March 05 – March 11 (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 March 5th to March 11th.
Business
Clickamix sees $670m opportunity in sports music-licensing (Music Ally)
A $670m pot of music-licensing revenue that hasn’t been tapped? That’s the kind of claim that gets rightsholders’ interest. Check out this great article on our client Clickamix.
Karen Lamberton promoted at RCA Records to EVP, Soundtracks and Film & TV Licensing (MBW)
In her new role, Lamberton will be working to modernize policy within the field of licensing, as well as building opportunities for exposure, increasing revenue and strengthening the soundtracks department.
Advice
MUBUTV’s new Insider Series (MUBUTV)
Check out MUBUTV’s new Insider Series which focuses on the best ways for songwriters, artists, publishers and labels to find sync licensing opportunities.
Artist Advice Column: Music Licensing 101 (Magnetic Magazine)
This 101 will give you an intro into how to write music for commercials, TV and more, pitching, legal concerns and more.
Songwriters and producers: find out how to get funding for LA Sync Mission (M Magazine)
The annual LA Sync Mission, hosted by DIT, BPI & MPA, gives industry folk and artists the opportunity to benefit from a unique insight into the operation of the lucrative sync licensing market in the US.
SXSW Panel Recording – Sync Unsigned: A new model for unsigned artists (SXSW)
Check out this recording of the ‘Polyamorous: Sync Unsigned’ workshop which was held to help guide independent talent through effective new ways to have music placed without having a long term or exclusive publishing deal in place.
How do you write music for a true crime podcast? (Classic FM)
Thomas Hewitt Jones is the composer behind the futuristic music for our brand new true crime podcast, Case Notes. So we asked him how he’d come up with his ideas for this unique project.
Events
The UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors Masterclasses – Score Record – 18th April 2018 | How to Contract a Composer – 25th April 2018
The third session will be focused on score record, led by Maggie Rodford and Hilary Skewes, and the final masterclass will be on the topic of contracting a composer and will feature Maggie Rodford and Alexander Ross of Wiggin.
BASCA presents: Media Composer Conference (London, April 20th)
The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has curated a dedicated and focused day for media composers, bringing together industry experts and high profile composers from the worlds of film, TV, adverts and gaming.
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.
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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