Film and TV
Sex Education Will School You in Music, Too (Tunefind)
Sex Education, the new Netflix original series from the UK, features a stellar soundtrack bringing together tracks from Beth Ditto, The Smiths, Chip Taylor, Ann Peebles, Bikini Kill and many more. Plus a ton of existing and original tracks from American rocker Ezra Furman.
Alfonso Cuarón’s New Roma Album to Feature Beck, Patti Smith, El-P, T Bone Burnett (Variety)
Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón is the curator of “Music Inspired by the Film Roma,” which was already teased by a Billie Eilish track, and is now revealed to include songs from an eclectic lineup of rock, pop and EDM acts.
Music Supervisor Spotlight: Kerri Drootin (Pop Disciple)
Passionate Emmy nominated music supervisor speaks on tracking down Lucio Battisti’s widow to complete the Italian soundtrack of our dreams for Master of None, the challenge of getting artists to approve their songs for the purpose of psychological torture on The Good Place, going out with an expensive bang for The Office series finale, and her most memorable music pitch that was mistaken for an act of terror.
SLC Punk! at 20: The Director, Cast & Music Supervisor Look Back on the Cult Classic (Billboard)
Two decades after its premiere, Merendino, Michael Goorjian (Heroin Bob), Annabeth Gish (Trish), and music supervisor Melanie Miller look back at what made the film a cult classic.
The Music of True Detective Subtly Connects Every Season (Esquire)
T Bone Burnett breaks down the sonic atmosphere of True Detective Season 3, and details the new song he wrote for it with Andrew Bird.
Bertrand Tavernier Launches New Effort Restoring French Film Scores (Variety)
For the past several months, the filmmaker has been working on a project honoring several pioneering French composers, restoring several pieces and putting together a program that he presents on Saturday January 19 in conjunction with UniFrance’s Rendez-Vous With French Cinema.
Beautiful Boy demonstrates how music and film should interact (Beat)
Though the cast of Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan bring the narrative to life, it is Beautiful Boy’s carefully curated soundtrack which elevates the film into a realm entrenched in realism.
Legacies Soundtrack Features Linkin Park and Avicii Covers for Top TV Songs List (Hollywood Reporter)
Tommee Profitt produced the Linkin Park cover of “In the End” performed by Jung Youth and Fleurie, along with a cover of Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’ performed by Fleurie for The CW series Legacies.
2018 Was An Incredible Year For The Soundtrack (Forbes)
On the charts and in our headphones, the musical soundtrack dominated 2018. “Shallow.” “This Is Me.” “All the Stars.” Songs transcended the big screen into radio rotation and streaming playlists, becoming as popular as, well, pop music. Just how consumed were the tracks composed for the silver screen? A quick look …
The Breaking Bad Synch That Broke Open ZZK Records (Billboard)
“All of a sudden Breaking Bad happened and Chancha became a star in Argentina, known for that scene [in the desert],” Grant Dull, the label’s founder, said recently in Rio de Janeiro. “For Chancha, it was a before and an after.”
Deadmau5 on His Scoring Debut for Netflix’s Polar: ‘I Wanted to Wait for the Right Thing’ (Billboard)
Deadmau5 responded with an electronic score that stretches from anxious to meditative, noisy to warm and melodic. “It’s a really busy, colorful movie,” says deadmau5.
Oscar Music Surprises: No Dolly Parton or First Man, but Terence Blanchard, Gillian Welch Bust In (Variety)
Tuesday’s Oscar music nominations produced some of the day’s biggest surprises (yes to Gillian Welch, no to Justin Hurwitz), inevitabilities (Diane Warren is in, like clockwork) and near-inevitabilities that still produced a sigh of relief (Terence Blanchard, un-snubbed at last).
Hear Gerard Way Cover Simon and Garfunkel in The Umbrella Academy Trailer (Rolling Stone)
Former My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way adds an emo-punk spark to Simon & Garfunkel’s “A Hazy Shade of Winter” in the new trailer for upcoming Netflix superhero series The Umbrella Academy, based on the musician’s comic book series of the same name with illustrator Gabriel Bá.
Top TV Song Last Week: “Love Really Hurts Without You” by Billy Ocean (Tunefind)
No surprise here. After breaking Tunefind records last week, Netflix series Sex Education has our top TV song of the week with a hit from the legendary Billy Ocean.
Music Supervisor Spotlight: Daniel Payne (GMS UK & Europe)
This month we feature an exclusive interview with Daniel Payne, Director of Music at Soho Music, who shares insights into his career to date and what inspired him to pursue a career in supervision.
The 61st GRAMMY Awards nominations 2019 – Complete list (Routenote)
Congrats to music supervisors Robin Urdang, Michael Hill, Brian Ross, and John Houlihan who are nominated for a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Gaming
Interview: How PES 2019 found its music mojo (Laced Records)
Laced Records spoke to music supervisor Lauren Wilson of sync agency Record-Play about using licensed music to push Pro Evolution Soccer forward.
Video Game Menu Music Gets Its Own Tribute Album (Kotaku)
The music we listen to as we play our favorite games is nice, but what about the music we hear when we aren’t playing? The Materia Collective community celebrates the music of the start screen with Menu: An Homage To Game Title Themes, a 52 track remix album featuring music from Final Fantasy, The Witcher, Mario Kart, Doki Doki Literature Club and more.
Tips, Tools and Guidance: VR Assets for the Game Music Composer (Gamasutra)
Composer Winifred Phillips updates her list of resources to help video game music composers become more comfortable in the world of VR audio development.
Making Videogame Music with External Collaborators by Ovidio Escobedo (Gamasutra)
Video game development teams have always been known for being multi-disciplinary, conformed by people from different departments. Learning to communicate and understand each other is a continuous work in progress. However, there might be external collaborators who aren’t always around, and communicating with them is even more complicated. Such is the tale of musicians vs developers.
Advertising
Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ accompanies Budweiser’s next Super Bowl ad (Star Tribune)
Bob Dylan, Minnesota’s musical counterculture icon, has teamed with the famous Clydesdales and loaned one of his signature protest songs for a Budweiser beer television ad scheduled to run during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3.
Songs for Screens: Beyond Bohemian Rhapsody, 2018 Was a Record Sync Year for Queen (Variety)
As Bohemian Rhapsody approaches a landmark $800 million at the global box office, another Queen milestone quietly took place in 2018. With appearances in nationwide campaigns for Amazon, Ram Trucks, Google, Peloton, Silk Almondmilk and many more, Queen’s music was licensed by more blue-chip brands than any other calendar year.
How to Be Your Own Music Supervisor: Notes from DDB Chicago’s Alec Stern (Musicbed)
Alec Stern has placed music for some of the biggest brands in the world, including Jeep, McDonald’s and Miller Lite. Here he offers his advice on how you can do the same and in turn transform your films and make your clients happier than ever.
Adam Scott and 2 Chainz Star in Expensify’s Super Bowl Teaser: A Music Video ‘You Can Expense’ (Adweek)
Expensify is teasing its first Super Bowl spot with a humorous music video titled “Expensify This” starring Parks and Recreation actor Adam Scott and rapper 2 Chainz.
Business
BMG ups Patrick Joest to Executive Vice President, Global Partnerships & Synch (MBW)
BMG has promoted Patrick Joest to Executive Vice President, Global Partnerships & Synch. Based at BMG’s head office in Berlin, Germany, Joest will report directly to CEO Hartwig Masuch.
Independent labels optimistic about sync opportunities in 2019 (Music Ally)
The UK’s independent-music trade body AIM is preparing for its first AIM Sync global sync-licensing conference, which takes place in London on 28 January. Ahead of the event, some of the speakers told Music Ally about their hopes for sync-licensing in 2019, from an independent perspective.
KPM’s Music Library digitised for streaming platforms and sync (Music Week)
The move by Sony/ATV Music Publishing division EMI Production Music means every recording in KPM’s catalogue is now available for sync licensing and is also on the leading digital music services. The library contains over 30,000 recordings, including the themes to UK TV programmes such as Grandstand, ITV News At Ten, the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage and Grange Hill.
Producer Robert Townson Exits Soundtrack Label Varèse Sarabande After Three Decades (Variety)
Robert Townson, the veteran producer who helped build Varèse Sarabande into L.A.’s leading soundtrack label, is leaving after more than 30 years to launch a new venture producing live concerts of film music.
Tips and Tricks
Top tips for sync licensing (M Magazine)
Ahead of AIM Sync on 28 January, speakers Tim Dellow (Transgressive Records), Emma Lomas (Beggars Group), Pete Beck (Believe), Clemmie Woodhouse (Ninja Tune), Ayla Owen (BBH), Tristan Wilson (Downtown Music Publishing) and Ed Horrox (4AD) offer up some expert advice on the world of sync licensing.
A Music Supervisor’s Guide to Putting Yourself Out There (Spotify for Artists)
As the music supervisor for TV shows like Dear White People and Queen Sugar, Morgan Rhodes is equal parts curator and DJ. We talked to her about where she gets her inspiration, how she finds new artists to work with, and why as an artist you should always be easy to find.
Events
AIM Sync 2019 – January 28th (London)
Taking place on January 28th at the Barbican Centre, the full day global conference will feature future-facing topics, interactive sessions and expert insight on the latest developments in sync.
9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards – February 13th (Los Angeles)
The 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards will honor creative achievement in music supervision within the film, television, trailers, and games industries. 15 awards will be presented in the historic Theatre at Ace Hotel during an action packed ceremony complete with celebrity presenters and special music performances to be announced.
MUSEXPO Creative Summit 2019 (March 24th-27th) Focuses On Sync, Licensing
One major topic on the event’s agenda is the sync industry worldwide across film, TV, gaming, trailers, advertising, brand integration and more. Sessions will delve into the creative music strategies of NBCUNIVERSAL and the WALT DISNEY COMPANY, as well as Global Sync & Brands Summit round-table face-to-face meetings.
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