Film and TV
How the Music Behind Eurovision Song Contest Got Made (Vulture)
The (Fake) Songs of Summer – A compendium of the infectious tunes in Will Ferrell’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The Love, Victor Soundtrack Is Full Of LGBTQ Artists You Should Know (Refinery29)
The songs in Love, Victor accomplish the usual role of a soundtrack, furthering the story through music, but beyond that, the soundtrack was one more way the series is working to raise up LGBTQ voices.
Watch ‘Soundtrack of Our Lives,’ a Celebration of Film and TV Music, With Catherine O’Hara, Andra Day and More (Variety)
Members of the music for screens community — composers, songwriters, music editors, music supervisors, studio executives and others working at the intersection of music and visual media — are lending their talents to a benefit event for COVID-19 relief.
How music underscores the nuanced depth of Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You (Crack Magazine)
Music supervisor Ciara Elwis provides seasoned expertise to the soundtrack selection having worked on smash-hit shows such as Sex Education, The End of the F***ing World and Derry Girls among others.
Thomas Golubic (Space Force): ‘We are gently poking fun of the current administration’ (Gold Derby)
“It is unusual times to say the least under the Trump administration; in many ways we are gently poking fun of the current administration,” says Thomas Golubic about the Netflix comedy Space Force.
Top TV Song Last Week: “Nothing Without You” by Tanerélle (Tunefind)
A perennial resident on Tunefind’s trending music chart, HBO’s Insecure claimed the top spot last week with a sultry, somber song from indie artist Tanerélle.
As Film/TV production resumes, music supervisors are hoping for a ‘really crazy’ amount of work (Billboard)
Now that production in Los Angeles has started up again, music supervisors behind Euphoria, Little Fires Everywhere and pandemic-inspired commercials believe they are about to be busier than ever.
How Mary Ramos Got Inside The Heads Of Mrs. America & Little Fires Everywhere Characters (Deadline)
On Little Fires Everywhere, Ramos worked with composer Mark Isham and Isabella Summers on both the score and remixes of ’90s songs.
Hans Zimmer Talks Dune, James Bond, The Lion King and Scoring His Way Through the Pandemic (Variety)
The leading composer, who’s taking part in an online chat this week in conjunction with his ASCAP Screen Award for Lion King, speaks with Variety about the startling array of films he has lined up.
2020 ASCAP Screen Music Awards Winners Revealed (Broadway World)
ASCAP raises the curtain on its second virtual celebration of annual award winners today through June 25, recognizing its top film, television and video game composers as recipients of 2020 ASCAP Screen Music Awards.
A Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Of The Best Music Moments From Insecure Season 4 (ELLE)
“With Insecure, we wanted to curate a specific vibe: chilled R&B, West Coast but modern, or songs that have a good bounce to it,” Kier Lehman, who has worked as music supervisor on films like Queen & Slim and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, tells ELLE.com.
Atli Örvarsson, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Tyler Bates Win Big at BMI Film/TV Awards (Variety)
The most awards, five, went to Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson, who won for his contributions to Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, FBI and FBI Most Wanted. Örvarsson’s overall BMI awards tally is up to 23.
The end of credits: why doesn’t Netflix want us to watch them? (The Guardian)
I write music for movies and TV, and I know, that from a compositional point of view, the soundtrack for the end credits can be an incredibly important part of the musical arc you and the director may have tried to create over a whole film.
How Ramy Made the Best Soundtrack on TV (GQ)
From rare seventies Arabic funk to indie dance hits, the score to the award-winning comedy is rich with gems.
Cannons’ ‘Fire for You’ Rules Top TV Songs Chart Amid Never Have I Ever Appearance (Billboard)
The new Netflix series Never Have I Ever garners the No. 1 spot on The Hollywood Reporter’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, for May 2020 with the song “Fire for You” by Cannons.
Gaming
In Celebration of Black Videogame Composers, Part 2 (Paste Magazine)
Welcome to the second part of this short feature on Black videogame composers. If you missed last week, start here.
Award-Winning ‘Ori’ Composer: The Best Is Yet To Come From Game Music (Forbes)
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with developers who understand and appreciate the value of music and want to support it, and I know this is the case for many of my peers too,” says composer Gareth Coker.
Top composers used to head to Hollywood. Now they’re into games (Wired)
Composers are ditching blockbuster films to take on the challenge of video game music.
NBA 2K21 Soundtrack Preview: Artists Include Polo G, Youngboy NBA, And More (Forbes)
On Friday, days after teasing cover information on the account, 2K posted another TikTok video previewing five of the artists who will be featured on the next game’s soundtrack
Death Stranding Composer Joel Corelitz on the Evolution of Sound Design (Built In)
Unlike a cinematic score, video game music responds to the player’s actions. Getting it right can make or break the experience.
Advertising
Songs for Screens: Inside Yahoo and Tank & the Bangas’ ‘What the World Needs Now’ Campaign (Variety)
Though it was just five months ago, January 2020, was a very different time for Tarriona “Tank” Ball and her band Tank & The Bangas, not to mention the entire world.
Sync Story: Safeworld/James Warren (Music Week)
The latest ad to bring the lockdown blues to life is a new TV campaign helmed by Phantomz Electric and soundtracked by a rework of songwriter James Warren’s Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, recorded by Antony Genn & Martin Slattery.
Joel Speaks to His Neighbors: Watt White, Music Composer and Vocalist (Synchblog)
Synchtank founder Joel T. Jordan speaks to Watt Whit, a music composer and vocalist who has toured with Megadeth and scored OxiClean ads.
Business
Assessing the Post-Pandemic Film and TV Landscape and the Potential Impact on Sync (Synchblog)
From Hollywood to Albert Square, the global film business and domestic TV schedules have been blindsided by COVID-19. With sets reopening and shooting restarting, Ben Gilbert examines what happens next and how this reconfiguration will influence the music composition, supervision and rights community.
Why Are There So Few Black Music Supervisors? (Jumi Akinfenwa)
Authenticity is important, particularly when a narrative is centering an underrepresented demographic, and this is something that I have recognised being a rarity myself – a Black female music supervisor.
Where Are the Female Composers in Film/TV & Production Music & What Can We Do To Address This? (Synchblog)
Jenny Oakes addresses the lack of female composers in the music for media space and talks us through all-female production music album ‘All Woman’.
Could Sync Revenues Be About to Explode? (Synchblog)
SyncFloor’s Cestjon McFarland looks at how technology can enable effective music discovery and streamline licensing workflows, helping sync revenues to reach new heights in the process.
Following ‘Catastrophic Job Losses,’ Film Scoring Gears Up to Return as Hollywood Reopens (Variety)
With a projected $32 million loss in wages for canceled scoring dates because of COVID-19, the Los Angeles music community is gearing up for the return of film and TV recording — but cautiously, under strict guidelines.
Coronavirus Sync Resources and Virtual Events
Guild of Music Supervisors Unveils Summer Panels Featuring Tastemakers From Insecure, Mrs. Maisel, More (Variety)
The Guild of Music Supervisors has unveiled its summer panel series lineup featuring many of the top musical tastemakers and composers working across television and streaming platforms today.
GMS Weekly Online Educational Panel Series in Collaboration with Mondo
The Guild of Music Supervisors have launched a free weekly online educational series featuring top music supervisors, composers and artists. While geared for students, it is open to all. Don’t forget to catch any panels you miss on Mondo’s YouTube channel.
The Ivors Academy’s Remote Recording Directory
A free and open database to connect composers for film, TV and games with professional musicians able to record from home has been launched by The Ivors Academy.
Sync Summit’s Sync Cafe
SyncSummit is hosting a Sync Cafe Daily Chat at 1PM ET to bring everyone together during the Coronavirus crisis so we can come together, speak about music, business and life. If you want to take part, just fill out the form below for access.
The Guild of Music Supervisors Canada hosts virtual 1:1 meetings with music supervisors
The Guild of Music Supervisors Canada is offering Canadian musicians the opportunity to virtually meet with Music Supervisors across the country.
For more events check out our comprehensive list of music industry conferences which is regularly updated to include virtual events:
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