With October on the horizon, there’s much of 2012 already in the industry’s collective rearview mirror.
With time flying by so fast, stopping for a moment to gain some context can prove invaluable in terms of learning from the immediate past, comparing it to prior years and seeing what it may foreshadow down the proverbial road.
The dynamics of the music and sound business are evolving on varied fronts. So to gain a handle on the year thus far for this dynamic industry, SHOOT sought out perspectives from different music and sound professionals ranging from advertising agency music exec producers and producers to music/sound house artisans and executives.
There’s an adage that “meanings” are in people, and indeed different folks attached different meanings and significance to what’s transpired the first three quarters of this year.
Their takes all provide some nurturing food for thought. And perhaps they in turn spark some observations and assessments on your part.
We posed the following two queries to a diverse cross-section of the business:
1) Are there any creative and/or business trends or developments you would point to thus far in 2012 as being most significant in the music and sound arena, perhaps carrying implications well beyond this year?
2) What has been your most gratifying or creatively challenging project thus far in 2012? Provide a brief description and explain why the job was noteworthy.
Here’s a sampling of the feedback we received:
 Michelle Curran, president & creative director, Amber Music1) This year, from our perspective, sees a continuing trend, which is “what’s new?” on the music front. Creative inspiration is garnered from many different places and insights, and our creative partners often ask us to explore new music trends, and new and up and coming artists as part of that creative process. We find ourselves being a de facto ‘music department’, or music partner in helping find inspiration and direction. We’ve brought a dedicated A&R person, Christian Morrisey, in at Amber, to help guide agencies through the labyrinth of new artists and bands, and to help not just with “what’s new”, but “what’s going to be new…” This in turn means that the Business Affairs and licensing side of Amber is expanding to encompass New Media and Global needs, and the changing needs of Advertisers and Procurement. Clients see the sense, and are willing to license rather than own music now. In many cases it’s the smarter choice given the shorter lifespan of most ads and the need to produce more content over multiple platforms.2) We’ve had a few “creatively challenging” projects this year! Probably the hardest brief to fulfill is the open brief. We always try to be creative, but navigating through the process can be very challenging when there are multiple decision makers. With that said, the difficult jobs often give us an opportunity to work closely with the agency, which can produce the most outstanding work. I’m very proud of the work we did for TBWA and Gatorade, and the music and sound design for Amnesty International through Mark Sitley. Funnily enough, the demo we did for Perrier for Ogilvy Paris is an absolute standout for me, and everyone who hears it thinks it’s amazing. The agency loved it, but much to everyone’s disappointment, the client went with something else in the end… What can I say! |
 Ryan Fitch, music producer, Saatchi & Saatchi New York1) The EDM (electronic dance music) craze has been a dominating creative trend this year especially with brands wanting to reach a younger audience. EDM concerts were some of the biggest grossing shows of the year so there’s a huge social network that gives brands lots of opportunities to connect with consumers using different new media and technology. DJs today are about sparking motivation and celebration so it makes sense that so many brands would be connecting in a big way. 2) Speaking of EDM music…Saatchi was involved with a really awesome live event for Trident Gum over the summer. We took over Terminal 5 and approximately 3,000 lucky fans witnessed history in the making when we had Steve Aoki collaborate and perform with Duran Duran. There was a Steve Aoki remix of “Hungry Like The Wolf” that was commissioned and which has since become a huge internet hit. We were able to reach a lot of consumers thru different social media channels and we even edited together a music video with footage from the event that has had over a million views on Vevo alone. All of this encompassed Trident’s brand spirit of sparking fun into everyday life. Duran Duran was a surprise guest and made it a historic and unforgettable performance. This event was a huge challenge but also turned out to be a really great project for the agency, bands, and brand. It was a great opportunity for everybody to push the limits of what was possible and surprise fans young and old. |
 Paul Greco, director of music & radio, JWT New York1) A few things. There is more original music composition this past year than I’ve noticed in past years. Original scoring and original songs have definitely been on the increase. Licensing is still a big part of the business but the percentage is less than before and the requests for the “big pop song” have diminished considerably. I’ve also seen the reemergence of the old “jingle.” Some clients like State Farm, Nationwide, Band Aid (JWT client) and TUMS have brought back songs from the 70’s and freshened them up. I think clients are seeing the value of music and its connection to the consumer. It’s very positive.2) There have been several, but what stands out the most for me is certainly the Brand USA Campaign with Rosanne Cash writing and singing the brand’s current anthem, “Land of Dreams.” A huge, important project with numerous challenges, we found a solution via an original song written by a famous songwriter and performer who fit the brand’s personality perfectly. A lot was riding on a successful launch, and the song made it happen. “Land of Dreams” has had great reviews from markets outside the US as well as domestically. Not to mention, it was SHOOT’s #1 track in the Music and Sound issue earlier this year. |
 Ann Haugen, executive producer, Elias Arts1) The most exciting trend that we’ve seen at Elias is that the lines of what a music company does are really becoming blurred. It used to be agencies came to us for an original composition or they went and licensed a track. More often we are being asked to expand our role as music supervisors and producers for projects — to be a partner in finding what is the best use of music and sound. In one spot we may write an original composition, do sound design as well as license a track to go on the end of the spot and pull something from our library to be filtered on a screen in the spot. We are collaborating with local bands, dj’s more than ever too. The other day we used a singer from a cool indie band to sing on a track and it sounded like it could have been a hit song on the radio. So that division between a licensed song and original track is definitely melding. We are doing a lot more re-mix and electronic work too and we have a whole new resource pool to tap into. We did an Adidas spot recently where the agency got a beat from a dj but it didn’t score the action in the spot. One of our dj/composers re-mixed and re-arranged the beat to make it a great piece of music.2) The Pepsi Now In A Moment campaign with TBWAChiatDay was very challenging. Pepsi wanted to use Nicki Minaj’s “Moment 4 Life.” The agency brought us in at the script stage to do intricate edits to the track to help tell the story in the best way. The agency used our versions on the shoot and in the edit. The song was a ballad and we needed to find a way to update and add more energy to it. We did everything from try original scores to doing our own re-mixes to helping research popular DJs to re-mix the song. In the end the Elias remix, by David Wittman, was chosen. We knew this song inside and out, from every instrumental and vocal split, which in the end worked to our advantage. The agency, Pepsi and Nicki loved the remix which was, after 6 months of hard work, extremely gratifying. |
 Wendell Hanes, president, Volition Sound Branding1) I don’t look at trends the way some people do. I think what drives any trend is the urge to stay great at EVERY given moment…great songs, great fashion, great artists, great food… and that never changes. The world demands greatness and if you can reach for greatness at EVERY given moment, then the trends keep up with YOU. Having said that, I see a growing propensity on the client side to maximize the impact of not just the commercial itself but also the music through initiatives like digital downloads, tweets, YouTube exposure, and various forms of social media. There are a lot more people asking in the comments “who did that music” and “where can I get it?” Too bad there’s only 30 seconds of it available. Maybe a new trend will be to finish the 30-second piece into an actual song after it has been released successfully as a commercial. That would be cool! 2) That’s a toss up between two COOL spots we did this Summer: Gillette’s “Mindgames” featuring olympic athletes Tyson Gay, Roger Federer, Ryan Lochte, and Alexandre Despatie. And Diet Mountain Dew’s “Living The Life” featuring Mark Cuban which turned out to be one of director Tony Scott’s last commercials. Gillette “Mindgames” was tough because we ultimately had to create one piece of music that captured the unique competitive edge shared between a sprinter, a swimmer, a tennis player, and a diver. There were so many possible approaches for high suspense and heavy beats. Dubstep, orchestral hip hop, orchestral techno, electro rock garage with big beats, etc….VOLITION turned in multiple potential winners covering all directions. I knew that win or lose, we had made a great presentation. Initially we lost the spot, but then down the line they came back to us for a tweak. Then out of the blue we were back in it and there was an effort to make it a Superbowl commercial with our music on it. In the end, we did indeed win the spot with a new sound that resonated into a full multi-spot Olympic campaign complete with global exposure and digital downloads. However, Diet Mountain Dew “Living The Life” presented a once every 365 day challenge and that was scoring a spot on my wedding anniversary with a “RIGHT NOW” deadline. Try to balance your wedding anniversary plans and your commitment to winning a major commercial while in Montego Bay Jamaica on the beach and you’ll get a reality show worth of excitement!! We loved every minute of it. I was like Clark Kent and Superman leaving the beach for long periods of time to work on my laptop while simultaneously supervising our composer team and then going back to hang with my wife at the ocean while awaiting feedback. The music direction of the spot changed a few times drastically and we were ready as a company to fulfill each new style. One direction was electro pop dance, another was edgy fun pop, while another was party hip hop. This made it fun because with each new direction, we got to showcase what we call a 30 second hit! This means, every track submitted has to have the ability to be a hit instrumental song. The agency producers were physically split between two different coasts in Cali and New York so the deadline extended well into the night and even into the morning. The final approval did not come until a few hours before the final mix the next day. So, as a company we were still in “Get SET” mode all through the night and into the morning in case there were any tweaks needed. In fact, I don’t think we felt like our job was truly complete until we wrote out the final invoice. LOL Talk about great fun! It was all worth it. Like the guy in the commercial, we were Livin the Life too! I truly enjoyed the process! |
 Eric David Johnson (aka DJ Bunny Ears)Executive Producer of Music & Creative Integration DDB– Chicago1) So far this year, I’ve been on a music jury for the AICP Show and am about to participate in the London International Awards. I haven’t yet seen what’s on tap for the LIA’s but I can say that looking back at this year overall, with few exceptions, I haven’t been very impressed with the creative state of music in advertising – and this is perhaps what’s most significant, that it’s feeling like just more of the same. That said, there have been some gems, as I was incredibly impressed by CAA’s work for Chipotle, and the most recent license of Odetta’s “Hit Or Miss” for W+K’s Southern Comfort spot. But in general, I am finding music in advertising to be very expected and creatively average at the moment. Lots of original music playing it safe and the licensing I’m seeing seems to be expected or conservative. I don’t typically like to take a contrarian or cranky stance, but I truly love what I do for a living and so I can’t help but ask — where’s the innovation, where’s the gutsy music & sound ideas? I’m up for the challenge — who’s with me? Let’s make more rad music happen in 2012 and beyond. 2) So far in 2012, there have been a handful of projects that have been gratifying, but I’d like to mention two in particular. The first was for AdCouncil for a Cannes award-winning spot – “GED Pep Talk Center”. The job was a bit challenged on budget but Hum Music created a really fun original track for us that really helped get the creative feel to be right on target. The second project that I am proud of was hardly seen, as the media was changed at the last minute, but it was for Wrigley’s in celebration of Life Savers’ 100th Anniversary. Again, we worked with a fairly challenging budget and yet the team really wanted to have an amazing piece of music to help drive the spot and give it some cultural/share-value. Ideally we wanted to license an existing track to help do that, but given the budget, we instead had Beta Petrol create an original piece that felt like a real song – which I thought they did an amazing job of doing so. I think in both cases, these projects reflect the bigger picture of an often new reality that the industry seems to be facing — budgets (and timing) are challenging, and yet we’re being asked to make music as amazing as possible. A tall order but I’m up for the task. |
 Bill Meadows, VP/executive integrated producer, celebrity talent & music, CP+B, Miami and Boulder, Colo.1) One trend/development is definitely the growth of music subscription services and their connection to social media and mobile, awarding artists with more opportunities outside of just iTunes or Amazon to move units and grow their fan base. Also, consumer acceptance and use of mobile devices for more of your everyday living makes a huge impact on music, with smartphone apps like Songkick and Spotify mobile, fans can stream music endlessly and find out when their favorite artists are playing in their town, all with the push of a button. The challenge is, with all the new media available for sharing music–which is being introduced on what seems like a daily basis–musicians are going to have to compete more to be heard through all the “noise.” So an artist needs to do their homework, spot the trends and be ready for the next trend to strike. This is directly related to the fact that artists engage directly with their fans, whether it’s via Facebook, Twitter, and now even Instagram, where fans interact with artists just as they would with any of their friends online. Artists post all the time, and that creates a conversation where there was none a few years back. This makes the relationships with the fans more personal and engaging and is certainly crucial in growing and nurturing the grass roots fan base that is so vital in today’s music climate. Associated with this necessary fan engagement, there is a continued rise of the dependency of artists performing live. From a performance at a big day long music fest, or a small club, having a great and unique live show generates buzz. And helps distinguish what bands people will search for in an infinite online world…consider the trend of cruise ship concerts and festivals. It’s not a new concept by any means, but as the audience grows at concerts from your favorite artists, the proximity of that artist to their core of dedicated fans weakens. Marquee events like this, or even when a band builds a tour around playing one of their classic albums in its entirety, are both examples of artists trying to stay close to those diehard fans, because they’re the first to buy an album or concert ticket. I think the popularity of events like this, as well as boutique festivals like FUN FUN FUN FEST (Austin) or FYF FEST (L.A.) will continue to grow despite the irony that they were likely designed to offer cutting-edge music without the Coachella-sized audience. From a music production standpoint I think we are going to see a lot of artists succeed in blurring the lines of musical genres. Mainstream hip-hop is in a rejuvenation stage, with the underground hip-hop sound and more live instrumentation creeping in. Also, in the advent of electronic music in mainstream music, you are starting to see more collaborations between these producers and more established artists looking to reinvigorate their careers and reach a younger audience. Examples of this include Cypress Hill, Rusko, Skrillex, Korn, Britney Spears and Rusko. Additionally, aspiring artists are starting to represent a mixed-medium of genres right out of the gate, opening the opportunity to reach a broader audience with their music. Up-and-comers Imagine Dragons are a great example of this. Their debut EP released this year contains elements of indie, pop, Americana and even electronic. Also, there has been a near-100% departure from music fans relying on print media anymore, and perhaps it’s just in addition to the larger departure of consumers from print; but virtually all music fans are relying on blogs as a source of what’s happening. This has to do with not only how frequently a blog can post, but just a few years ago you had to read an album review then wait to buy the CD. Now, you can read about the band/song, then instantly listen to the music on the blog’s media player. We can veto a song before we buy it, which is powerful for the reader/consumer. Blogs have gained increasing credibility, and for as often as they start in the basement of someone’s house, the sky is the limit. Pitchfork, for example, has become an internationally recognized name, and artists take an interview with their staff as serious as one with Rolling Stone. Furthermore, Pitchfork is one example of a blog that managed to take its popularity and foray it out of digital and into the live real by hosting wildly successful festivals in both Chicago and Paris, annually. Pretty amazing. 2) I was proud of my team’s work on the Coke Zero “And” spot, with Jorge Iván Vargas leading. He worked with our creatives and the music house basically scoring everything that was happening on screen, accentuating all the nuances musically. They took it from a software track to having the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra perform it, and seeing how great it turned out and successful it was is gratifying for my crew. There are a few projects we can’t talk about yet which my team has been exceptionally enthused to work on. What I can say is that when creatives and the client focus on to the importance of music driving a campaign, and my team is engaged from the beginning, that is when we can really delve in and contribute the most to the creative process and help the work transcend. |
 Liz Myers, partner/composer, Trivers/Myers Music1) There is a recurring trend that we find interesting and that is this: music genres are becoming more important than the actual music itself. Each product is trending toward a blend-down of its own “style” of music, which is clouding the ability to differentiate the brand. Here are several examples: Computers all sound clean, upbeat and have wispy female vocals; Cars all have grinding electric guitars and groovy percussion tracks; Political ads all have “middle of the road” keyboards and strings and sound anthemic. An iconic choice of a music is becoming a rare event. Why? Because the agency believes that the client wants to hear the music before it is composed. Music has become a commodity rather than a creation. 2) Our most fun job has been working for the upscale sports shoe Cr8tive Recreation. Originally, one might think that this kind of fashion branding would demand hip-hop as the musical style. But this client has been extremely open to originality, scoring the story-line and working to develop an audio image by creating music environments that are unexpected. Dealing directly with the in-house creative director and the marketing director for the brand has been extremely satisfying, as they have been respectful of the process and have given us feedback and the time to create. They also want the music to stand out and draw attention to the films. They could care less about subordinate underscores. |
 Josh Rabinowitz, sr. VP/director of Music, Grey New York1) I would point to two:One major development to me was the extent of coverage in the major media and blogosphere regarding the claim from the Baltimore, MD-based band Beach House that an agency had produced a soundalike of their track “Take Care” for an ad after refusing to let the agency license their track. This soundalike issue is obviously and unfortunately not a new thing, but the scope of the coverage was. I think that’s great! Also, all of us were completely devastated when Beastie Boy Adam Yauch passed recently. He and his band were incredible on so many levels. Yet some of us weren’t aware of the fact that this band member, music producer, composer, film and videodirector and creative force, in his will stated: “in no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes.” I was deeply saddened by his loss, he left us way too soon. Musically/creatively I am respectfully disappointed that I would never be able to license any of his band’s great and significant music–he made a bold statement, arguably as bold a commercial statement that one can make, and it is a noble one at that. 2) Everyone loves to be involved in Super Bowl ads–it’s important, far-reaching, intensely analyzed, high-stakes and incredibly stressful and meaningful in our biz. My team here at Grey came up with an array of great music options for the Timeline, NFL spot about the history of safety measures in the NFL. And one track that I suggested, “What I’d Say” by Brother Ray (aka Ray Charles), was where we ended up. Uber-Famous, American Legacy Song, by one of the great geniuses of American Music–something to be proud of! |
 Bryan Rheude, co-founder/co-creative director, Comma1) Agencies–and more importantly their clients–have become more willing to deploy music that is emotionally sophisticated. Previously, there was a preoccupation with music being “too dark.” Music for advertising, as a whole, has finally caught up with the larger cultural trend — just because you want to convey a happy or upbeat emotion does not mean you have to write your music in a major key with a fast tempo. Musical emotion is more ambiguous now. In fact, a recent NPR piece, spotlighting the research of Glenn Schellenberg–who works at the University of Toronto, studying the psychology of music–captured this idea perfectly, confirming that nearly all contemporary top 40 hits, whether happy or sad in content, are in a minor key. Advertisers are willing to use music to help their brand feel that much more real by tapping into this trend.2) Two years ago, Comma composed original music for McDonald’s’ “Happy Tales” campaign, creating a theme song for each of its characters: Spaceman Stu, Suzi Von Zoom, and Bebe Bao. Due to the campaign’s success and the songs’ popularity, McDonald’s had us extend each :30 track into a full-length song for their website. Now, in 2012, McDonald’s has launched the “Champions of Happy” campaign, again focusing on kids. “Champions” spotlights Ferris’ Funky Farm and its animal inhabitants. Our task has been to create original music for each animal — a goat, an ant, a dinosaur, and others — with each animal being featured in its own ad. Throughout, the challenge has remained consistent: To find the right musical style and lyric to tell the story of each character and to give each character its own musical personality. What’s gratifying about each song and character is that they promote healthy eating. Way to go, McDonald’s. |
 Rani Vaz, sr. VP/ director music production, BBDO New York1) BBDO NY can seem like a big place but there is a scrappy, entrepreneurial spirit here these days. Specifically related to music and sound, the variety and innovative nature of projects opens up new impactful ways to use and experience the power of music and sound. I personally love the opportunities that present both creative and executional challenges–even the more traditional assignments demand new levels of flexibility and nimble thinking from all involved.2) I’ve been fortunate to work on a wide range of projects this year: digital, installations, big-budget, pro-bono. I have particular heart for this year’s GE Hologram project, an experience that allowed users to assemble an interactive Hologram of a GEnx engine. The project was a constantly evolving creative and technical challenge spanning several months and involving an incredible group of creative and technical minds from both inside and outside BBDO. We were so fortunate to partner with Stimmung to help us bring to life both the subtlety and power of the musical part of the experience along with the brilliantly executed sound design. |
 Karl Westman, executive music producer, Ogilvy New York1) 2012 has been marked by continued expansion of well-established trends. Imagine growth in all directions, not in one particular “next big thing”. Licensing is still pervasive. Small publishers and labels, independent and production company music supervisors have a greater presence. Music houses, fear not. The vast majority of our recent work is original and I see no reason for that to change. Clients are eager for content to expand their brand story. For example, we generate–not minutes–but hours of music for IBM’s web based content. Internet budgets can be a fraction of their on-air counterparts; this is a perfect match for production music libraries as well. Those shops that customize their library tracks for a modest fee offer a middle ground solution to limited budgets. Also, in situations where music copyright ownership is not a client priority, I see a move from work for hire agreements to license agreements, this reduces up front costs and allows the composition to be placed in the future–it’s a win, win. My crystal ball says look out for growth in the interactive world. It’s an exciting time–we’re just getting started.2) It’s no easy task to point to the most gratifying or creatively challenging project thus far in 2012. There’s this year’s IBM “Smarter Planet” work, where the end result was born out of a robust collaboration between some real smart creative folks willing to participate in the music making. At times, music production can be reduced to swapping audio files for emails in a creative cat and mouse. It was nice to be in the studio with the team getting things done. Then there was re-inventing the song “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” for Time Warner Cable’s spot for HBO’s True Blood. The challenge was to preserve the iconic optimism of the song while creating an eerie atmosphere to support the surreal images. I think we did Mr. Bacharach proud. In a broader sense, working in this ever-changing industry is a project in of itself. There are new challenges with each and every project, whether it’s delivering tracks for the Paris office or negotiating complex license deals or just making sure a :15 cut down is as good as it can be. It’s all gratifying, because to me, there aren’t many things that are more fun than making music. |
 Mary Wood, founder/owner, Frisbie1) In the world of music, I see a trend toward the popularity of remixes. Almost all album releases are followed up with remixes. The oversaturation in the marketplace of the ‘indie band’ has lead to that sound needing a facelift. Remixes are the fastest route to it. (Of course, record companies are also counting on remixes to keep a successful single in the marketplace longer.)Remixes require great DJ’s and beat-makers who tend to live in the hip hop and electronic arenas. While electronica already has a strong presence in advertising, I think in the coming year we’ll hear more from DJ’s and beat makers in the hip hop world, which will lead to a resurgence of hip hop in general (which, in and of itself, is trending toward a message of positivity). Inevitably, these trends will trickle down to (or, arguably, trickle up from) advertising media. I think we’ll hear old songs made new again with a remix, and, in general, more hip hop and electronica in the coming year. 2) It’s no news that deadlines in advertising keep getting shorter- along with long lasting campaigns. The ability to think through a creative idea, to try more than a few ideas and come back to the best one has become greatly compromised on most assignments we see. Therefore, the most gratifying project for me this year has been producing a full length album. The opportunity to work on something with artistic vision until it was truly complete was a breath of fresh air. |
