I count myself among the creatives in the business who have achieved success by using my creative talents. A lot of work, and a little luck, charm and determination have also factored in—but essentially creative talent is how we make a living. That’s something anyone who actually earns a living as a creative should be proud of.
Imagine, if you will, that a trend began that reversed this time-honored system. Suddenly, whatever your creative role in the production, you would be urged not to create. You would actually be paid to not do your part in the creative process. Sound implausible? Let me illustrate.
Say you’re a director. Just as you’re planning out how to shoot the boards you’ve just landed, a tape arrives. It seems someone has actually edited together a version of the commercial you have been hired to shoot. He’s pulled shots from famous films, TV shows and news clips. This done, he’s sat with the agency folks for a few days, selling them on this material. Of course, all of it is copyrighted and not available for use (or replication).
The agency people liked what they saw, and decided to take it to their client to get an approval on their spot. Yes, the one that you—the director—has yet to shoot. Now you have to direct the spot, knowing that everyone already has seen and set in their minds how it should look. Making things really worse (for you) is that you think your ideas are much better than this. Most likely they are—that’s why you are a director, and they are not. But now you must shoot this spot. How would this affect your creative process? Would you still be able to make this commercial all that you had intended it to be?
Moving on, now let’s say you’re an editor, ready to start cutting a great new spot. Then … you learn that once the director had finished shooting, he’d taken the clients to his Avid bay for a few days to cut his version of the spot. The client calls to tell you, "We think this is working really well—so well, we’ve sent this cut to the client for approval." The good news for you is that the "cut" isn’t copyrighted, so at least you can’t get sued for copying it. Which is about all you need concern yourself with at this point, because it’s been bought off on by the clients. You ask yourself, "What exactly did they hire me for? All I can do now is copy this cut." Would that spot have been better if you had edited the first version with the client?
Welcome to the composer/ sound designer’s world. Routinely, he or she receives a rough cut for which someone else (not a music person) has usually chosen a piece of music and put it on the commercial, "just to cut to"—which means it will be heard no fewer than 100 times by all involved. Anyone who remembers the theory behind payola in radio won’t be surprised that, "We just threw this on to cut to and we’re not really loving it," evolves to, "We’re really liking this track." (Not surprising after sitting in a dark room, hearing it day after day.) Then, the inevitable next direction: "We’d like you to do something like this." At that point, the composer would really just like to say, "Actually, I can’t do something like this—first, because copying your temp track is illegal, and I had to sign a contract that says I’m liable for any damages; and second, because I have a much better idea for a track that would make this a better spot." Wait, isn’t that what you hired me for?
Unfortunately, what transpires is more like, "We hired you because you’re the best composer for our spot. Now we are ready for music, but make sure you don’t compose anything original." Bizarre, isn’t it? Getting paid not to be creative. (Usually at the expense of the spot.)
Falling in love with a temp track is no reflection of creative ability. Even the best creatives in the business do it, because it’s human nature that things become "familiar" after prolonged exposure. The problem we composers have is with who puts the music on a temp track. Maybe the person you hired to do music should put the temp track on the spot. Then let everyone fall in love with that track!
The good composers in this world can provide their clients with the best music for their spots if everyone else in the production will just let us do what we have been hired to do. Thank you, and goodnight.
