1) We are so highly NDA’d on all projects that I can’t tell you what it was for but I can tell you what the process looked like and what we learned from it! We were working on a project where the sound design had to be musical but every single element had to be created from stuff in the store. We couldn’t just use items as they were, but we had to use items that could be combined to make sounds. The biggest challenge in the project for us was that they also had to be visually intriguing and work practically so they looked great on set.

We had to please the director, agency, art department and client as well as make it something that we would be proud of. We spent a month figuring the process out and even brought in a special artist to help us build. Everything we built had a sense of magic. It takes so long to create and build and what we learned was that it is really important to find the right creative partner on every project. If you don’t have a certain kind of mad genius mind, you find it and you find the very best one who can help you collaborate so that you always bring top level creative to everything you do.

2) The work we have done that I am most proud of this year was the NYT project we did with Droga and Darren Aronofsky. It was an absolute dream to work with Darren and he picked us as partners based on Morgan’s (sound designer Johnson) reel. It was such powerful work. It is so relevant and tells stories about people from the point of view of the journalist. We matched camera shutters to the actual cameras the photographers used, we organized sessions with them all over the world. We cried when listening to the stories of struggle and hardship. It is always so humbling to work on such emotional content with the best talent on the planet.

3) The evolution of music and sound has been really interesting. Everyone is working on so many projects at one time. Budgets are stretched beyond the normal limits and as a result it has led to a lot more packaging. Some of our clients joke that we have become an in house audio post facility for them. In a sense, that is great because we can completely manage the project. If we see that a ship date has pushed we can instigate that conversation for different mix time so that they get everything they need. The toughest part is making the budget work because as the job evolves and changes in a way that you would normally get overage, you no longer get the overage and so you are taking a budget that is starting small and making it work even harder.

4) Two things:
   a) Companies and brands are really pushing to buy out music in perpetuity for a budget that would get you a six month license. It’s something we don’t really believe in unless the budget can accommodate that buy. It’s one trend that is making me nervous and I am hoping that we can keep that from being the new normal.

   b) In-house post facilities. It is a trend that has started and is only getting bigger. I think that as a company you need to always bring something that they can not. We make sure that our process is always the most creative. We make everything by hand and only work with the best collaborators. To compete in 2017 and beyond you have to be the best at everything so they have a reason to leave the in house facility.

1) The Samsung S8 Global launch commercial was one of the most fun challenges I’ve had in 2017. Our creative team has great music taste and our client allowed us to explore options without any present boundaries, so the opportunity to explore artists and songs that we truly loved and really spoke to the new product offering took center stage. We collectively decided to focus on the 2000s to present in order to find a contemporary production aesthetic that could resonate, as well as an artist that has cultural relevancy to ensure music reflects the new product features. We had just experienced a great response to licensing The Black Keys’ “Howlin’ For You” for our teaser and pre-order spots, so I did my dancing internally to drum up major interest in another tough, stomper-of-a-song: “The Power” by Sweet Spirit, an Austin-based band on the rise who has members I’ve known for years. In the end, the creative and client team loved the bravado of the track, especially the female vocals with lyrical relevancy to a breakthrough product.

2) I’m most proud of my team’s work for the new product launches we handled for both Samsung Global and Nintendo Switch. Our internal creative and production teams collaborated at a high level for Samsung, identifying and licensing all-time gems like “Rocket Man” and “Across The Universe,” as well as creating high-quality, major label-worthy original music for several spots with The Elements. Nintendo not only embraced a massive new song release by licensing Imagine Dragons for their Switch Super Bowl spot, but they also allowed us creative freedom with a discovery angle to write an original, Switch-inspired song with blues rockers White Denim, as well as licensing an absolute gem in the new Rubblebucket song, “If U C My Enemies.”

3) I’m extremely fortunate to be working at the intersection of the advertising and music industries in this era marked by the increasing popularity and creative business need for agencies to staff music supervision and production experts. It’s refreshing to see major corporations and communications companies embracing the human element of quality taste and production ability as a method to keep up with the different cultures and media technologies continuously changing our individual and collective lives!

4) It’s been an amazing year for new releases and I’ve enjoyed real instrumentation popping up more frequently in electronic and dance music. We continue to be tasked with creating more and more great content for our clients, which can be a challenge when finding marketplace-appropriate budgets for high-quality music, but the realm of premium original music companies and composers continues to deliver and help us balance the demand.

5) I enjoyed the initial buzz the entertainment and ad industries were swept up in around VR’s potential a couple years ago, but I’ve only worked on projects incorporating it in conceptual stages. Some of the premium original companies established themselves early on as front runners in spatial sound composition and production, so I look forward to utilizing it more and more once the everyday project viability catches up with the hype and potential.

1) I was asked by Sylvia Khan and Mark Taylor at Awesome Sauce to help Fiat promote that it has made an Abarth version of it’s new 124 model, as it did with the 500 model. Mark came up with a ’ duel ‘ themed concept in which the cars engage in a frenzy of standoffs and high velocity chases. The challenge was that compared to the throaty 500 exhaust note the 124 has a much lighter engine note and the client specifically requested that it sound potently deeper. With this specific challenge also came one that always comes with high speed automobile visuals, namely finding a way to get around how engine sounds in real life speak vastly slower than the action is depicted in fast moving cuts. All of that and also no faking it by using some other car’s sound, it had to be the actual 124. I am not a fan of electronic processing for this sort of task, I believe in getting an “in mic” performance out of the driver and car. I also set a challenge for myself; to make the cars appear to converse, taunt each other, with a sense of call and response working within a dynamics frame work of quiet and loud. The great recordist Eric Potter captured some great recordings and with hours of alone time finding the best sound for any given shot, I was able to make it all happen to everyone’s satisfaction.

2) I just finished a project which was extremely engrossing and of which I am definitely proud. It is “@asst,” a 22-minute ensemble drama series pilot written and directed by Craig Bobby Young and Richard Keith. I now have a few longer ( than 30 or 60 seconds ) format projects under my belt and I am looking for more. I enjoy the weaving of these longer and more complex storylines, especially when I can perform the mix. A perfect example, ‘@asst ‘ presented a fascinating challenge that required all the fundamental practicals of dialog clean up and edit, ADR record, music edit, foley, sound design, final mix and the creative part of finding ways of alloying these sound components into a bigger sum. This I achieved by selecting elements or juxtapositions that magnified the tone of a scene. For example, moving a word or two a few frames can shift emphasis in meaning dramatically or help make edit flow better. More practical things such as cutting in dialog from multiple takes saved scenes spoiled by unwanted noise on set. Interpretative sound design didn’t feature so much in this dialog driven film but was effective for a sequence featuring inadvertent consumption of medicinal pot candy….I also used practical sounds that didn’t actually occur on set to make illusions out of thin air. This appealed to the inner sound nerd that many years ago would make sound effects for school plays and later work on feature films.

3) It’s been almost 30 years since I innovated sound design as a discrete practice in broadcast advertising and I feel that I and most of my company Machine Head’s peers are at the threshold of a new and exciting era. We all know that recent economic stringencies have changed the hows of the business, but it’s been long enough that we’ve adapted and are still making noise. I do miss the days of an ‘ in the trenches together ‘ community at Machine Head on Abbot Kinney, epicenter of all kinds of sonic antics, when our visiting friends would breakfast at Shutters and then opine on sound and music between lunch to go from Hals and dinner sushi from Wabisabi. As postings have become the modus operandi, the magic spark of in the room face to face interaction has almost been lost. Speaking for myself, in an inversion of those Venice days, I decided to take my show on the road as house calls, whereby an agency or facility conference room becomes a Machine Head salon for a few hours. This brings back the wildfire of on the fly experimentation and with it many priceless ideas that other wise would have gone undiscovered. The new and exciting era is of course the potential suggested by the various emerging strains of AR/VR.

4) In the sound effects and sound design realm, it seems that a lot of work that is practical in nature, i.e. more literal sfx, is being delivered at either editorial or mix. Not that it’s less important, simply that technical process and financial constraints have made it more logical to deal with as an adjunct to the cut or the mix. In an unexpected mirror of this reasoning, we find ourselves delivering elementary final mixes in certain situations. Although I was once a co-founder and partner with the great Robert Feist of a successful mixing company, Ravenswork, mixing as a primary business I have not pursued, however an evolving scenario may result in a suite of services of which mixing would be one. I see that going forward that there will be increasing diffusion of the formerly well defined audio craft lines.

5) Machine Head has had limited engagement with AR/VR projects, but as audio enthusiasts (geeks ) we are up to speed on what is happening creatively and technically. We feel that the success of the audio is as dependent on a great concept as ever, if not more so. When spatialized audio is used in a manner that is authentic to the conceit of the project, it can be incredibly powerful. For example the depiction of a solitary confinement cell in the “6x9’ Guardian work is chillingly visceral as a result of the vivid but plausible spatial sound field. Similarly there is brilliant harnessing of the techniques in Simon McBurney’s “The Encounter,” a theatrical piece. I choose these two examples because in each case the spatialization of the audio is on a short leash to the action and not a distracting display of random sounds whizzing about. So, I believe that if one has story enhancing chops already developed in linear sound and can demonstrate competence with the new technology, the challenges will be more or less the same as for linear, i.e. does this sound advance the story ?

1) “Dabka,” the film directed by Bryan Buckley and starring Al Pacino and Evan Peters. John, my partner, and I composed nearly 70 minutes of music. The most significant challenge we had during this process was taking this beautiful film set in Somalia and coming up with an authentic original score without sounding contrived or fake. Not an easy task from two guys in Venice Beach, CA! It was a valuable lesson to learn that by continuing to push yourself into areas that seem scary you will be surprised what you can come up with.

2) We are extremely proud of the way the music came out in “Dabka.” We didn’t chase a temp score nor try to sound East African. What we did do was embrace ourselves in the process. Going back to pen and paper and experimenting to push to make something that was felt and not heard.

3) Beacon Street Studios, as a company tries to evolve, create, and be fresh in our approach. What’s funny about most agencies role is that it has likely evolved more then ours. At the end of the day we still compose original music, create sound design, and mix. Notably as the terrain has changed in the agency world we have noticed work coming from other new sources. We’ve seen projects come in from individuals or even direct from the clients, that being said, we still collaborate the largest agencies and love doing that as well!

4) I can’t stand “overseas” recording. Musicians, much like any other profession that has an organized union, rely upon its residuals to live off of. The general idea of the union is that it protects musicians interests so that they are able to continue doing what they do best. We aren’t talking about a lot of money here and when push comes to shove the music can make or break the commercial, making it stand out or ultimately become forgettable. So, why skimp on the musicians royalties? Whats wrong with American made music? By paying into the union everyone wins in the end.

5) We mix for VR all the time! However, I feel, until the technology, or should I say the access to the technology, increases to the public we won’t see much evolution in the field

1) We have been having a lot of back and forths with a major Hollywood Studio that needed Organ cues for a funeral scene in a major TV show. As can be expected there were several changes of direction over the course of 2 weeks and the most recent was to request Cathedral Organ versions of specific recognizable hymns. We approached a partner catalog who has a very talented organist readily available and was able to create several versions in just 3 hours to make the deadline. Its always gratifying to be able to deliver such quality so quickly in this business. The lesson is to always have good and talented people readily available.

2) We’re most proud of a recent Bud Lite national radio and web campaign that was done in conjunction with the post house and agency. It should be airing by the time this article comes out.

3) More than ever before this business has become about relationships and in sustaining them. You can have the best music in the world and have it heard by the top decision makers but without those relationships you’ll have very little chance of getting the placements. The problem is in forming new relationships as technology actually acts as a barrier whereas nobody ever wants to pick up a phone anymore.

4) The unfortunate trend of lower budgets seems to continue, especially in new media where more content is actually being produced then traditional broadcast, but at significantly lower budgets. Despite that, we’re pleased to see more short form content being produced specifically for platforms like Snapchat and Facebook.

Another unfortunate trend in music licensing, albeit not in advertising, is that many music companies are allowing their music used gratis for no up front synch license fees. This brings the overall value of music down and hurts the industry.

5) Our sister company is leading audiophile label Chesky Records who is known for high quality binaural recordings. I had a meetings at NAB with several VR companies to discuss audio for VR and thus far it doesn’t seem to resonate, despite the advantages of what we can bring to the table. Thus, we’re quite not there yet audio-wise in VR.

1) My biggest creative challenge this year was to find a song for our Wild Turkey work that will be debuting in the fall. At the last minute the song that was supposed to be used was not available anymore. I was tasked to find a replacement at the 11th hour that would work with the concept that the creative team, the client and director would be happy with. Luckily, I was able to find a song that satisfied everyone and the creative team even decided to put the artist on camera in the ad. It was very gratifying to not only find a suitable replacement but find one that was liked even better than the original. Lesson learned??.....always have a backup.

2) Our Rolex and Tudor work has been especially gratifying for me, especially the Rolex spot for the Academy Awards. Our music for both brands continues to be of the highest quality and the Rolex music continues to use the brand theme that we created for Rolex since 2014. The Academy Awards spot was several years in the making and the film score- like adaption of the theme worked perfectly with all the classic movie clips.

3) My role has changed over the years from not only producing music and leading a music dept, but now looking for new and innovative ways that music and sound can be used in communications. I’m being asked to think of new and break through ideas using sound and finding companies and products that can help make music and sound an offering to the clients and for the agency portfolio. As the ad business and the new breakthrough technologies in audio continue to change and disrupt, I feel like this is a very exciting time to do what I do.

4) The continued downward pressure on budgets. There is no end in sight from the “do more for less” attitude that is prevalent in the industry.

5) I think that there is amazing potential for VR/AR/MR as soon as the ad business figures out how to exploit it and monetize it. The technology is amazing and the cost of the viewing glasses are starting to be more affordable. We are working right now with one of our clients on new innovations on spatial sound that are very exciting.

1) I think the biggest creative challenge posed to me by a recent project is actually something I like to think of as an always/ongoing challenge – that is, to look at every project as an opportunity to not only understand parameters and get marching orders, but rather to truly collaborate with my team – especially the creatives and producers, but strategy, account and business affairs as well - and find ways to augment and elevate ideas for our clients. With that said, we have a current project in the works for our client, Mastercard, that will not only shine a light on some amazing tech they’ve created and humanitarian initiatives that they have in play, but I came up with an idea for a unique musical component that we hope will add to the overall idea and resonant on a much more broader, cultural level. Generating new ideas and then figuring out how to make them is what I find most gratifying. And with every project, through its process, there are always valuable lessons to learn. My guess for this one is thinking big is easier said than done. Ha. Can’t say much more yet, but keep your eyes and ears peeled.

2) When looking at the work we’ve done at McCann, I’m particularly proud of and excited by work that plays in new and evolving realms of what advertising is (and can be) and particularly, how it can effect cultural change. This is in projects like our State Street “Fearless Girl” statue, or the Microsoft “Make What’s Next” spot as well as Cigna’s “TV Doctors Of America which helps save lives by suggesting annual medical check-ups. Additionally, I’d have to say that I’m proud of the overall work I’ve gotten to produce here using music (as licensing, scoring, partnerships, etc.) for clients like Microsoft, Mastercard, Verizon, NatGeo, NY Lotto, USPS and L’Oreal – to name a few. McCann has a great heritage of music and branding, going back to Billy Davis during the era when we created Coke’s “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke”. And with that heritage, there is great respect at McCann for the creative aspect of music, which in turn really utilizes my role, as well as the others in my department--Dan Gross, music producer, and Sam Belkin, music business affairs manager. I’ve been fortunate to work under our chief production officer, Nathy Aviram, who values and supports this role within his integrated production department and I’d like to think we’re a pretty well-oiled machine that helps elevate the creative - so I take great pride in this. Also, truth be told, none of this could be done without the incredible help of all of our vendors/partners – who are our true music collaborators. Massive thanks to all of them. They make us look super smart for our clients.

Beyond what we’re doing here at McCann, I’m seeing/hearing some great innovative work in our industry that really strikes a chord with me because of the pure amazing music craft and/or the message/meaning of the project. This is exemplified by such projects as the incredible music that Squeak E Clean created for the Kenzo commercial or the moving music that Beta Petrol created for Sandy Hook Promise. Also, even though it’s been a few years, I feel like it’s worth mentioning, as it’s one of my favorite/greatest-of-all-time projects and has effectively set the bar to measure against, in my opinion – this is Converse’s Rubber Tracks studios/project. A big idea from an incredible brand that gets it meeting the astounding talent of the Cornerstone crew to create something relevant, useful, cultural. Still absolute genius.

Also, have you see The Blaze’s “Territory” short film/music video? One of my favorite albums (technically an EP) of the year coupled with an amazing short film. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year, which completely surprised me, but so well deserved. Fully obsessed on this musical/art/film duo. Love to see multi-faceted creative ninjas doing their thing. Love to see work that is not one thing but many things connected. The best artists do this. The best brands do this. Excited to see what The Blaze will get into next.

3) My role (and McCann’s) has massively evolved over the years, especially when it comes to the tools of our trade. I/we need to constantly know about, think of and utilize these new and advancing tools: hi-tech, techniques, methods, medias, artists, partnerships, etc. We are still essentially telling stories for our clients to help them build their brands but the tool box is always getting bigger and more interesting, in my opinion. My favorite part about this evolution is the idea that if you can imagine it, you (likely) can do it. That feels more true now than even a few years ago. There’s so many resources at our disposal and so many people and companies to help and collaborate with us to get things done. I’m most particularly interested in the spaces where brands function with a combination of utility and entertainment. I see this in experiential projects, interactive activations, brand partnership events, branded content, VR/AR, etc. I also think that, at my best, I get to be a shepherd of musical creativity that lives at this intersection of where brands, bands/artists and fans (audience) meet. So in this regard, it’s nearly brands as patrons of the arts/artists – for lack of a better explanation - to create valuable things/experiences/etc. for an audience, that in turn feeds back into the brand – as brand loyalty, brand recognition and/or purchase/usage of the brand. This space is still relatively new in many regards. Though there have been many examples over the last decade, it’s still such an incredibly robust space that is emerging rapidly. This chance to play in/with culture and effect it for a brand, an artist or a fan, is super interesting for our advertising industry. In that space, we get to connect and play with the record industry, tech, fashion and art worlds. How awesome is that? Super awesome.

4) I think that shortened timelines, budgets (doing more with less) and the ability to be nimble and pro-active/reactive are some of the biggest developments I’ve seen. It’s making more amazing and resonant ideas for consumers/audiences with less time and money. But the tools are there, the teams are talented and the will to do it, super strong. I say let’s all keep getting leaner and meaner and smarter y’all. Fun times will be had.

5) VR/AR is one the most fascinating spaces for business and creative opportunities. I feel like it’s still taking a bit for creative teams to think in these terms and/or for clients to want/require it. But it’s coming and is going to be really interesting. If you just look at what we worked on for our client, Lockheed Martin and our “Field Trip To Mars” project for them that won big at Cannes, you’ll get a sense about to what I’m referring. For example, beyond the incredible work that Framestore created, I was able to get Q Dept. involved, and they helped us make sound software and hardware that had never been made before. We created sound for a shared VR experience. That had never been doing before and that’s what I’m getting a kick out of most – being an explorer of music and sound. Getting to be a music pioneer.

1) We were asked to produce a 3 part symphony for a live event at the Musée Du Louvre in Paris which would be performed in timed-relation to animation which was being generated by the music. Every aspect of the production needed to be coordinated with the client, agency, event producers, film production company, animation company, a 52-piece French orchestra, a studio recording and live recording, all to happen over the course 2 days. Through the many challenges we relied heavily our experience, honed over several years of work with Spotify at SXSW. Thankfully the event was a big success we were asked to produce a second performance in Munich. Pretty gratifying.

2) In the early part of 2017 we were hired to compose the score for Year Million on NatGeo. My fellow NY-based composer, Timo Elliston, and our Prague-based composer, Viliam Béreš, teamed to write an hour of original score-to-picture per week for the series. It was incredibly challenging because of the compressed production schedule as well as the show’s multi-genre format, which was essentially four kinds of shows rolled into one. It made for many late nights and weekends, but the end result was definitely worth it and wildly rewarding creatively. Figuring out how to do that and maintain the spur-of-the-moment, on-demand advertising work kept us on our toes, to be sure.

3) I first joined BANG as a producer but started to write consistently for advertising projects within the first couple of years. At the same time we were beginning to work more in TV & Film and as those areas started to grow, I began managing more aspects of company with our Founder, Lyle Greenfield. After becoming his partner and eventually our President, I found my time pretty evenly divided between writing music and running the business with Lyle and our partner, Brad Stratton. I really like the excitement and challenge of developing our business, both creatively and intellectually. But there are certainly days when wish I could just hole up in my studio and write music without being interrupted by “the business.”

4) While every year seems to have a new paradigm in terms of budgets and deliverables (i.e. additional versions you’ll be asked to do for the same budget), it does seem like things have leveled out somewhat and that clients are starting understand that online projects require the same amount of work and skill as broadcast projects. As more and more things are produced for both traditional & non-traditional media, I think we’ll continue to be asked to iterate more and more content for multiple platforms within the same project.

5) Creatively, VR & AR are now fully developed art forms that can radically change the way a viewer interacts with a creative execution. It’s never been more visceral and immediate. I do still wonder how it will scale audience to engage enough people to make the production cost and timeline work for brands. In that sense, AR may have a better chance than VR since there’s likely more flexibility around implementation and degrees of interaction required to move the needle. We’ve done live concert binaural recordings as well as AR sound for large live & animated installations and the effect can be really incredible. Monitoring and implementation is still a challenge in this space as is presenting VR & AR work-in-progress to clients so they “get it” without being able to really see and hear things in their final form.

1) A big challenge was a recent 15-second I worked on. That short of a spot is typically tough to have music make a huge impact, because you have to introduce a melody/theme, then develop it, crescendo and resolve. For this particular spot, we had to find a song that was immediately engaging and near peaking and build from there. The spot had zero VO, and the direction of the brief was so open that it wasn’t a clear-cut right or wrong for most tracks. This project turned into a numbers game. This required us to search through thousands of tracks and lay back literally hundreds to picture. There was a gauntlet of creative approvals and a massive time crunch. The exhausting exercise proved successful in finding the best creative solution for it. Although tiring, frustrating and arduous, this process drained the well of obvious songs and forced us to dig deeper and search in genres and places we wouldn’t normally think to go. It definitely proved that sometimes the most difficult searches and process can yield some of the most interesting tracks.

2) I am most proud of the Google Pixel Grammys Prince tribute spot we did. We’d been following the Prince estate closely for months and were determined to find the right opportunity to do the first-ever major license of a Prince song in an ad. Once we heard Google had bought time on the Grammys, we knew the Grammys would do a tribute to Prince like they did for David Bowie. This would be our opportune moment to do our own special Google tribute to honor him. It was a legal gauntlet to clear the song, but with our great business affairs and legal teams and our partners at Universal, we were able to get it done. Creatively we knew we had to do something special. His song “Nothing Compares 2 U” had the perfect lyrics and tone. Prince had a history of finding talent on YouTube, so crowdsourcing real people, artists and influencers covering this song seemed to be the most authentic and impactful way to pay homage to him. We had Sampha, Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes’ Jenn Wasner, Deer Tick’s John McCauley, Brandi Carlile and others, all participate to make the memorable ad. This emotional, heartfelt spot aired directly after the energetic Bruno Mars tribute to Prince and immediately gained great press from the New York Times to Pitchfork praising it. The perfect ad buy, the eclectic talent, simplicity of the ad and power of the song helped this to be one of the most memorable moments of the Grammys.

3) As both the music and advertising industry evolve to meet the demands of ever-growing and changing consumption of content, the one thing that continually gains importance is the role music plays in film. With streaming sites such as Spotify and Apple Music taking the reigns as the leading music-discovery platforms, music is more sought after and accessible than ever before. Streaming has made music nearly too easy to consume, resulting in a consumer with an insatiable appetite for new music and an increased desire to find new and cool music before it becomes mainstream. Brands are trying to capitalize on this opportunity and use music as a driving device to elevate their brand by leading the race in breaking new music and becoming a music tastemaker. The result is a tangible increase in the conversations around music and growing importance/pressure on the role of music in every film. This has also led to a lot more music licensing rather than original composition, which has trickled down to a growing importance and weight of the role of music supervisors/music producers as the portals and experts to new, unheard music and old, undiscovered, dusty musical gems. Although this extra weight makes our jobs more difficult, I find it much more rewarding to license more unexpected, unique tracks rather than trying to just license a Top 40 hit or an obvious classic song. It allows us to dig deep into personal music favorites and start trends rather than join existing music trends. The ever-shrinking timelines for projects have made it much more challenging do our due diligence to clear these tracks in time for release.

4) Temp music is increasingly becoming the nemesis of creativity.

1) The biggest challenge for us (and anyone in a creative field) is probably to stay emotionally invested in a project, even when the best creative ideas have been discarded in favor of something inferior. In music, this tends to happen when a client gets a little wrapped up in a temp track, but truthfully, I think many people would agree that the best version(s) almost never ship no matter what the circumstance. Most recently, we worked on a project where we did some amazing covers of a classic tune. The agency was absolutely in love with what we did, but unfortunately the client got hung up on an earlier idea that was pretty mediocre. At the end of the day, or job is to solve problems and get our clients something that their clients are willing to put on the air. And in this instance we had to help console the agency (and ourselves) for the death of a much more exciting idea, while still working hard to finish the job and please the brand. We’re a small company, and everyone touches everything. It was especially gratifying when our team finally delivered the final approved music and were greeted with loads of gratitude from the agency. It made the pain of seeing a better idea die a little easier to take, and it is in these types of situations that I am most proud of our people and the work we do.

2) I am most proud of the work we did for McDonald’s Big Mac campaign, “There’s A Big Mac For That.” When I started in this industry, the idea of a “Jingle” was something people often joked about as being dated or lame. But today perception has changed, and one of the hardest things to pull off is to write an original song that has the desired brand message and itself is also an authentic “hit.” That was pretty much the crux of our brief. It was a highly competitive job with a very tight timeline, and the agency would later tell us that once they heard our track for the first time, there was absolutely no question it was to be “the track” for the whole campaign. McDonald’s had just shifted their business to a new agency and there was a lot riding on this initial work. It really couldn’t have gone smoother. We took an active roll in casting the rapper, recording him at our studio the weekend before the shoot, and the response from everyone was tremendous. This was the one rare time where the best version did make it to air. (Well almost. We wrote some additional verses that were pretty amazing, which couldn’t fit into a :30)

3) Our role as a company evolves from job to job (not just year to year). No project is the same, and as a production partner we have to adapt accordingly. Sometimes we’re almost completely responsible for the musical concept. Other times, we’re simply asked to execute a fully fleshed out and tested idea. We are asked to be writers, curators, performers, talent scouts, etc..All that has changed over the years is our breadth of experience in each one of these roles. And it is that unpredictability that can be both the most exciting and most stressful part of the gig.

4) There are some musical trends that are emerging that are pretty fun and exciting. Now that hip-hop has existed for a few more decades, it has cemented its place in pop music. And therefore, advertising music has followed suit. 15 years ago, hip-hop was usually reserved for certain types of brands/markets or used as a comedy device. Hip-hop has pretty much replaced Rock and Roll in pop culture, and that is extremely obvious when you look at advertising. That’s only gonna continue.

5) There are a lot of creative things happening with sound and VR/AR. Our agency and brand partners are only just beginning to scratch the surface on what is possible, and while we’ve dabbled a bit in some of it, we’re expecting more of that to come in the future.

1) Personally, presenting Pussy Riot at Cannes Lions for the 11th Annual Grey Music Seminar was a crazy challenge. Dealing with the manager and a band , some of whom live in Russia, and coordinating a meaningful event was quite difficult. Fitting a square peg of a punk rock activist band into a circular hole of a corporate framework ain’t easy, but we did it and it was meaningful.

2) Townhouse Music has produced some amazing music in 2017, great new Volvo work, upcoming work for Gillette and the NFL will bow peoples minds. We have a great team here all of whom compliment each other.

3) The role of the music producer/supervisor once was about someone skilled in music studio production, orchestration, arranging and the complex and complicated craft of music composition, whereas now, it’s expanded to an additional understanding of existing music culture, and up-and-coming exceptional artists and talent.

4) I would say the most significant trend is that CMOs and strategic planning folks are now utilizing music strategies on a more regular basis. Music is now at the table during the ideation process as opposed to an afterthought. The substantial power and might of music in the creative process is in full effect.

1) About a month into my time at Publicis New York, I began working on a dream project. A campaign where music is an essential part of the final product and a main character of the spot.  By character, I mean the track is not only intended to lyrically carry the theme(s) of the spot, but the music needs to have the right vibe and evoke the right emotion.  Each spot has a different track, and its own personality.  A favorite part of my job is finding the needle in the haystack -- that perfect song, combined with the intent of the creative.  This specific project has evolved in an amazing way, and it’s been extremely gratifying to see the results as we get closer to launch.  The challenging part was, and continues to be, getting there.  As I said, the campaign is still in the works, but as the songs get chosen, and once the songs are chosen, it’s humbling to see the power of music in this medium.  

2) I started working at Publicis New York towards the end of 2016.  In, and of itself, working here has brought me a nice sense of pride.  Being able to work on projects for a diverse group of brands - specifically this roster that has a strong appreciation and need for music - makes my job immensely satisfying.  In terms of specifics, I have been admiring the work tech companies use, and the partnerships they form - not simply licensing, but larger integrations, whether it be brand partnerships, technology that can allow viewers to Shazam tracks, or doing interesting remixes or versions of older songs to introduce to a new generation of fans.

3) My role has evolved personally, as my career has grown.  Taking on new jobs, working with new people and clients - all of it comes with growing responsibilities compounded with an industry that is ever changing.  A big and not so fun shift is budget; doing more with less and finding the right partners to take that on as well. Though with changes come more opportunities, such as VR/AR, partnerships, pop up shops, etc. There are a multitude of expanding opportunities for music and sound to take on a larger and more visceral role for the consumer, which makes it less about marketing/advertising and more about memorable experiences.

4) Experiential, immersive activations might not be a new trend, but they are certainly becoming more prominent this year.  For example, one of our clients created an activation where participants can gain front row access at a concert, whether you were in the back of the venue, or watching somewhere remote.  As someone who sees a lot of live music, and is not vertically gifted, this is game changing.  When a brand creates a unique expression to enhance and personalize an experience, it is very powerful. The brand creates a strong brand association and lastly endurance, both in terms of loyalty and innovation.

5) I welcome it.  VR/AR creates a space where consumers, again, come away with a memory and a long-lasting connection to the brand. Whether it be diegetic music, and/or sound design, or more of a soundtrack for what’s going on around you – all these additions and innovations can only make users more engaged and entertained.

1) We recently had a project in for Squarespace where some aspects proved exceptionally challenging. One example was from the spot called “Storytellers” where our mixer David Papa was charged with blending the sound design of various scenes of people typing on old-fashioned typewriters along to the melody of a well-known piece of music, ultimately building to a thunderous crescendo. His challenge was to find a way to match the timing of the SFX and the musical melody with the physical movements of the typists (who were not actually referencing the final music track), while balancing the incorporation of the typing sounds as both another instrument in the track and also as believable realistic production audio. He was ultimately able to find a balance that satisfied the melding of all three elements (music, pic and sound) into one cohesive mix. He found that it’s important and sometimes beneficial, to have some creative wiggle room, and that sum total of the various elements of a mix can override the notions that everything has to be perfectly in sync to effectively convey an idea.

2) Well, we’re in uncharted political territory these days, so on a personal level, working on the New York Times “Truth Is Hard” spot was definitely a high point of 2017 for me. It’s rare in advertising to work on something that’s both creatively challenging while at the same time aligning with your own moral center. It was a perfect storm of good while the world was (at least from my point of view) seemingly in flames around us.

3) We’re now more often asked to be involved in projects earlier in the process. This has been a rather exciting evolution. As projects have gotten more complex with the advent of multi-page deliverables lists, it helps to be involved earlier from both a logistical, and creative standpoint. On a personal level, I’ve been lucky enough over the life of Sonic Union, to learn from my partners the finer points of running a successful business.

4) Budgets! While I understand that advertisers, agencies and holding companies are beholden to their shareholders, ever shrinking budget requirements are going to be the most challenging aspect for the post-production community to manage going forward. Maintaining the quality levels we’ve been known for while still treating our clients and staff they way we do has an inherent cost. And it’s not going down. My whole career has been in service of the advertising community. I’d like to see that creative relationship continue with the next generations as well, rather than continuing in the direction of the in-house model, that serves nobody but the holding companies. I cannot express in physical numbers the number of eye-rolls I’ve gotten from creatives or producers while recounting situations when they were “strongly encouraged” to work in-house. They (and we) fully understand that it’s not in the projects’ best interest and doesn’t necessarily save the advertiser any money!

5) We’re really excited about immersive audio. We’ve done quite a few VR projects, and are presently gearing up to do a lot more in that arena. It’s been a bit of a steep learning curve, but luckily we’ve got some very talented people at Sonic Union who’ve shown great interest in exploring this world and who’ve worked on VR jobs for Vanity Fair and the Wall Street Journal most recently.

1) The most challenging project I’ve worked on recently was our VW Atlas campaign launch where we licensed Simon & Garfunkel’s “America.” Not only did we license the original master but we executed 6 re-records of the song. That in itself is a challenge, especially when dealing with such a great song. You really have to flip it upside down creativity and change things to put your own fingerprint on such an iconic piece.

2) VW’s “America” spot for the launch of the VW Atlas takes the top spot. This was a tremendous effort by both our creative team and VW client to come together and make something absolutely stunning. We licensed Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” to enhance a great piece of creative. It was beautiful storytelling with an incredible song to accent the visuals. Up to this point in my career, this is my most proud moment.

3) My role here at the agency evolves on a daily basis. Our clients are always on the forefront of creativity and with that comes a need to constantly explore artists in the music space. No two days, spots or briefs are the same and we always need to roll with the punches so to speak. We are in such a great spot creatively here at Deutsch that adapting with the industry comes natural to us.

4) I think the biggest development in the music space is the accessibility and amount of music that comes out on a daily basis. It’s definitely challenging to keep up with the massive amount of music being released constantly. As far as music searching goes, it has become the wild west as far as process and finding tracks as it is so accessible these days. I don’t know if there are any implications here, but more of learning to adapt in the given environment and finding the best workaround to find/source the best and most current music all the time.

1) The creative team on the agency side was so passionate about the work that they didn’t confine themselves to the whole “fixed length” thing in the edit. They were sending over :63s, :57s, :72s... We knew it would eventually end up as a :60 for broadcast, but of course we obliged their requests to make it work a bunch of different ways. At the end of the project there was a feeling of accomplishment that came from more than just long hours... I think what we really learned was more of a reminder... that taking the long way around, raising the bar, pushing past a familiar set of confines can ultimately loosen things up and allow the creative process to flourish. It’s good when people care about things.

2) The North Face “Neverstop” spot was special to work on. Mainly because so much of the music was written in real time and in person... and because our client really believed in what we were doing. I also thought that license of “Fantastic Man” by William Onyeabor was great in the Apple “Barbers” spot. We had nothing to do with that, but it worked!!! Hats off to stuff that works.

3) I think music shops function best as partners. Dedicated, committed... not just to writing and creating but to communicating about one of the most subjective and visceral parts of the creative process. An evolution I’d say has been a tendency (for reasons that totally make sense) for people to cast wide nets... and while wide nets keep you safer, they don’t actually write music. People do. Finding something nobody hates isn’t as cool as creating something somebody loves. I think the evolution of the music shop is to focus on that.

4) What year is it again?

5) Despite one of my partners and several of our composers being gaming maniacs, we haven’t done many projects within the VR/AR space yet. we have friends who do, though. outside of the gaming world - and even within the gaming world - we haven’t sensed the kind of demand for content that would necessitate us entering the space. We’re very much intrigued by it, however.

1) We had a very exciting (and challenging) project hit our doorstep this year for the Lincoln Motor Company together with Hudson Rouge/NY. Not only was it a big artist collaboration with Gary Clarke Jr., which gave us the opportunity to produce, record and mix with him, but they wanted us to do something that had never really been done before. Build a guitar amp out of Lincoln car parts. I mean, how often does a project like that come along?? Of course we had never done anything like this, but between our managing director/EP Marlene Bartos and Grammy Award-winning EP/mixer Gerard Smerek we were able to connect the dots and create the coolest Lincoln guitar amp I have ever seen (or heard). We had a lot of long days/nights/weekends/holidays throughout the process and in the end it was a complete success. Not only that, but it was a Grammy Awards project with multiple legs (TV commercials, making of films, behind the scenes, online content and live performances). We were presented with many challenges on this one from logistics to feasibility. In the end our teams banded together and dug in deep. That’s what made this one really fun to work on.

2) We have had a few of those this year with two that were particularly memorable. I guess I cannot deny the fact that we won a Gold Lion in Cannes this year for a little project we took on with MullenLowe/Singapore and director James Teh. We have worked with James on a few projects and he had a really fun one for us (with not a lot of money). But because of that I think we got to have more creative freedom and compose a mix of music and sound design that we were all very passionate about. The product was Clear (a dandruff shampoo) for the Asian market and all based on the Japanese interpretive dance form called Butoh developed after WWII. Coincidentally our composer and NY creative director, Mike Dragovic, had studied this art form in college and was able to bring a lot to the table. He teamed up with our NY sound designer Weston and the two embarked on a wild journey of sound creation. The end product turned out to be very fruitful.
The other project that was a really fun one was a 4D animated film we worked on for Chimelong Parks in Guangzhou, China. We partnered with Prana Studios to score and orchestrate this 12minute fully immersive film that took us to Mumbai, India to work on a Dolby Atmos mix. Our mixer, Scott Gatteño’s first time working on the Atmos platform and at one of the premier Bollywood mix studios in Mumbai. It’s a film full of pandas on wild adventures, fireworks and evil rabbits. You can’t get much better than that! Just one of those fun projects that you can be really proud of in the end.

3) It’s really been a fun and interesting evolution here. We were always a traditional music and sound design company that started out in Detroit. Our first step in growth was really physical expansion, which started in New York and spread to LA and Hamburg. We were able to cover more of the world this way with key directors in each location to help spread the word. This has proven very effective for us and gave us the chance to take the next leap which was diversification. 10 years ago we branched out into the worlds of experiential audio design and themed entertainment which gave us the opportunity to work around the world in places like Dubai, Singapore, Seoul, and Mumbai for projects with Ferrari World, Universal Studios, One World Observatory, and Fox. With these projects we were doing more and more full audio production from the music and sound design down to the studio mix and onsite mixing. Since mixing is something we are really good at, we opened up a sister company in our NY space called VINYLmix dedicated to audio post mixing and lead by our mixer Weston Fonger. And from there we jumped heavily into the VR/AR world of spacial audio. For us, the idea of evolution is something that is necessary to grow our business. We have to continuously adapt to the changing landscape. That’s what makes this industry so exciting. What do I like least about this? Really the only thing might be the travel as it takes me away from my family a lot (but as most people know, I do have a real passion for travel too). There is no way we could have grown our business the way we have without my brother and business partner Michael Yessian who keeps me in check, our mentor and father Dan Yessian who started Yessian Music 46 years ago and our amazing staff of 30+ people around the world that help us achieve success.

4) One of the biggest trends I see this year is increasing speeds at which we are creating content. The time crunches have always been there, for years really. But with evolving technologies, the creative is being pushed out faster and faster. We have learned to adapt and speed up our process for a long time. The unfortunate part for the audio is it is often times coming in at the very end of the project timeline. Many times with only a couple days to complete it. Our most successful projects this year have been the ones where we are brought in earlier in the production process. Those projects where we are actual partners on the film and maybe even influencing decisions made based on what sound can bring to the table. One thing we have learned is to never overstep our bounds when it comes to the overall creative production process, but when everyone on the project is involved from the start, the end product will be elevated. I encourage (and challenge) our industry to partner more often with audio vendors and involve them from the very beginning.

5) Our teams at Yessian Music are fully immersed in the VR/AR world now. We have been researching, experimenting, developing and implementing for nearly two years in the spatial audio frontier led by Jeff Dittenber and Scott Gatteño. With the work we have been doing in experiential and themed entertainment the last 10 years, we have developed a skill set in creating audio for environments with multiple audio channel formats from large spaces to interactive moving rides. We’ve been able to take this knowledge and apply it to the VR/AR world in headphones. The learning curves take some getting used to. It’s like the Wild West out there. The various platforms are not really in sync with each other at all, so creating an ambisonic mix for the Samsung Gear is completely different from the HTC Vive. We’ve had the opportunity to work on some pretty ground breaking VR projects for the likes of Cisco, Ford and Volvo most recently that gave us the chance to really push the boundaries with spatial audio and hone our skills even more. With each new project we work on, we are presented with new challenges and take away new found knowledge. That’s the beauty of working on this platform, we are always learning.

1) As a collective with all the spots we create music for, I find that the greatest challenge will always be creating music that makes your clients say WOW! And in order to do so, you must be willing to get out of your comfort zone and take risks and learn new approaches and change formulas and fight the predictable. As music creators at VOLITION, we aim to ROCK THE CASBAH every time!

2) We reached our first 100 million view video this year when we edited the picture as well as created the music and sound design for director Benny Boom’s “No Frauds” video featuring Nikki Minaj, Drake and Lil Wayne. As a result, we also edited the picture and did the music for Billboard Top 10 artists Future and Yo Gotti. If you watch the “Rake It Up” Yo Gotti video, you can hear me narrating the introduction with an intentional nerdy voice. We also shot, edited and scored a mini-series for Tidal’s streaming service and were just renewed to shoot a new season!

3) I have gone from dialogue replacement and “sound guy” at Vito Desario Editing to lead composer at a music house to owning VOLITION, a full service music, licensing and strategy company. I love that we get called to create the music for some of the world’s biggest events such as the NBA Finals, Mayweather vs McGregor and the Super Bowl.

4) The landscape of music is huge! Songs are becoming the new underscore and in many cases what I call “The Overscore,” meaning that the song carries the spot with very little or no voiceover. At VOLITION, we are uniquely positioned to provide high prized songs as well as underscores since our composer roots are steeped in the record industry as Platinum and Gold producers. Our team has worked recently with major artists like Future, Nikki Minaj, 50 Cent, Beyonce and Yo Gotti. We can produce 30 and 60 second hits overnight when asked. It’s proven to be a great asset to have the flexibility and versatility as both music producers and music composers. Being able to switch hats on a dime has landed great wins.

5) I think the VR/AR landscape is fascinating. We recently provided the musical landscape for a traveling VR world. I found it to be amazing and full of new potential.