Bicoastal Butter Music and Sound has launched a music library, Haystack, bringing on board seasoned music supervisor Chip Herter as director of creative sync services in its Los Angeles office. The comprehensive one-stop music licensing catalog was designed with the needs of filmmakers and music supervisors front-of-mind, with splits available for full customization of every track to accommodate the multitude of lengths for digital content as well as being a direct destination for clearing all tracks. Beyond advertising, Haystack will provide comprehensive music resources for television, film and other content.
Butter will continue to offer its signature award-winning original compositions–as it has for brands such as Clash of Clans, Ragu, DIRECTV, Samsung, Duracell and Hyatt–with Herter working as a music supervisor on select projects.
In addition to Butter’s collection of production music, Haystack is growing quickly to incorporate content from other labels and publishers. Deals are already in the works with a number of diverse and notable international labels. Additionally, Haystack will be collaborating with up-and-coming artists and bands for residencies that will generate exclusive, cutting-edge content.
Butter Los Angeles EP Annick Mayer said, “Chip not only brings such a wealth of experience in music supervision to Haystack, but also an in-depth knowledge of the intricacies and potential emotive power of music in the branded content space.”
Herter added, “This is a golden opportunity to work with the pros at Butter to further my belief that music has a transformative power. I’ve long since admired Butter’s ability to work outside the perimeters of the average music company. Working with this team—especially to develop Haystack as a well known resource for awesome sync music—is going to yield some magical results.”
After earning a BFA in Film & TV Production from Chapman University, Herter followed his lifelong passion for music to work as a music producer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Los Angeles. He honed his craft and his talents by pairing musical accompaniment with top-tier ad campaigns for such clients as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Best Buy, KRAFT and Dominos. In 2014, Herter launched full-service musical supervision company SYNC or SWIM, providing custom and licensed pieces for advertising, film, TV and new media projects.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More