Finding the perfect song for a film is a lot harder than you think, according to a panel of entertainment industry professionals whose job it is to match song to concept. At a recent Southern California seminar sponsored by the Association of Music Producers (AMP), music supervisors gave the audience a peek into the joys and frustrations of trying to find the right work that musically expresses and complements what’s on the screen.
The panel discussion was moderated by Don Jasko of Digital Economics, Santa Monica. AMP, an affiliate of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, was founded in 1998 for the purpose of educating its members, and the production and advertising community at large, on all facets of music production, from creation to final use.
“Songwriting has been, I think, tremendously hurt in the last ten years,” said panelist Maureen Crowe of Maureen Crowe Productions, Los Angeles, in describing the details of her job as a leading Hollywood music supervisor. She went on to add that there has been a decrease in the amount of good quality songs that work for films. “There was a certain credibility to the songs and what they were trying to say. Maybe out of ten songs, you’d find a great one. Now it might be [one] out of a hundred.”
Bonnie Greenberg of Ocean Cities Music, Los Angeles, seemed to agree, sharing examples of how the business works and doesn’t work due to a lack of understanding about time constraints, as well as the problem of getting submissions that are on target with an assignment. “I recently did a soundtrack for Desperate Housewives which was truly an ‘inspired by’ album. We had 263 songs written on spec and five were actually picked.”
Greenberg went on to cite an example of what she felt was the inexperience of some music publishers when setting licensing fees. “We decided to put these [four] songs on a soundtrack, two of which were famous songs that were covered and two of which were new songs that had been written for us. We get the price quotes and they’re quoting higher for the never-heard song–than for the big famous song. And I said, ‘Are they out of their mind?'”
Greenberg shared her perception of the financial predicament of the music publisher as being a slippery slope between the record company and the licensing division that are both trying to generate revenues. “At the end of the day, a song has only so much value. If it keeps getting used over and over again, it’s going to become saturated, overexposed and it will impact the value.”
Music supervisor Dan Wilcox of Ten Music, Santa Monica, and L.A. radio station KCRW, offered counsel to a music supervisor in the audience who asked why he couldn’t get ad agencies to write a commercial around “a great song from a band that I represent.” Wilcox replied, “It just doesn’t work that way. The music usually comes secondary in the process.” His advice was to cultivate a relationship with advertising creatives and build to something collaborative.
Independent or unsigned musicians sometimes benefit from the quick turnaround necessary in song placement. “I choose only to work with independent artists who own all of their music and publishing,” said panelist Beth Wernick of Imaginary Friends, Santa Monica, who describes herself as a “song plugger,” and who represents various songwriters and independent artists. “I want music I can clear in twelve seconds. It’s worked out well.”
The panelists said they were inundated with CDs from record labels and independent songwriters and artists who want to get their music in films, TV and commercials. “You’ve got to remember that there are a lot of you out there,” related Wernick.
In spite of the daunting competition, hope for songwriters in the form of “good winning out” was offered by Crowe. “Music is driving technology left and right,” she said. “And people still love music. The reason it works in a film is because the emotionality of the music and the emotional aspects of the scenes and the context of the scene all kind of come together and they deliver. And that’s what you all hope for.”
SOUND BITES
Music supervisor Chris Munger has joined Dragon Licks, the licensing division of Yessian, a music/sound design house with bases of operation in New York, Detroit, Royal Oak, Mich., and Los Angeles. Munger brings to his new roost extensive experience in music supervision that spans TV, music publishing, advertising and the Internet. A vet of high profile projects for Cadillac and MasterCard, among others, he has such licensing credits as “Catch My Fall” (Billy Idol), “Rock (En Roll All Night)” (KISS), “Wild Thing” (Jimi Hendrix), “Higher Ground” (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and “Le Grange” (ZZ Top). For the Outdoor Life Network, Munger negotiated and licensed Queen’s “Bicycle Race,” the theme for the network’s coverage of 2005’s Tour de France. Yessian’s Dan Zank created the show’s original theme song. Munger began his career as a music supervisor in ’95 at the on-air promotions department of Comedy Central. In ’02, Munger moved over to Warner Chappell Music, exploring multiple genres of third party licenses. One was for a MasterCard campaign, which landed Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “Summer Wind” and a cover of “Got to be Me” by Wyclef Jean….Bicoastal Elias Arts has entered into a six-month arrangement with the Deep Dish (the Washington, D.C.-based, Grammy Award-winning duo of Ali “Dubfire” Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi) and Thrive Records. Through May ’06, Elias Licensing will have exclusive worldwide licensing rights to Deep Dish’s newly created version of the Fleetwood Mac hit “Dreams.” The song was written by singer Steve Nicks who was a member of that band and then enjoyed success as a solo artist. Nicks provided new vocals for the track…..Big Foote Music, New York, has wrapped Cingular’s “Choir” directed by Douglas Avery of bicoastal Villains for BBDO New York. The agency called upon Big Foote composer Kari Steinert to create a believable choral composition to pair with silly lyrics. The classical composition was created on a synthesizer with a collection of orchestral instruments. Steinert recorded a string and wind section as well as a choir of 20 adults and 20 children. She later replaced the synthesizer instrumentals with live instruments and added bells and chimes to lend the spot a subtle holiday vibe. Ray Foote executive produced for Big Foote Music….New York-based audio post and finishing house Buzz has turned out a New York Lottery spot, “Excitement In The Air,” tied into the release of feature filmmaker Peter Jackson’s King Kong. The ad was directed by Charles Wittenmeier via Area 51, Santa Monica, for DDB Worldwide, New York. Michael Marinelli and Peter Flack of Buzz served as audio engineer/mixer and online editor, respectively, on the job. Clayton Hemmert of Crew Cuts, New York, edited the commercial. Colorist was Scott Burch of Nice Shoes, New York…..