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.
