As we kick off a yearlong “Then and Now” series in this issue to commemorate SHOOT’s upcoming 50th year anniversary, it occurred to me that a recent panel discussion I moderated had some of the elements our anniversary coverage will uncover relative to reflections and observations on changes in the industry, what dynamics have remained constants, and what the future holds.
The panel was the SHOOT session Music For Commercials at the recent Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film and TV Music Conference in L.A. Panelist Andrew Bancroft, associate creative director/copywriter at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), San Francisco, observed, “My hiring at the agency wouldn’t have happened before the nature of the business changed.” Bancroft didn’t have the classic advertising portfolio. Instead his background was in web content, including developing online musical projects.
With the digital age emerging, GS&P saw the benefits of Bancroft’s then atypical creative experience and hired him. The shop has since tapped into his sensibilities for innovative music-driven projects, including the “Comcast Town” spots, as well as the tongue-in-cheek California Milk online rock opera Battle for Milkquarious. The opera found lyricist Bancroft collaborating with composers/performers Tyler Spencer and Zach Shipps of the band Electric Six.
Yet while the rock/pop domain is hot in terms of crossing over into the ad biz, there’s something to be said for original music and sound houses with artisans who have both creative and advertising sensibilities. Panelist Josh Rabinowitz, senior VP, director of music for Grey Group, New York, noted that while his agency successfully explores and taps into rock/pop talent, some 70 percent of Grey’s work involves commercial music houses.
Underscoring those contributions was the work shown by Liz Myers, composer/co-founder of Trivers/Myers Music, composer Danny Dunlap of Beacon Street Studios, and Zack Sinick, executive music producer of Squeak E. Clean Productions.
The latter screened the U.S. Cellular spot “Shadow Puppets” for Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, featuring a track which had a new arrangement of the 1926 song “Tonight You Belong To Me.” The charming piece reflects the arrangement chops that a music house brings to the table, as well as the appropriately understated vocal performances of Sinick and Elizabeth Shapiro, with Sinick also on ukulele.
The contributions of an original music house were also evident in Vinamilk’s “Balloons” for Lowe Vietnam. A simple, touching story unfolds to a musical score that’s a mesh of Western and Asian worlds. Beacon Street composers Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau and Dunlap reached out to Orange County, Calif’s. Little Saigon where they met musician/teacher Chau Nguyen who exposed them to Vietnam’s musical culture and performed on Vietnamese instruments that were incorporated into the track.
Besides demonstrating the value of ad music house acumen, “Balloons” represents the industry’s expansive reach with agencies and artists finding new pockets of business globally.
Also reflecting new opportunities that lie ahead while affirming the ongoing importance of original music and sound shops was the work showcased by Myers–another of the beautiful animated broadcast spots that Trivers/Myers has scored over the years for United Airlines, and then a recent distilling down of the essence of that brand music identity into a Twitter intro for United. Her observation is that with the advent of social media, music for a growing number of projects is getting shorter and shorter but having a much wider impact than ever before.
Trump Asks Supreme Court To Delay TikTok Ban
President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.
The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk.
"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case," said Trump's amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump's choice for solicitor general.
The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table.
He has been holding meetings with foreign leaders and business officials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida while he assembles his administration, including a meeting last week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger... Read More