We run through the latest and greatest in sync licensing and music supervision over the past fortnight, including the latest industry news, advice, and deals.
Film and TV
Behind the ‘magical’ music of La La Land with Damien Chazelle, Justin Hurwitz, and Ryan Gosling: Exclusive video (Billboard)
As this Lionsgate exclusive featurette shows, from the start, the music centered on Hurwitz’s elegant piano theme. “The first music I composed for the movie was actually the theme for the movie,” Hurwitz says. “I wanted material that could unfold on a larger scale and throughout the entire movie.”
Matt Kaleda on the music that fuels The Grand Tour (Synchblog)
What’s it like to music supervise the biggest, most expensive, and wonderfully ridiculous car show out there? Matt Kaleda of Felt Music talks us through the process of working on The Grand Tour.
Hidden Figures composers Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer on what they learned from each other (Vulture)
Pop star Pharrell Williams pulled double duty on the film, co-producing and writing the score — a blend of stirring, gospel-inflected orchestral passages; bluesy rhythm; and contemporary melody — with composers Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch. Adoring friends and frequent collaborators, Zimmer and Williams spoke about that challenge.
Imagine Dragons debut original song from Passengers soundtrack (Entertainment Weekly)
Imagine Dragons released their original song for Passengers, “Levitate,” with the help of a video teaser that gives another new look at the movie, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.
Q&A with The Royals music supervisor Lindsay Wolfington (Synchblog)
With The Royals Season 3 airing this weekend, we chat to music supervisor Lindsay Wolfington about her work on the show, as well as others including One Tree Hill and ShadowHunters.
An Official “San Junipero” Soundtrack is coming soon, because music is the heart of this Black Mirror episode (Bustle)
If you found yourself toe tapping, seat dancing, and gleefully shimmying your way through this episode of Black Mirror, then you’ll be delighted to know that an official soundtrack for the “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror is being released.
Jackie shows a first lady behind closed doors – but the music is front and centre (NPR)
The new film Jackie, opening in theaters across the country this weekend, begins with a blank, black screen, underscored by melting strings. It’s our first indication that music will play a central role here, at times even more so than the title character.
The musician behind Gilmore Girls’ ‘la-las’ reveals how she found the sound of Stars Hollow (Los Angeles Times)
Show creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and director-writer Dan Palladino brought back composer and musician Sam Phillips to create a fresh series of “strange little micro songs” (as Phillips describes them) for the new Netflix series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, set nearly 10 years after the series’ final episode on the CW.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: The bard behind Broadway’s Hamilton & Disney’s Moana (Guardian)
Miranda is a performer, composer, lyricist and, perhaps, one of the most lauded artist in America today. At 36, he has an Emmy, a Grammy and enough Tony awards to fill any reasonably sized mantelpiece.
Gaming
Takeshi Furukawa on composing the beautiful score for The Last Guardian (Forbes)
For both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, the music in those games played an integral part in building their atmosphere. Forbes catches up with Takeshi Furukawa to find out more about how he composed the score for The Last Guardian.
The last Final Fantasy trailer has Eminem in it, because why not? (Cinema Blend)
The last and final promotional trailer for the launch of Final Fantasy XV has arrived, and Square Enix has gone all out for the game. In fact, they decided to pull a page out of Activision’s playbook and put a little Eminem in the promo trailer… because why not?
The Death Stranding trailer music is headed to vinyl (endgadget)
The trailer, like its spooky predecessor, features the music of Low Roar, which specialist record producer Mondo is now planning to release on vinyl. You’ll get two tracks, I’ll Keep Coming and Easy Way Out, on the 12-inch “clear with heavy black splatter” single.
Ninja Gaiden’s soundtrack is getting an elaborate remaster, 30 years later (The Verge)`
To celebrate the soundtrack’s enduring legacy, record label Brave Wave is releasing an elaborate remastered edition next year. It’s part of the label’s ongoing “Generation Series,” which kicked off last year with Street Fighter II, and aims to update classic game soundtracks with revitalized remasters.
Video game composers can make you smarter! (The music of Dragon Front) (Gamasutra)
Can music enable gamers to think tactically, stay focused and make smart decisions? Over the next three articles composer Winifred Phillips will try to answer that question, while exploring the role of music in enhancing the concentration of strategic/tactical gamers.
Advertising
The Most Shazamed Ads of the Week: Nov. 15 – Nov. 21 | Nov. 22 – Nov. 28 (CLIO)
Every week, Clios.com, in partnership with Shazam, rounds up the most Shazamed ads of the previous week. These are the top spots from the last two weeks.
Business
Leland Music launches Leland Originals to represent composers (MBW)
Leland Music, one of the UK’s most respected music supervision houses, has launched a sister company, Leland Originals, to represent a selection of composers. (Don’t forget to check out our recent interview with founder Abi Leland here.)
BrandSpins acquires sync licensing firm MusicDealers (Digital Music News)
MusicDealers won’t be disappearing after all, thanks to an acquisition by Las Vegas-based BrandSpins.
Production Music Awards: All the winners (Televisual)
The winners of the 2016 Production Music Awards have been announced with multiple wins for Universal Publishing Production Music and Extreme Music. The awards were held in association with MCPS Production Music and span 18 categories across composition and sync. They were judged by a 30 strong industry panel.
Tips and Tricks
From Pitch to Placement: The Essentials of Sync Licensing (Synchblog)
Check out this recording and slides from our recent Essentials of Sync Licensing Webinar in association with Women in Music. We run through the best practices for preparing your catalogue for licensing, tips for pitching successfully, building relationships with music supervisors, and much more.
You can’t teach passion: Career tips for women in sync (Synchblog)
In this post, shesaid.so‘s Harriet Moss runs through some key advice from top female music supervisors and sync professionals at the London Sync Sessions 2016.
Events
Soundcheque presents: Que the Music: Live Showcase, Syncs & Drinks (London, Dec 12)
Que the Music is back with an exclusive night of live music and sync networking. Live music will be provided by Louise Golbey and Willow Robinson, plus on-the-spot compositions by the house band. VIP guest list only: events@soundcheque.com
