This Fortnight in Music Supervision and Sync (10/08/18)

Film and TV

BlacKkKlansman Features an Unreleased Prince Song on the Soundtrack, Spike Lee Reveals (IndieWire)
“I knew that I needed an end-credits song,” Lee told Rolling Stone. “I’ve become very close with Troy Carter, one of the executives at Spotify [and a Prince estate advisor]. So I invited Troy to a private screening. And after, he said, ‘Spike, I got the song.’ And that was ‘Mary Don’t You Weep,’ which had been recorded on cassette in the mid-80s.”

How Music On The Bold Type Helped Make It One Of The Most Talked About Shows Of 2018 (Uproxx)
The music supervisor for the show, Rob Lowry, is something of a fixture in the LA music community. He sits down with Uproxx to discuss what goes into selecting songs that soundtrack each episode, and the importance of being involved with a show like this in 2018.

Casual Had the Best Soundtrack of Any Show on TV (IndieWire)
Series music supervisor Tricia Halloran shares the stories behind some of the Hulu show’s best and most memorable song moments.

Doing bits: How Love Island became the most important TV show in music (Music Week)
Alongside a group of sync experts, Music Week quizzes Love Island’s producers about what makes the show tick when it comes to music.

Will Emmy for Best Music Supervision go to Atlanta, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Stranger Things, This Is Us or Westworld? (Goldderby)
The Music Supervision category at the 2018 Emmys is now one year old, with Big Little Lies winning the inaugural trophy last year. Now in its second year of existence, Best Music Supervision honors the best in television soundtracks.

Songs for Screens: Mass Appeal CEO Talks New Nas Music, Future Biopic and Rap Doc Boom (Variety)
Songs for Screens caught up with Peter Bittenbender to learn more about Mass Appeal’s approach to hip-hop syncs and soundtracks, a glimpse at how the Netflix sausage is made, preview upcoming projects  and get the scoop on when more new music from Nas is coming.

30th Anniversary ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop (Pop Disciple)
Pop Disciple shares their recap of the 30th Anniversary ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop. We spoke to Emmy winning composer and mentor, Richard Bellis, the executive producers of the program, Michael Todd and Jennifer Harmon, and all 12 of the 2018 participants.

Scoring with Cheese (ASCAP)
Composers don’t like their work being labeled as “cheesy”. But in this article, composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson explain how they overcame the “cheese” factor inherent to a show based on the beloved AND over-the-top Karate Kid franchise.

How Sharp Objects Created Its Killer Soundtrack (Vulture)
To learn more about the show’s soundtrack, Vulture called up music supervisor Sue Jacobs, who previously worked with director Jean-Marc Vallée on Big Little Lies, which earned her the inaugural Emmy for music supervision. She discussed the importance of Led Zeppelin, how a song can save lives, and the words a music supervisor never wants to hear. (Hint: It also involves Led Zeppelin.)

How HBO’s Insecure Teamed Up With RCA Records and ‘Afropunk’ for Music Discovery (Variety)
Season three, premiering on August 12, will feature a new, independent artist hand-picked by Issa Rae.

Kids’ play: why are children soundtracking our favourite TV shows? (Guardian)
The kid with sophisticated music taste is fast becoming a TV trope, but is this merely a writer’s conceit? Certainly, as tech companies create hardware designed especially for kids (Echo Dot Kids Edition, Spotify Family) it’s not out of the question that a seven-year-old could develop a musical palate beyond Kidz Bop.

Film & TV Composer Interview: Lyle Workman (Pop Disciple)
Incandescent BMI Award winning composer and guitar virtuoso speaks on the honor of collaborating with funk legends Bootsy Collins and Clyde Stubblefield for Superbad, channeling the flavors of Django Reinhardt and The Beatles for Overboard, covering Creedence Clearwater Revival for Sons of Anarchy, and the rush of playing to a crowd of 450,000 on tour with Sting.

The Meg Composer Began Work Before There Was Even a Shark (THR)
For The Meg composer Harry Gregson-Williams, part of the challenge was starting his work before the film’s titular shark was brought to life.

Inside the creation of the thrilling new A Star Is Born soundtrack (Entertainment Weekly)
If you have watched the trailer for A Star is Born, you’ve probably noticed the incredible soundtrack and the vocals by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

The music of The Handmaid’s Tale provides ‘ironic counterpoint’ to show’s dark themes (LA Times)
Handmaid‘s music supervisor Maggie Phillips and showrunner Bruce Miller debated at length as to what song would close out the season.

UK Top Shazamed ads: August 01: BT Plus, ITV, O2 and Pretty Little Thing | August 08: Missguided struts into sixth place (The Drum)
The Drum’s Shazam chart is based on the number of times each ad has been Shazamed over the past week using the music identification app. Here are the charts from the last couple of weeks.

The most Shazamed ads of the week (US): August 03: Dierks Bentley Helps 5-Hour Energy Break Into This Week’s Most Shazam’d Ads | August 10: Oliver Tree and Jay Z Get Apple and Peloton Into This Week’s Most Shazam’d Ads (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 August 3rd to August 10th.