This Fortnight in Music Supervision and Sync (18/12/20) – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the Power of the Blues, Tunefind’s Top TV/Movie Syncs of 2020 & More

Film and TV

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the Liberating Power of Music (The Atlantic)
Netflix’s new adaptation of August Wilson’s play understands the singular magic of the blues.

Billie Eilish, Finneas, Hans Zimmer & Johnny Marr on Crafting the No Time To Die Theme (Variety)
Billie Eilish and her producer/co-writer/brother Finneas gave themselves one rule, and one rule only, when a request came in for the duo to write and perform the James Bond theme song for No Time to Die.

Tunefind Top TV/Movie Syncs of 2020: Grey’s Anatomy Scores Fourth No. 1 in a Row (Billboard)
Tunefind has revealed its top shows, songs, movies and artists in terms of onscreen syncs for 2020, and for the fourth year in a row, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy rules the top shows list.

Why Wonder Woman 1984 Uses a Key Piece of Hans Zimmer’s Batman v Superman Score (Cinema Blend)
When DC Extended Universe diehards have their opportunity to watch Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984 later this month, they may get a tingle of familiarity when listening to the score of one particularly climactic moment.

Lost Muppet Christmas Carol song rediscovered (BBC News)
A lost song cut from the original The Muppet Christmas Carol movie has been found and reinstated, director Brian Henson has revealed.

Top TV Song Last Week – December 10th: “As You Fly” by Regina Price | December 17th: “Lifted” by TRVSTFALL (Tunefind)
The last two weeks have seen tracks from the Netflix original Virgin River and Grey’s Anatomy top Tunefind’s trending songs chart.

How do Composers Score Music During a Pandemic? One Single Instrument at a Time (Rolling Stone)
Ludwig Göransson was in the middle of scoring Tenet, Warner Brothers’ most anticipated film of the year, when the pandemic struck — not only pausing most of the film industry’s releases, but also keeping his entire orchestra sequestered.

Steven Van Zandt and Chris Columbus on Re-Coronating Darlene Love as Holiday Queen With Christmas Chronicles 2 Musical Number (Variety)
This new song joins a holiday pantheon that includes a previous collaborative effort between Love, Van Zandt and Columbus, “All Alone on Christmas,” which became established as a contemporary classic after being introduced in Home Alone 2 in 1992.

Behind the New York Sound of Netflix’s The Forty-Year-Old Version (Rolling Stone)
Radha Blank explains the crucial role of hip-hop and jazz music in the creation of the soundscape for her directorial debut, intended as a love letter to New York.

The Crown, Season 4: The Music Supervisor Behind The Soundtrack (GMS UK & Europe)
Along with the drama comes a thrilling and encapsulating soundtrack to fit the story, including a few classics from Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel and Duran Duran.

Angry Mob’s Sean Harrison on the Stones, Greatest Showman, & Sync’s Value to Indie Bands (Muse by Clio)
Sean started his career alongside composers Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, and John Powell. This is also where he would meet his future business partner in Angry Mob, Marc Caruso.

An Interview with Daniel Pemberton (Composer Magazine)
This year alone he’s provided the music for four movies – DC hit Birds of Prey, Rising Phoenix, Enola Holmes, and The Trial of the Chicago 7– and a documentary for a TV series.

The Best TV Scores of 2020 (Indie Wire)
Where do you even begin with a year brimming with as much exciting music as 2020 had to offer? Even if you limit it to what made it to TV screens, it’s still a daunting collection of possibilities.

Kelly Rowland’s ‘Hitman’ Selected for NFL’s Songs of the Season 2020 Series (Billboard)
The series supports the NFL’s social justice initiative Inspire Change, which aims to reduce barriers of opportunity in education, economic advancement, police and community relations and criminal justice reform.

Gaming

Advertising

Music and Messaging in this Year’s Christmas Ad Campaigns (Synchblog)
With much of the public I’m sure feeling similar, brands have faced ongoing strategic decisions about messaging and how to relate to their audiences this Christmas. I spoke to some of the music folk behind this year’s campaigns, in a year where the power of music continues to snowball.

InSync with… Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Buma Music in Motion)
InSync is a new, recurring column where music agencies, sync agencies and composers get the chance to talk about their top-notch productions of 2020.

Warner Chappell MD Shani Gonzales on the big Christmas campaigns (Music Week)
“We’re actually finding that, more and more, Christmas campaigns don’t always rely on traditional festive songs.”

Fiona Bloom on Gangstagrass, Duran Duran, and Musicians Being Open to Brands (Muse by Clio)
Promoter, publicist, radio personality, party planner, marketer, voiceover talent, host and emcee, venue booker, playlist curator, lecturer, tastemaker … throughout her nearly 30-year career, Fiona Bloom has become a master of all musical trades.

Christmas Magic: Inside Birdy’s Festive NHS Sync (Music Week)
The team behind the spot has told Music Week that it was conceived to deliver a hopeful message at the end of a tough year.

A Snowman Belts Out Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” in Coors Light’s Holiday Ad (Muse by Clio)
“This year we need some pure holiday joy more than ever. What could be more joyful than a snowman finding his groove with the help of ’80s rock icons Boston?” asks DDB Chicago executive creative director Colin Selikow.

Business

“You Have to Adapt to Survive” – POND5’s Mike Pace on the Production Music Market (Synchblog)
We recently caught up with Mike to discuss the ever-evolving production music marketplace, the controversy surrounding royalty-free models, and how his DIY ethos informs many aspects of his role at Pond5.

How can Artists Make Money and Connect with Audiences with Touring on Pause? Kaskade and Monstercat Co-Founders Weigh in (Forbes)
While the COVID-19 global health crisis has created many challenges for artists and the live event industry, powerhouse electronic music label Monstercat has been helping bring artists stability in 2020 through gaming partnerships.

SyncFloor Expands Team with Addition of David Rojas (Digital and Radio Facts)
An experienced music professional who founded his own successful creative house/production company, Rojas has worked with major brands, ad agencies, and broadcasters in a variety of roles.