"Supervision"--Placing Music in a Movie or TV Show, Part II

When TuneCore first began, we called George: few people understand the music business as deeply. George Howard is a professor of management at Loyola University, New Orleans. He is the former president of Rykodisc, and founder of Slow River Records. He is the senior editor for Artists House Music, and a board member and advisor for a number of companies including Wolfgang's Vault and Daytrotter. He has written two books on the music business for Berklee Media. Check out his personal blog at www.9giantsteps.com.

Supervision

This article provides an overview of the history of music supervision, the process of placing music in a movie or TV show, and a description of the relevant licenses and parties involved in this process. It is relevant to anyone interested in having their music used in movies, as well as those considering a career as a music supervisor.

For Part I, please click here.

A Note on Score

There is a difference between synchronization—taking a pre-existing piece of music and connecting it with a moving image—and score. Score is music that is specifically composed for a movie. I mentioned Bernard Herrmann above, and his work for Hitchcock is an example of score. It doesn’t have to be symphonic or classical. Randy Newman, for example, has scored numerous movies, such as the Pixar films, and his work is largely piano and vocal based. I recently watched a documentary on the Pixies (LoudQuietLoud) that contained a very evocative guitar score performed by the great producer Daniel Lanois. As these scores are commissioned by the director/music supervisor, they are typically what is referred to as “works made for hire.” This means that the composer is paid a fee for his work, which then becomes the property of the director (or the production company), as opposed to a synch license, in which the ownership of the piece of music never transfers.

Summary and Strategy

Clearly music used in movies and TV shows is one of the most effective ways for musicians to gain an audience. Bands’ career’s are often massively accelerated by a well-placed synch. This relationship between success and synch has of course made the process of getting music into a film or TV show a very competitive one. Music supervisors are the new gatekeepers of popularity in some ways. They are courted by countless artists and labels in the hopes that they will give them a spot on the OC or the new Tarantino movie. Conversely, the music supervisor is attempting to walk the delicate line of honoring the creative vision of the director while still bringing in music that might compel people to be interested in the film. It truly is the nexus of art and commerce. As we stir newer mediums, like video games, into the mix this line gets all the more blurry.

As a musician you first have to determine your stance on whether or not you want your music used in movies or commercials. While we’ve quickly moved from an ethos in which using your music to sell beer (or anything else) was considered “selling out,” to a place where you’re viewed as out of time should you not leap at any opportunity that might generate exposure and cash, the long-term effects of using music in this manner (particularly ads) is not yet known.

Once you have decided that you’re OK with allowing your music to be used, it’s a matter of getting directors and music supervisors interested in your music. Like anything else in the record industry, there are not short cuts. While there are services out there that claim they can put your music in front of music supervisors, think about that for a second given everything that’s been discussed in this article. Do you really think paying someone $100 a month to get your music in front of some music supervisor is really going to give you a leg up over the intense competition coming from people who are out there selling records, and touring, and getting their music written about and played on the radio (particularly getting their music played on KCRW in Santa Monica, which many, many music supervisors listen to…hint, hint)? Of course not. Don’t do it. Instead, get out there. Get your music heard and written about. Also, try to connect with some local filmmakers and allow them to comp your music in to their films. Who knows where the next Tarantino is coming from. Bring attention to your music in as many ways as possible, and you will soon get attention from music supervisors. Remember, these people view themselves as cutting-edge taste-makers, therefore, they like to feel they are discovering things on their own; thus pitching them ain’t going to work.

If you’re thinking that music supervision might be a cool gig, go west, young man. Start connecting with people in the film community. Start getting to know young and upcoming directors (film schools would be a good place to start), and — all the while — cultivate a unique knowledge and point of view with music. A great music supervisor has an expansive understanding of music; both current and past. They can as effortlessly pull from their mental library some obscure track from a 50s rockabilly band as they can draw on the most contemporary electronica. So, get out there and absorb, and then start showing your knowledge. This can be done via blogging, writing in a more traditional manner, and, of course, DJing. All the while, make those connections.

Music and film are so deeply intertwined that we can’t imagine one without the other. However, as with all things in this business of music, there is a process that must be understood in order to operate at the high level efficiency needed to compete. This article hopefully gives you a starting point.

Comments

[MC]

How do you get your artist money paid to you through Tunecore? I was just curious, if you DO NOT buy your "report" do you still get the monies contained in that report? Much love to Tunecore for being a pioneer in the digital distribution evolution!!!

[Christopher Alpiar]

Sorry I posted on the wrong part of the article, but I want to reiterate that score should NOT be considered work for hire in the reality of the film scoring business today, post digital millennium. Work for hire just has no place for composers, mostly because of the sinking fees being paid today in Hollywood if you arent one of the top 10 Gorfaine Schwartz people. It is very typical to get a full length feature to score, where you are expected to pay for the live orchestra, and have the budget being $40,000.00! SO even if you use an eastern european orchestra and do an ultra cram recording you still cant expect to make more than a few thousand for score a FEATURE! Now if I had them lined up and could do 15 a year sure its no problem, but that isnt how the business works, you get a few jobs a year. Any music written by the composer should absolutely have its copyright owned by the composer and that music licensed for use only

[george Howard]

@Christopher,

I posted this in response to your post on the other section of this article, I'll repost here. Thanks again for weighing in on this subject!

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Thanks for your comments. My intention here is to make people very aware of the landscape that is out there. Works for hire are *very* much a part of that landscape, and sadly people only realize exactly what this means after the fact.

Perhaps my definition of scoring is overly broad, but I have personally been in the middle of any number of deals where the writer has been asked to relinquish her (c) in exchange for a fee. This is work for hire at its most basic, and I see it in all areas of the industry.

GH