(L-R): Jordan Passman, Founder, scoreAscore; J.T. Griffith, Music Supervisor, Nike; and Josh Rabinowitz, SVP/Director of Music, Grey Worldwide hang out before their panel begins.(Photo: Arnold Turner)
In the film and TV world, anyone looking to place music needs to remember one major thing when sending out demos: What, precisely, their prospective employers are looking for.
That was perhaps the main takeaway from the first two discussion panels at the Billboard/Hollywood Reporter Film & TV Conference, which runs today and tomorrow at Hollywood’s W Hotel.
“We’ve found that some people will write a song for kids instead of writing a great song,” said Steve Vincent, VP of Music & Soundtracks for Disney Channel Worldwide, during the panel “Composers, Producers & Directors: What It Takes to Build a Team.” That sentiment was echoed by Zync Music’s Manager of Advertising and Publishing Rachel Jones during the panel “Greetings from Advertising Park: Commercials and Music”: “We don’t want a bunch of metal bands when the client is looking for a singer/songwriter.”
Read the rest after the jump!
Of course, getting specifics about what the client wants can be the biggest challenge of all. Carianne Marshall of Songs Music Publishing, said during the “Advertising Park” panel, “Sometimes we have to interpret what the creatives are looking for — they’ll say something like, ‘We want something ‘edgy’ like Coldplay or the Dave Matthews Band.'” The audience laughed, and she added, “A big part of our job is to understand what somebody’s looking for.”
In the case of Adam Anders, he’s the one doing the looking. During the “Build a Team” session, the Executive Music Producer of “Glee” recalled when his job became exponentially challenging. “At first, there might have been two songs an episode — but they became so popular we might do 12 a week. At one point in season one, I slept two hours in eight days. It was horrible. I started staffing up like crazy.” He later also took the job producing the songs for the musical film “Rock of Ages.” Today, he has a team of 63 assisting him in the production of his show’s musical numbers.
Another kernel of sage advice came from Universal Music Publishing VP Gary Miller, who advised: “If you’re sending music out, make sure to limit what you send. Understand what they’re looking for and only give them that — they’re bombarded” with demos and don’t have time to listen to more than a few songs from each prospective artist.
Not surprisingly, musicians’ attitudes toward their music being used in advertising was a hot topic during “Advertising Park.” It was noted that late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s will insisted that his music not be used in any advertising. Universal’s Miller observed, “Some make music for money and exposure; others just want it to be art and maintain their integrity and credibility, and I respect that.
“At the same time, from a business standpoint, we could’ve made a ton of money.”
He noted that the realities of the changing music business in recent years have caused a sea change in musicians’ attitudes. Previously, “almost all [songwriters] didn’t want to do advertising,” Marshall said. “That’s totally changed over the past five years. People are more open to it and the ads are getting better — mostly — so many want their music in [commercials]. So our jobs have become both easier and harder.”
To aid aspiring artists, the conference offered to pass attendees’ demos along to any panelists they wanted. Billboard Editorial Director Bill Werde welcomed the opportunity to help aspiring songwriters and composers during the conference. “No other event that we have has people throughout the day come up and sincerely thank me for taking their money,” he said with a laugh during his opening remarks. “We’re going to help you get somewhere with your career.”
Read more at http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/tv-film/musicians-hoping-to-place-music-in-films-1007990362.story#Hd6243kKcUgXLmdX.99
