Something that always really annoys me in sync (but, admittedly, never seems to bother other film fans who aren’t “in music”) is when I hear classic major artists and hits, being used again (and again, and again).
Whenever I’ve watched a movie and I feel a bit miffed that I’ve heard all of the artists I would have heard if I clicked on “Top 100 artists from past eras”, I feel like everybody else is saying “WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SOUNDTRACK, WOOOW”.
Sometimes these are songs that I remember were iconic for a film in another scene. Like, if I heard Let’s Stay Together or You Never Can Tell (or the rest of the soundtrack to be honest) in any other film than Pulp Fiction I’d be like “Nahhhh, that song belongs to that scene.”
Synching music multiple times
Does a song really deserve to be iconic in two different soundtracks for two different films?
Think about it… There are over 100 million songs on Spotify – but some songs are allowed to be iconic for more than 1 of only 2-300 Blockbuster films made per year.
That’s not by accident, is it? That’s mere exposure effect (probably caused by monopoly).
From my angle it’s like… Yeh, anybody could have put those tracks together into a soundtrack. They’re known successful hits and if a scene is made with them in mind then of course they’re going to fit the scene perfectly and cause an emotional reaction.
Why is hit music synched anyway?
The directors/producers probably “lock on” to particular tracks thinking they’re what a scene, or opening/closing credits needs.
They’re not always huge music fans, but everybody has music they love – and they want to use it in their own artistic endeavours. But people who aren’t big music fans seldom know much music outside of big hits.
If Music Supervisors have the budgets to clear these big hits, of course they’ll do it – it makes them look really good.
But if Music Supervisors are CHOOSING these hits. Is that not wrong, considering the aforementioned stats?
Surely it’s the DUTY of the Music Supervisor to not choose hits whenever they get opportunity.
And we need to be praising Music Supervisors who do this.
The soundtrack of Euphoria
Music Supervision has got a lot more press since Jen Malone caught a trend with Euphoria’s soundtrack. From what I’ve seen (without having seen the show), she has curated a good mix of hits and undiscovered/crate-dug music.
It’s not her fault, but I see more people talk about how she used the hits well than talk about the eclectic stuff she sprinkled in around it – which in my eyes is more important.
Independent music in sync
I know some Music Supervisors really care about supporting undiscovered and independent music. And I love these people. Some I know are desperate (and hugely succeeding) in placing new/undiscovered/underground music.
It’s typically Hollywood that uses hits [more than once]. Because they have the budgets, because they have connections to the major labels and because everybody in LA loves an award.
America has always thought big, loud, expensive, showy, glitzy and “major” was cool. Where cool in the UK was always about quirkiness, stylishness, independence and innovation. In music especially, the UK was always the “underground trendsetters” and America basically watched until a scene had popped here and then took it and commercialised it.
UK Indie sync music
Through my teens there were various shows and films that really told the story of what (raw UK-based, independent) music we were listening to in that generation at the time. Examples like:
- Skins (Alex Hancock / Kyle Lynd)
- Misfits (Alex Hancock)
- Kidulthood (James Hyman / Ian Neil)
Then, later, the Peaky Blinders (Amelia Hartley) and Top Boy (Abi Leland) soundtracks did something similar. Although, a lot more (often still “independent”) hits were used in these!
It seems to me that once music supervision comes out of America, the cooler and more independent music comes into film. But, the sync fees also lose a couple of zeros or more off the budget…
That’s not just a UK thing… All around the world awesome music is being synched, like VALORANT using Brazillian music for their Brazillian character’s trailer.
There’s a problem in sync music in advertising and trailers too
Right now, many brands are still using those well-recognisable tracks and paying major labels big bucks for the privilege. Otherwise, they’re finding rip-offs of that music for a smaller fee.
How many versions of “Black Skin Head” are out there?
We often talk about how technology is blowing up new acts, how TikTok is [supposed to be] the future of discovering and breaking new artists you might not have otherwise heard of. But when I hear people spending 2 seconds a time flicking through 30 videos in a minute, I usually hear 30 classic hits…
And guess what? They’re the same hits I hear in adverts. That’s not coincidental. It’s an echo chamber.
Independent sync music in technology
The technology changes, the products change, time changes, but the music we hear in the commercial world doesn’t, yet there’s over 100 million songs on Spotify that could be used? That’s troubling isn’t it?
But there are clearly people who love new original music they discover on a social network. So, why are brands waiting for artists to break on TikTok before they decide whether or not a song would work in their advertising? Brands should be using new original, undiscovered music to represent their brands.
Why? Because the association between discovering a new, unknown song and a product being advertised creates an incredibly strong connection in the brain. (Maybe even more than associating a product with a known hit.)
According to psychology, it takes 3 passes of something before you recognise it. But a sensual experience (music-listening) make a stronger connection to the memory.
Post-covid, brands need to be better at working with undiscovered artists
“Creativity” in the corporate world needs a shake up. During the COVID pandemic, it was ARTISTS who were keeping people entertained and coming back to the channels where brands could advertise and keep business running. If it wasn’t for them churning out content to try and earn some sort of revenue in their destroyed industry, nobody would have cared about going on the platforms brands used to advertise and stay alive.
Brands had gone to sleep. Consider this video and the BORING music choices:
This just proves to me that brands need to pay more respect to artists, work with them closely, pay them well and be channels of discovery for them. It’s an investment. Even patronage is an investment if you look at it as planting a tree for the next generation.
I look around at other ways artists are accessing audiences now and it’s all about 0% attention span hacking, which is a ridiculous race to the bottom.
- How can you get somebody to lock into something in 5 seconds before they flick to the next piece of eye candy?
- Streaming… It’s a graveyard really, your release will die there unless your entire ecosystem is supporting it.
- Radio can be good, but it’s suffering.
Sync is one of the final top-of-funnel options that forces people to slow down and experience the music.
I help independent artists develop their brand and catalogue towards a successful sync strategy. Click here for more details about my work in sync music.