Film Supervision

For most of us, music is the backdrop of our lives. Our lives happen to us while we listen. . The presence of music helps to shape the arts we enjoy, too, enhancing film, television, news, commercials, even video games. The music helps to drive our understanding of what we are seeing, and helps to shape our perceptions and our enjoyment.

But how does this music get into these places? Who makes these choices? How is it that the authors, performers, producers, lawyers and bean counters get together in an agreeable fashion, to produce this marriage of music and art?

This is the role of the Music Supervisor, the person who arranges the use of music in other forms of entertainment. The Music Supervisor decides what music should be used, contacts the owners of that music, negotiates a fee for the usage of the music, and creates the legal licensing that keeps everyone honest. A Music Supervisor chooses what is on the soundtrack, what is in the background, what is used for the trailer, and the very tones and textures of a film are defined.

To shed some light on this process, I spoke with Jay Sweet ( sweet@fort-point.com) who is a music supervisor for Fort Point Film in Boston. He has worked on a variety of projects including the film Around the Fire, and the upcoming feature film MASSHOLES. He is also a screen writer and a major music fan.

"In order to get a song in a film you need two licenses: a synchronization license and a master recording license. Most of the time, the people who actually own the rights of this music are not in the band, but a large publishing company. As a music supervisor, it is our job to legally clear the music for usage."

A synchronization license grants the usage of music and compensates the publisher. These are generally the people listed in parentheses below the title of a song (Lennon/McCartney in most Beatles songs) These rights are the compensation for the author, or whomever bought those rights from the author.

A master recording license grants the usage of a particular version of a song. The owners of a mastering license get the rights to a particular recording of a song, whether it is live, or a studio cut, an original or a cover.

So, for instance, if you wanted to use the Jimi Hendrix version of All Along the Watchtower, a synchronization license would be granted by Bob Dylan's representatives, or to whomever he sold those rights. Then a master recording license would be granted by the representatives of Jimi Hendrix, or to whomever he sold those rights. This system insures that both the performers and the authors are compensated for their work.

But, how is that we go from these laws and practices to a completed movie soundtrack? How is it that you go through this process. Jay was kind enough to map out the course of events that leads to a completed movie with music.

1) Negotiate a deal with the producers of a film. This process can take forever on its own, and the art of networking and contracting is built into this process from the start. Create a budget for music in the film, and determine the direction that the producer wants the movie to follow in relation to the music. The music budget is usually up to 10% of the budget of the film.

2) View a dry tape of the film. This is the completed version of the film without music added. At this point the music of the film is beginning to be mapped.

3) Determine which parts of the film need music. Map these "holes," and begin to formulate ideas.

4) Come up with six ways to fill every hole. These choices should create a spectrum that ranges from inexpensive options written and performed by lesser known artists to expensive songs by more well known artists.

5) Narrow this list to three options per hole, following the direction of the producers who helps to determine how the budget is to be met and what music best fits the feel that the directors want created.

6) Begin contacting bands and initiate discussion about the project. Begin the courtship between the film and the musicians and their representatives.

7) Begin soliciting the information for the synchronization and master recording licenses. This stage will help the Music Supervisor determine which parties are going to be cooperative and which parties will have to be eliminated because of budget constraints or an uncooperative partnership.

8) Create a First Edit of the film with music.

The rest of the process is a seemingly never ending parade of edits, contract negotiations, decisions, revisions, retractions, re-edits, legal battles, and finally…. A Final Cut of a film complete with score and soundtrack. The battles can get thick and heated as lawyers, managers, agents, the Supervisor, producers, accountants, friends and relatives all get down to the business of business. Favors are exchanged and grudges are formed.

"My favorite thing to hear from a band is that they own the rights to their songs. It keeps things simple and helps to keep the artistry between the artists." I have seen bands included into projects for a majority of the process, only to be dropped when their lawyers or record companies are incompatible with the goal of the filmmakers.

The process is complete only when the decisions are made on who is to be on the soundtrack album. Most films have much more music than can fit on the soundtrack album, and the album is chosen with an eye for sales and the marketing of the film.

With a little luck, the film is picked up by a distributor, and the murky waters are negotiated to the point where a film can hit the theaters. There are many obstacles along the way, and many films die in the can, awaiting release.

I extend many thanks to Jay Sweet for helping us to understand these confusing topics. Now I know why he was picked to lead the panel on "The Effective Movie Soundtrack and Current Trends in Music Licensing" at the Tahoe International Film Festival last year. To see more of Jay Sweet, check him out at the CMJ convention in New York this October where he will be on another interesting panel on this subject. Or you could look for him at the next Phil and Friends or Phish show…