Chasing The Brief (Pt 1): Translating Buzzwords and Misinformation into Music Placements
In the business of song placements, publishers and music catalogs have created an information system with music supervisors referred to as “The Brief”. A Brief is a short description of a pending need for music. It could be a basic overview of a new series or advertising campaign in very general musical terms, or it can be a specific scene, trailer, commercial, or piece of content with detailed information and musical references. It can also be anywhere in between, or have no resemblance to the final music selection, which is the frustration I call Chasing The Brief.
Today you will learn why ‘The Brief’ is an ever-changing news flash of the latest creative ideas in progress, which are often dead in the water long before you ever write the second line of your lyrics. This will offer some insight on the key factors to consider every time a brief comes across your desk:
THERE ARE MANY DECISION MAKERS: Information is always changing on a production. Whether it is a film or internet ad campaign, any major production has many decision makers involved, and the culmination of creative decisions happens throughout the production process. This is why I urge everyone to read my E-Book called Getting Started in Music To Picture. It explains the filmmaker’s decisions and motivations and is the absolute cornerstone of success. Use it to think for yourself, rather than chase the brief.
BUZZWORDS AND MISINFORMATION: Within the filmmaking process, decision makers are throwing around a lot of information, much of which gets interpreted, and passed on from one person to the next. That information is often filled with the latest buzzwords and trendy references that were never auditioned creatively against the production, or make sense in some context that gets left out as the information passes from one person to the next. The idea is always to be cutting edge, but the reality is music needs to serve the story and trendy suggestions rarely make the final cut.
TIME SCHEDULE: Another critical element from the E-Book is understanding the time table of postproduction, which is one of the driving forces behind independent music placements. Typically, a song need arises when the original music put into the production cannot be licensed for one of several reasons: too expensive, lack of approval from the artist or representation, etc. At the point when a music supervisor seeks alternative options, or ALTS as they are called in production, there is typically a short window of time before the final mix of the show on a dub stage. Replacement ideas come in the 11th hour, and there is never weeks of time to collect ideas. Time is of the essence. In fact, I can think of any situation where I did not understand the music need, and turn around a piece of music outside of 48 hours. A future blog will discuss building your fine-tuned machine to meet the deadline for sync placements.
OTHER FACTORS CHANGE: Within the final week of postproduction, which is the prime time for music replacements, there are many factors that change the music needs: a new edit that changes the scene, a new reference song the showrunner prefers over the original reference, , a new idea from the network executive, a piece of music the composer wrote as score instead a song, or the original song they wanted to license suddenly clears and there is no need to replace it any longer.
All of these things and many others are flying through the edit bay as the final edits are being done and approved at a pace that is almost unimaginable to anyone outside of the world of film and television post. But inside, this is the norm we work in every day. Its challenging and fast paced!
Make sure you download and read Getting Started in Music For Picture, and watch for my upcoming lesson on how to use a brief as a tool to sharpen your analysis of the production, side step all of these buzzword pitfalls, and maximize your sync placements.
