Category Archives: Industry news

Music supervisor of Breaking Bad spills the beans


The TV series “Breaking Bad” is known for its inspired music supervision. Its US music supervisor Thomas Golubic – who also handled the soundtracks for the shows “Six Feet Under”, “The Killing” and “The Walking Dead” – was recently interviewed by the trade magazine Music Week editor Tim Ingham at AIM’s recent Sync Conference in London.

Golubic goes into the details of his work – in particular his role as a middle-man between labels/publishers attempting to push up the music fees and the TV studios trying to bring down overall costs.

Changes in European music licensing laws

Two interesting developments took place in music licensing laws in Europe recently. Until now, licensing tracks for online use has been a labyrinth that has negatively affected the growth of online music. Potential uses had o contact each individual authors rights society, which is a significant administrative task.

The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee voted unanimously to allow online providers to obtain copyright licenses to stream music across E.U. borders. The proposed law would allow for a small number of authors’ collective management organizations to operate across E.U. borders. Continue reading Changes in European music licensing laws

Ennio Morricone wins European Composer Award 2013

Ennio Morricone. photo by Nicolas Genin
Ennio Morricone. photo by Nicolas Genin

Italian composer Ennio Morricone walked away from the European Film Awards with the coveted European Composer Award 2013. The award comes for his work on “The Best Offer”, directed by Giuseppe Tornator and starring Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks and Donald Sutherland.

Morricone is still best known in the public eye  for his distinctive music for a series of westerns in the seventies, but has remained an in-demand composer across very many genres since that time.  The 85 year-old averages one film per year, with titles as diverse as “Inglorious Basterds”, “Ripley’s Game”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!” and “Once Upon a Time in New York”.

Morricone is currently working on “L’enfant du Sahara”, directed by Laurent Merlin.

Getting Accreditation at the Cannes Film Festival 2013

Cannes Film MarketThe Cannes Film festival is one of the ultimate networking events in the worldwide movie business. Depending on where you are based, it could be worth checking if a visit to the festival – and more importantly the market – could be worth your while as a music composer.

When prepared properly, access to the festival market could open doors in the most surprising places.

Cannes or Bust has compiled the requirements for receiving accreditation at the Cannes Film festival and Film Market (technically, they are two separate entities).

Find the article at Cannes or Bust.

Ghent festival announces 12th soundtrack award

de rouille te d'os musicThe 39th Ghent Film festival closes on October 20, 2012 with the 12th World Soundtrack Awards & Concert featuring music by composers such as James newton Howard and Pino Donaggio. The programme includes a selection of music from several films, including “Snow White & the Huntsman”, “The Hunger Games”, “Dressed to Kill” and “Body Double” performed by the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé. The live music will be accompanied by scenes from the films.

In parallel, the festival is organizing the World Soundtrack Awards, with 80 nominations from films as diverse as “50/50”, “Albert Nobbs”, “De rouille et d’os”, “Ice Age” and “The Artists”. The composer who gets the most votes will receive the Public’s Choice award at the closing ceremony.

The People’s Choice section is open to the public. Details