Are there certain characteristics that make a song well-suited for film?
Most licensed music shares these basic characteristics: Vibe – it has a readily identifiable vibe. Supervisors are buying emotion. They want the music that creates the mood, something that sounds like a party, for example, or the soundtrack to a heartbreak. Vagueness of lyrics – The more specific lyrics are, the fewer scenes they can work in. Sparse lyrics work well, as they won’t step all over dialogue. Or having repetitive phrases, that fall into the background. Whereas most mixes for CD have the vocals way out front, for licensing, the vocals usually need to fall into the background. Separate vocal and instrumental mixes – The most demanding TV shows / films require an instrumental version and a separate lead vocal stereo track mixed down with all the effects on it, so they can completely control the volume of lead vocal. This is a very high-end requirement; not all shows or films will ask for it. ———————————————————————– Thanks Barry! Stay tuned for a comparison of several major se
