The BBC asks: Where are the new movie themes? It’s an interesting thought, I remember many of the big songs that raced into the chart and stayed for weeks on the back of films like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Bodyguard. Am I sad to see them disappear, yes and no, I’m not sure if the music added to the film or the film added impact and romanticism to the music, they do seem a little OTT these days.
Having said that, I’m equally aware of many music scores making inroads into the public psyche and themes from a number of films are identified by a lot more people than you would think (a guy I work with recently added a track from Jurassic Park as his ringtone and everyone in the office recognised where it came from).
I’m a big fan of movie music and it’s not surprising the big hits have dropped wailing ballads in favour of mood music. Equally music tracks still play a big part in setting the scene in movies about a certain era, for example.
I guess one question is have music companies and artists become too greedy? Looking at the costs mentioned in the article and knowing how much movies help to sell tracks you’d have thought they would be a little more pragmatic.
A couple of things that always surprise me is that some movie soundtracks don’t include all the tracks, usually missing some of the key ones and add ‘music inspired by the movie’ instead and that, if there isn’t a soundtrack album, the like of iTunes and other download stores don’t produce (or allow their users to produce) a set you can buy from the individual tracks.
If movie music is your thing, the Beeb also has an interview with music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas and another with score composer Hans Zimmer (who did the latest Batman film amongst others).
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