Music Supervisors Are Essential to Syching Music to Visual Media, and Demand is Rising Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.
By
Michael Blanding
December 11, 2024
Illustration by Eric Palma
Josh Sutherland BM '19 was up against the clock. A music supervisor for the NFL, he was working to clear a package of songs that would accompany players as they walked out for the draft. The one he really wanted to license was a new song, TEKA -a catchy electronic track with a driving beat by DJ Snake and Peso Pluma.
Josh Sutherland BM '19
Image by Jeff Lewis
The only problem was that the track was so new that not all of the rights for it were settled. So many artists have friends, producers, and managers that are involved in the writing process, Sutherland says-in this case, 11 writers and seven publishers just for this one song. With the draft days away, Sutherland set to work, negotiating separately with each rightsholder. One owned just 0.5% of the song. In the end, he was able to clear the song in the nick of time.
It wasn't the first time Sutherland had to play detective and diplomat in the name of getting the rights to a track. More often than not, you find out people own a certain percentage of a song, and you have to do the digging, stalking them to get them to respond, says Sutherland, who helped oversee music for Max's Euphoria and Rap Sh!t. And they may want a little more money, so you've got to put your budgeting and negotiating skills to use.
Invisible but Essential Sinking into the couch and flicking on the latest movie or show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, we may take for granted the soundtracks that lilt or pump behind the action on-screen, but every bit of music that appears on our screens is there because of a music supervisor, who both consults with the director or showrunner to choose songs and then performs the painstaking behind-the-scenes work to clear the rights to use them.
A music supervisor is a bridge between the creative and administrative, says Christopher Wares, assistant chair of Berklee's Music Business/Management Department. They have to have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and genres, as well as a deep understanding of who controls the publishing rights.
Abbey Hendrix BM '13
Image by Bianca Poletti
Also known as sync, music supervision includes overseeing the synchronization between music and some form of visual media. With the increasing number of shows on streaming channels such as Apple TV+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock, music supervisors have become highly sought-after, and the field is increasingly attractive to those who love both music and visual media. As music proliferates into more and more forms of media, the field has expanded into advertising, sports, video games, social media, virtual-reality experiences, and even exercise equipment. If you are on a bike watching a class and music is playing in the background, a music supervisor was involved in making that happen, Wares says.
While a director sometimes has a clear view of the music they want, and only needs the supervisor to clear the rights, for others a supervisor is a true collaborator in coming up with the musical signature of the project, says Thomas Golubic, a veteran who has worked on shows including Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Walking Dead.
Professor LaMarcus Miller
Image by David Christopher Lee
We are brought in by the network to essentially build out the soundscape for a TV show or film, says Professor LaMarcus Miller, who worked as a music supervisor for The Wonder Years and RapCaviar Presents, and recently for a documentary on Jim Henson and the Muppets. He also served as head of operations for the Guild of Music Supervisors in 2023.
For Six Feet Under, Golubic made playlists for each of the characters to help him get inside their heads. The process really helps you think deeply about a character-what is it that really moves them, he says. Sometimes the task of a music supervisor can get quite complicated, as with a recent episode of the show Poker Face, a crime procedural with a case-of-the-week structure. Showrunner Rian Johnson created a plot involving a band with a hit song ripped off from the theme of the '80s sitcom Benson. We had to figure out how to clear the existing copyright, and then hire a band to write a new song similar to it, but also viable as a hit, says Golubic, who has come to Berklee several times to present to students.
Assistant Chair Christopher Wares
Image by Kelly Davidson
Copyright comprises two separate parts: the publishing rights to the composition and the performance rights to the recording. While sometimes a supervisor can go to a label for one-stop rights, more often they need to play sleuth, first scouring databases such as ASCAP or BMI and then branching out to internet searches and phone calls to track down owners. I've made some insane Sherlock Holmes moves-for example, calling someone's second cousin's church-because I'm looking to clear an arrangement, says Sami Posner '13, a freelance music supervisor with Blue Lily Music.
After tracking down rightsholders, music supervisors then need to negotiate rates, which can vary wildly depending on how long the song will be used and in what context, as well as where the broadcast will air. Sometimes, Miller says, music supervisors need to square a creator's lofty ideas with the reality of how much the desired music actually costs. A lesser-known artist used in the background might cost $5,000 all-in. But a recognizable artist can cost between $40,000 and $60,000, while a major-label artist such as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Beyonc can easily run six figures.
Sami Posner '13
Image by Josh Solomon
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Music Supervisors Are Essential to Syching Music to Visual Media, and Demand is Rising Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.
