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| Movie Music Makers Put New Spin on Soundtracks By Sue Zeidler Wednesday, December 25, 2002; Page C13 LOS ANGELES -- It was the dead of night when Luke Eddins high-tailed it to a production studio, having received a frantic call searching for a Smashing Pumpkins-like song for DreamWorks' hit film "The Ring." "I'm a last-minute unsigned-song bounty hunter," said Eddins, a "song placer" and musician who started Luke Hits, a firm that matches unknown bands with film music supervisors. "I rescue music supervisors by sifting through literally thousands of underdog bands. I mostly find tracks that sound almost identical to a song by a high-profile artist," he said. Due to Eddins's late-night call, fledgling band Wide Awake, from Austin, landed its song in "The Ring," which topped the weekend box office when it opened in October and has grossed more than $130 million. Eddins's song placements have taken off recently amid a depressed soundtrack market and as makers of film, television and video games increasingly search for music in more imaginative and cost-effective ways. Obtaining the green light to license a song from a high-profile artist for a film is often like pulling teeth. Then, after the recording label, publisher, managers, attorneys and the artist have finally agreed to commit, a 30-second clip of a song can cost the film $100,000. After a soundtrack glut in the late 1990s, the music industry -- whose sales have declined for two straight years -- has shied away from releasing so many movie albums, with the few hit soundtracks like "Moulin Rouge" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" standing out as exceptions. "The heyday of soundtracks was in the 1990s when 'Titanic,' 'Armageddon' and other soundtracks routinely landed in the Top 50. Once soundtracks started to fizzle, the studios started to get cautious," said one industry executive. Indeed, the album from Eminem's film "8 Mile" was the only soundtrack to grace the Top 50 album sales chart for the week ended Dec. 15, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Ranking No. 62 was the soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," while "Lilo & Stitch" ranked No. 89. To be sure, the success of "8 Mile" is largely a testament to Eminem's appeal, but also shows how the more successful soundtracks these days often have music not even in the film. "There's a trend toward soundtracks that have the words 'Music from and inspired by' in the title," says Dan Goldwasser, editor in chief of SoundtrackNet, an online soundtrack information site, who called the trend "disturbing." "I'm a big fan of song-based and score-based soundtracks, but they have to do what is successful and marketable," he said. Danny Bramson, president of Warner Music Group Soundtracks, agrees: "The reality of the economy has caught up with consumers, and we're looking and judging and trying to be as astute as we can. Getting a cool title song and riding the crest of the movie studio is no longer the key to a soundtrack success." © 2002 The Washington Post Company |
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