Music on Film and TV: the truth comes out at the Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Conference

"Forget the name of this thing," one audience member said of The Hollywood Reporter Billboard Film and TV Music Conference, "it's really all about the politics and money it takes to put your music in a flick." More than one attendee privately agreed.

Dealing with the truth about the industry were more than two dozen speakers, including Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Michael Jackson, many film projects) Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo and soundtracks to "Rugrats" and dozens of films), Chris Douridas (KCRW, Dreamworks), and Garry Marshall (director of "Pretty Woman").

Among the notable comments during the two-day event:

* Glen Ballard: The record industry is to blame for much of its current trouble because of "releasing too many albums not worth $15 or 45 minutes of an audience's time."

* Glen Ballard: "Blazing creativity is rarely recognized in the beginning… If imitation replaces inspiration, then we will elevate mediocrity far beyond what we've already done."

* Mark Mothersbaugh: "I always liked the creepy way commercials work their music into your brain. They're subversive."

* Tamara Conniff, Co-Executive Editor, Billboard: "Only go into this industry if you wake up with an ache to write or create."

* Lia Vollack, President of Worldwide Music for Sony: "The final song in a film's end credits might be called 'the janitor's song.'"

* Josh Rabinowitz of Young & Rubicam: "When I first started working in music at an ad agency, I couldn't figure out why so many mediocre people were getting to work on some great projects. Then it hit me: it was all about their connections."

* Garry Marshall: "I like using great songs in my pictures. You know, not the ones that are there for the marketing that you bury by having five seconds of it on the radio as a car drives up to the camera."

* Tamara Conniff: "Imagine watching a movie without the music. It would lack drama, intensity, and excitement."

The full article, which also contains URLs to many of the participants and/or their companies, is available free from a number of locations:

NARIP (National Association of Record Industry Professionals):
http://www.narip.com
Audio Kingdom:
http://www.audiokingdom.com/news/260/
GoArticles:
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=26297

Scott G writes and records as THE G-MAN, and his work may be found at
http://www.narip.com, http://www.delvianrecords.com,
http://www.myspace.com/thegman, and his own site:
http://www.gmanmusic.com.

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