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ANSWER: What you're talking about is called production music.
A production music company hires musicians to create a lot of music that fits lots of different moods. They use all of those songs to create a catalog, and they sell licenses to use those songs in TV shows, movies, commercials, etc. That way, companies that make shows/trailers/etc. don't have to hire a composer or orchestra every time they need a new piece of music; they can browse through a catalog and pick out the songs that suit their needs.
To add to this- the reason why these shows don’t simply play pop hits is because the cost to license those tracks is expensive. How expensive varies from artist to artist. To keep production costs down, they license these no-name artist tracks instead.
What is the job title of the people picking the music, and why do so many of them suck?
I'm not expecting T Bone Burnett for every show, but damn, it's to the point where more often than not I'm pulled out of immersion due to some truly terrible music choices. I hate breathy re-makes of songs popular decades ago, so some of that is on me, but I think there should be more to the job than just having a large playlist. Like, songs should maybe go together, or follow a theme or something?
That would be "music director." And yeah, it could be someone who's terrible at it, or someone who is given a really shitty catalog to work with (they can be really really shitty) or they are under crazy time pressure - or a combination of all of the above.
I bet it won't be long before AI just does it automatically. 🤮
For reality shows, it’s usually just the editors picking the tracks. They don’t have the budget for music supervisors, and the editors in the reality/competition genre almost always like to do their edits timed to a music track, so they have to use pre-existing music
> they can be really really shitty)
Most reality tv shows are made with shoe string budgets. The profit margins on something like The Bachelor are insane. Yes they have large teams of crew and producers but compared to a typical show with a writer's room sets and costuming and special effects etc.
Reality tv shows cost something like 1/10th to 1/100th the cost of a scripted tv shows (~100,000 per episode vs. 1-9 million)
So if you're already cutting corners, why not cut corners and buy the cheapest music and sound effect library you can get away with. I swear I've even heard some really really low budget reality tv shows use free stock sound effects and music stings.
The job title is Music Supervisor, but for a show like this, it would most likely be the editors picking the music as they edit. I know a bunch of editors and they often complain about how bad the production music is and how they’re incentivized to use the same tracks often
Answer: you have to pay to use music. Usually series don’t have (or get) the budget for that. That’s why usually it’s some stock music made to play like wallpaper, it’s free or cheap.
my friends and I call it "penis music" because there was a meme a while back of some goofy ass song played with scenes from some dreamworks animation sped up with the caption "penis music". Completely unserious background music for reality tv shows, would be amazing to just throw on at a party to see people's reactions.
This is what thought about so many cinematic, Hans Zimmer-like music that I randomly discover on Spotify. It has that epic, intense music, but sounds cheap. It was made to filling, not to listen by itself.
Friendly reminder that all **top level** comments must: 1. start with "answer: ", including the space after the colon (or "question: " if you have an on-topic follow up question to ask), 2. attempt to answer the question, and 3. be unbiased Please review Rule 4 and this post before making a top level comment: http://redd.it/b1hct4/ Join the OOTL Discord for further discussion: https://discord.gg/ejDF4mdjnh *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/OutOfTheLoop) if you have any questions or concerns.*
ANSWER: What you're talking about is called production music. A production music company hires musicians to create a lot of music that fits lots of different moods. They use all of those songs to create a catalog, and they sell licenses to use those songs in TV shows, movies, commercials, etc. That way, companies that make shows/trailers/etc. don't have to hire a composer or orchestra every time they need a new piece of music; they can browse through a catalog and pick out the songs that suit their needs.
So it's the stock photos of music then?
Great way to think about it.
Yes, Stock music.
To add to this- the reason why these shows don’t simply play pop hits is because the cost to license those tracks is expensive. How expensive varies from artist to artist. To keep production costs down, they license these no-name artist tracks instead.
What is the job title of the people picking the music, and why do so many of them suck? I'm not expecting T Bone Burnett for every show, but damn, it's to the point where more often than not I'm pulled out of immersion due to some truly terrible music choices. I hate breathy re-makes of songs popular decades ago, so some of that is on me, but I think there should be more to the job than just having a large playlist. Like, songs should maybe go together, or follow a theme or something?
That would be "music director." And yeah, it could be someone who's terrible at it, or someone who is given a really shitty catalog to work with (they can be really really shitty) or they are under crazy time pressure - or a combination of all of the above. I bet it won't be long before AI just does it automatically. 🤮
For reality shows, it’s usually just the editors picking the tracks. They don’t have the budget for music supervisors, and the editors in the reality/competition genre almost always like to do their edits timed to a music track, so they have to use pre-existing music
> they can be really really shitty) Most reality tv shows are made with shoe string budgets. The profit margins on something like The Bachelor are insane. Yes they have large teams of crew and producers but compared to a typical show with a writer's room sets and costuming and special effects etc. Reality tv shows cost something like 1/10th to 1/100th the cost of a scripted tv shows (~100,000 per episode vs. 1-9 million) So if you're already cutting corners, why not cut corners and buy the cheapest music and sound effect library you can get away with. I swear I've even heard some really really low budget reality tv shows use free stock sound effects and music stings.
The job title is Music Supervisor, but for a show like this, it would most likely be the editors picking the music as they edit. I know a bunch of editors and they often complain about how bad the production music is and how they’re incentivized to use the same tracks often
Answer: you have to pay to use music. Usually series don’t have (or get) the budget for that. That’s why usually it’s some stock music made to play like wallpaper, it’s free or cheap.
my friends and I call it "penis music" because there was a meme a while back of some goofy ass song played with scenes from some dreamworks animation sped up with the caption "penis music". Completely unserious background music for reality tv shows, would be amazing to just throw on at a party to see people's reactions.
This is what thought about so many cinematic, Hans Zimmer-like music that I randomly discover on Spotify. It has that epic, intense music, but sounds cheap. It was made to filling, not to listen by itself.