184 !!Chapter 10
of the trailers. (Companies pay larger synchronization fees for music used
in multiple genres.) It depends on how crucial the song is to a film. For
major motion pictures, as many as 30 variations of a trailer might be
edited. Each trailer is designed to appeal to a specific market. For instance,
for television, a trailer might be 10, 15, or 30 seconds. The various lengths
are normally shorter versions of a 30-second trailer. Trailers might be
geared to appeal to the Hispanic market, African American market, the
international market, the MTV or YouTube markets, and so on. Each ver-
sion may have different scenes and different music.
Approximately half the music used in trailers is licensed from record
companies, music libraries, composers, and/or recording artists; 25 per-
cent of the music may be from the film (source, score, or sound track) if
the music in the film is strongly associated with the film (e.g., the theme
fromStar WarsorSuperman), and 25 percent of the music is custom scored.
The film studio owns the original music composed for the trailer in perpe-
tuity. This is referred to as a ‘‘buyout.’’
Music libraries are comprised of music that is owned by the libraries
and licensed to various licensees, usually on a nonexclusive basis. Most
music libraries contain cues (musical pieces of various lengths) that, it is
hoped, appeal to producers and editors of trailers. Library music is
divided into categories. The following are some of the musical subgenres.
- Dramatic
- Action
- Romantic
- Horror
- Jazz (traditional or smooth)
- Orchestral
- Rock
- Pop
- New Age
- Country
- Chill-out
- Combos (playing various forms of music)
- Rhythm and blues
- Hip-hop
Large music libraries control thousands of cues (compositions) for poten-
tial licensees to peruse. Musical cues that might be selected by trailer pro-
ducers or editors must be mixed in 5.1 surround sound as well as in stereo,
although many theaters are currently converting to 7.1 surround sound. If
cues were mixed in stereo, the music companies would be required to
remix the composition in surround sound. Since the music-for-trailers
business can be lucrative for composers, music publishers, and music