Wednesday 2 February 2011

Give us a penny for a proper tune mate!

A recent television commercial, this one, for John Lewis, has an accompanying piece of music, that let’s face it, breaks your heart when combined with the images you see on screen. And here at Idealogy HQ we’re often tasked with making films, and choosing their accompanying pieces of music… so what’s in a soundtrack?




Well in John Lewis’s case it’s about tying John Lewis, with unbreakable (heart) string, to YOUR magical Christmas, it’s about making them part of your special presentations for a time of year that we all, deep down, really WANT to be about family and love. Choosing to record a bespoke song, with a contemporary artist (Ellie Goulding) also says a lot about the advertiser and how they see themselves. It isn’t, thank the lord, that infernal GoCompare man, although that he’s in my head 24/7 is arguably an even greater success!

When we’re making a film, be it a TV ad, viral campaign, product demonstration video or corporate piece for a conference, it tends to be left at the back of the list… What soundtrack shall we use?

As an ex-fairly-successful musician (my band played with Snow Patrol don’t you know!) it hurts a little when we turn straight to the royalty-free bin on good old Google, even if we can select a track that has the right energy and feel to it. What I need is the freedom (and I ought to say budget) to gather a writer, a producer and some studio techies to produce something new and wonderful, to really bring the brand to life through the pulses, grooves and movement of a bespoke piece of music; because I know it’ll inspire and motivate a whole load more than a 30 second loop from corporate soundtracks dot com.

So to all our clients, please can your next project for us have infinite budget for a soundtrack? I’d really love to pull out all the stops and let the music do the talking… and I wouldn’t mind getting Ellie Goulding in to do it either… I like her… from a musical point of view obviously…

Posted by Nick Hart

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