SOUNDTRAXS
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 1st September 2010.
Soundtraxs is a new concept in getting songs into movie soundtracks. We talked to David Rogers to find out more.
Tell us how the idea for Soundtraxs came about...
David: The movie company are very forward thinking and are constantly trying to develop new models to cross various different platforms within the creative industries. Soundtraxs is the manifestation of lots of creative meetings and brainstorming with many people within both the film and music industries.
Who is behind Soundtraxs, and what are their backgrounds?
David: The concept is the brainchild of a company called NyAC, which stands for Not Your Average Company. The company is a movie company with a difference, in that they are attempting to bring lots of different creative people together to form relationships and collaborations, thus the idea of bringing together the film and music industries to create the Soundtraxs concept. The company is owned by Phil Parker, a renowned figure in the movie business, he has worked on many big projects, including The Curse of the Were Rabbit for Aardman Animation.
How does Soundtraxs actually work?
David: Basically, any act, artist, songwriter or composer can either upload a video of their own or sync their music to one of our story boards on the site (www.muzu.tv/soundtraxs) It is then down to the acts to promote themselves as much as they can. Our wonderful digital partners MUZU have an amazing new facility called Buzz Radar, which monitors the popularity of the entries through various online channels. The 50 most popular videos will then be submitted to our expert industry panel, and the top 10 will be selected by them. Those 10 will appear in the final cut of the movie.
All successful bands will re-record their tunes in a top London studio and all the bands will be paid a substantial fee for their participation. They will also be paid ongoing royalties. From that perspective, we see the whole project not really as a competition, but more as a genuine career opportunity. It's VERY tough to get your music into a movie without major backing, but we feel this project is bridging the gap between these two industries, and our project provides a genuine opportunity for acts to take things to the next level.
As far as you are aware, is this is first concept of its kind, or have similar projects been tried before?
David: To our knowledge, it is a world first. Some people have selected single songs to appear in movies through online competitions, but as far as we know, this is the first time that the whole soundtrack has been selected in this way.
The first competition is for the movie “Relative Desire”. What are you actually looking for from entries, who can enter, how do you enter... tell us all you can...?
David: What we are looking for is really simple - we just want great music. Entries are open to anyone, but you must be the owner of your music. All you need to do to enter is got to http://www.muzu.tv/soundtraxs/ and follow the very simple instructions. It honestly could not be easier.
How popular is it proving so far, or is it too early to tell?
David: It's still very early days in terms of uploads, but we have been absolutely snowed under with people clicking onto the site and requesting information etc, so we think it has been very successful. I suppose we will judge the success ultimately on the quality of the music we get for the final edit!
What is in it for the bands who enter, and especially the ones who win?
David: All the bands will get LOTS of additional PR just through opening a MUZU account and promoting themselves, so it is a no brainer! The winners will get time in a massive London studio, get paid an advance, appear on a soundtrack album, visit the set of the movie...the list goes on and on. It really is a very unique opportunity and not something that comes up every day!
Are there any more competitions waiting in the wings, or are you seeing how this one goes first?
David: We have LOTS of ideas about additional ways to bring the creative industries together, but it all depends on how successful this project is.
Do you think Soundtraxs is likely to get bigger and bigger, or is this something that will always work better on a smaller scale for independent films?
David: I think the concept is tailor made for independent films, but it could work on any scale, and who knows? Perhaps this will become a common way to find great, new music for soundtracks and other potential projects...
Thanks again to David for his time.
http://www.facebook.com/soundtraxs
http://www.muzu.tv/soundtraxs/
