The "lightning in a bottle" phenomenon of Twilight: New Moon notwithstanding, music budgets have been declining right along with the economy, says the L.A. Times. Apparently it's putting a damper on the uptick in publishing revenue that major labels have been enjoying in recent years, even as their CD sales plummeted.
While this isn't necessarily the most earth-shattering news given the overall state of things, there are few interesting nuances for industry folks, such as the alleged resurgence of step-licenses (which I would still recommend avoiding in most cases) and the increasing popularity of big, one-stop-shopping deals in which studios rely on one production house to meet all or most of their music needs. A recent example of this might be NBC's recent deal with Bon Jovi, which allows them to draw freely and frequently from Bon Jovi's upcoming release, The Circle, across "multiple NBC brands and platforms."
My view is that these sorts of deals don't usually mean good things for television and film, because the moment that a business deal starts to take precedence over the fit of the music is the moment the quality of the show or the film starts to decline. Truly buzzy soundtracks are almost never created this way, let alone authentic, resonant moments of storytelling. Viewers are surprisingly sensitive to uninspired, business-driven soundtrack choices and will use them to make split-second and entirely unconscious decisions that a show or a film is lame. For these reasons and more, studios should think again before skimping on music budgets or forming catch-all deals, which are in essence a form of product placement.
Silver linings though: the recession means that music licensing continues to be a buyers' market right now, which is great news for filmmakers working with smaller budgets. It's possible to get some good deals in this market, so don't assume you won't be able to afford that license. Approach the labels and ask.
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