De Wolfe Music Is Making Waves

When looking at the history of production music, you cannot deny the waves De Wolfe Music has made.

De Wolfe Music Publishers are the longest running independent film and television music library resource in the world. The music catalogue is a thing of legend, a vast collection of instantly recognisable and iconic tracks that have shaped popular culture. If you've seen Breaking Bad, Monty Python's Flying Circus, American Gangster, or listened to Drake, Beyonce, Madlib, DJ Premier or Ghostface Killah, you are likely to have heard a piece of de Wolfe music.

De Wolfe Music formed when Meyer de Wolfe first came to London, early in the 20th century. He worked as a musical director, composer, musician, arranger and conductor with the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Limited. De Wolfe selected the accompaniment to many movies at a time when soundtracks were simply printed as sheet music and played live by musicians seated in the late-Edwardian Cinemas, or 'kinematograph theatres'.

Today technology has many different influences and opportunities owed to the internet and the speed of which music and productions can be made. In principle the system is still the same; our team of music consultants and supervisors at de Wolfe are still selecting music for productions of every kind, whether it be television, film, radio or online. We are able to search our website, through the vast library, which consists of 12 labels that span over 100 years of recordings, covering every genre of music, which is constantly being added to!

CURRENT TRENDS
TV Dramas look to emphasise the dark dramatic elements within productions, seeing more Nordic noir or post-rock music, seamlessly adding to the mystery and intrigue of the scene for the viewer.

As a polar example Factual Shows such as Countryfile are looking for warm, heartfelt or emotional music, which organically works well with footage of the countryside and rural life. In these instances, library or commercial music would be used depending on the style required. For shows with large viewing numbers the music needs to appeal to all age groups, so you might hear songs by or similar to The xx and Bonobo to appeal to a younger audience, as well as orchestral music to appeal to the mature audience.

With similar effect; Advertisement are looking to involve all ages by adding classic tracks to their modern campaigns – last year's Amazon Prime TV advert featuring a lonely little horse caught many people's attention for using Sonny & Cher – "Little Man" from 1966 (Music Supervision by de Wolfe Music).

Bespoke music is very much in trend right now, with successful adverts such as Jeep's '4x4ever' (Sony Music) which aired during the SuperBowl. This special composition was the most Shazamed track that day by a long way. This shows by having that original piece written can make a huge difference.

We at de Wolfe have a roster of composers available to write, we work closely with clients, through the full process, adapting the demos and shaping the track towards a final master.

www.dewolfemusic.com

This article is also available to read at BFV online here.

(JP/LM)