The sounds of commerce : marketing popular film music
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The sounds of commerce : marketing popular film music
（Film and culture）
Columbia University Press, c1998
- : pbk
Available at 10 libraries
Note
Bibliography: p. [271]-276
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780231108621
Description
This is a detailed historical analysis of popular music in American film, from the era of sheet music sales, to that of orchestrated pop records of the 60s and the MTV-ready pop songs from contemporary films. To investigate film and music cross-promotion, the book examines historical, economic and aesthetic factors that brought about the rise of popular music in the movies. Combining musicology, film theory and social history, the text examines the repeated refrain in the theme song of "Goldfinger", which developed massive cultural appeal, and goes on to look at how film and music industries have become so heavily intertwined, the progression of soundtrack music and the relationship, if any, between the chart success of the soundtrack and the box-office success of the associated film. The author challenges film music scholarship to recognize the significance of popular music in modern film.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780231108638
Description
The Sounds of Commerce is the first book to present a detailed historical analysis of popular music in American film, from the era of sheet music sales, to that of orchestrated pop records by Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone in the 1960* to the MTV-ready pop songs that occupy soundtrack CDs of today. Jeff Smith's landmark exploration of film and music cross-promotion investigates the combination of historical, economic, and aesthetic factors that brought about the rise of popular music in the movies.Smith employs a sophisticated yet accessible fusion of musicology, film theory, and social history. In one chapter, a musicological unpacking of the theme song from Goldfinger is used to show how the repeated refrain developed massive cultural appeal, leading to huge singles sales and a ubiquitous tune that most Americans can recognize several decades after the film's release. Other chapters look at how the film and music industries became so heavily intertwined, how soundtrack music progressed from orchestral score to pop song, and how certain soundtracks today become chart successes while their accompanying films generate scant box-office interest.Throughout the text, Smith persuasively argues that the popular film score has been as successful as its classical predecessor at enhancing emotions and moods, cueing characters and settings, and signifying psychological states and points of view.
With The Sounds of Commerce, he challenges film music scholarship to recognize the significance of popular music in modern film.
Table of Contents
Did They Mention the Music? Banking on Film Music Sharps, Flats, and Dollar Signs My Huckleberry Friend The Midas Touch Every Gun Makes its Own Tune The Sounds of Commerce Pretty Women and Dead Presidents
by "Nielsen BookData"