Keeping track of music in the movies

By Brillianto K. Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): "Music is the most important aspect in stirring the emotion of viewers. It is often the case that a viewer can understand the language of music better than the language of picture," said Joel Schumacher, the director of Batman & Robin.

Schumacher's statement makes a lot of sense. Without music, films would be dull and lifeless. A viewer watching an emotional scene will be moved to tears because the music illustrates the action aptly. In the same way, without music, action films would not keep an audience in electrified suspense.

In the 1980s, with mass commercialization of music, songs were inserted in films and became closely aligned with the movie. Special film albums were released and sold like hotcakes. The albums provided additional profit to the film distribution itself, but more importantly they boosted film's marketability.

The impulse for film soundtracks came from the music accompaniment of a 1926 silent film titled Don Juan.

In the 1930s, music -- both instrumental and vocal -- became increasingly intrinsic to films, even though the commercial soundtrack album phenomena was a long way off. Prizes were awarded for film music. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz won an Academy Award in the best song category with Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harbur.

A number of films have enjoyed outstanding success thanks to their soundtracks, for example Endless Love. The Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross duet hovered at number one all over the world and attracted thousands to the movie. Phill Collins' Take a Look at Me Now propelled the 1984 film Against All Odds to major success.

In the 1990s, film soundtracks have become an independent commodity generating millions of dollars. The soundtrack of Pretty Woman (1990), included Swedish group Roxette's song It Must Have Been Love. The single sold almost 5 million units, while the film itself was a box office smash.

In 1991, the soundtrack for Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves featured Bryan Adams' Everything I Do I Do It for You. There was unprecedented market demand for the Adams song. The Lion King also contained an immensely popular soundtrack; it featured famous singers such as Elton John with Can You Feel the Love Tonight, All-4-One with their I Swear and Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories with their Stay (I Missed You).

The Batman Forever (1995) soundtrack was distinguished by two singles: U2's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and Kiss from a Rose by Seal. To date, the soundtrack has sold 2 million units.

Television series soundtracks also have proved profitable. The soundtrack for U.S. sit-com. Friends sells well. The song I'll be There for You by The Rembrandts has increased the profile of the popular sit-com.

Before the Friends soundtrack, a niche market for such music was growing. Musical arrangers for well known TV shows included Billy Joe McCay (BJ and the Bear), Steve Austen (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Dave Starsky and Ken Hutchingson (Starsky and Hutch). At this stage, they were only music arrangers and had not been given the lofty title of soundtrack composers.

How are soundtracks faring in Indonesia? It goes without saying that the development of film soundtrack is not as advanced as in Hollywood.

The majority of Indonesia soundtrack producers have not felt the need to release musical packages for their cinema and TV productions. When such music has been released, it has not been marketed seriously. A preference in the business is to pay music arrangers to compose theme songs. Purwacaraka, Harry Sabar, Dwiki Dharmawan and Didi AGP are prominent musicians involved in TV musical productions.

However, it would be wrong to discount the existence of a soundtrack business here. The market has been developing since the 1970s, when a number of film soundtrack albums were launched such as Sakura Dalam Pelukan (Sakura in an Embrace), Gita Cinta dari SMA (Love Song from Senior High School) and Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm must be Over). The latter apparently still sells to an appreciative public.

Rhoma Irama, the leader of Soneta Group specializes in dangdut (popular music with a strong beat reminiscent of Hindu and Arabic music). He has the record for singing on the most soundtrack productions. In every film in which he stars, Rhoma will perform a number of songs and these will be recorded as a soundtrack album. Satria Bergitar (Hero with a Guitar) is just one of these popular soundtracks.

A children's film Catatan si Boy (Boy's Notes), is a box office smash and the soundtrack album has posted record sales figures.

When TV films entered the boom period of the 1990s, a number of soundtracks made their way onto the market. These included: Janjiku (My Pledge), sung by Paramitha Rusady, Maafkan Daku Bila Mencintaimu (Forgive Me for Falling in Love with You), written by Chossy Pratama and sung by Dewi Yull, Harkat Wanita (Woman's Dignity), composed by Dwiki Dharmawan and sung by Ita Purnamasari and Deru Debu (Thundering Dust) by Dwiki Dharmawan.

Even film star Tio Pakusadewo and the Slang musical group have joined the soundtrack album war with their Anak Menteng (The Menteng Gang).

Soundtracks for Asmara (Love), a film featuring Tamara Blezinsky and Dicky Wahyudi and Romi and Yuli, starring Anjasmara and Dian Nitami, were also launched recently. Sales results have not been disappointing.

Special mention should be made of the latest soundtrack for the film Kuldesak (Cul-de-sac).

Suwardi Widjaya, the marketing manager of PT Aquarius Musikindo, told the Bintang tabloid the soundtrack was launched last month because of the few domestic soundtracks in circulation.

"We don't nurture much hope that the Kuldesak album will be a hit," he said.

The distributor's lack of confidence for the soundtrack selling potential, will unquestionably affect the production's marketing.

Even discounting Aquarius' gloomy prediction, the soundtrack's release date did not augur well. A good soundtrack must be released in conjunction with the film it is drawn from. The symbiotic relationship between the movies and music in Hollywood can teach the local market how to boost profits for all artists.