Music Supervisor

A music supervisor is a person who combines music and visual media. According to The Guild of Music Supervisors, a music supervisor is “a qualified professional who oversees all music related aspects of film, television, advertising, video games and other existing or emerging visual mediaplatforms as required.” In the musical theatre industry, a music supervisor is often responsible for managing a team of music directors working on any number of musical productions.

A music supervisor is somebody with a broad and encyclopedic music expertise and a sophisticated knowledge of music licensing and negotiation. Typically, a music supervisor proposes previously recorded songs to the director or producer of a film, advertisement, television show, trailer, promo, video game, or any other form of visual media. A music supervisor will usually act as a liaison between the creative and business ends of the process. Once a song is approved, they approach the rights holders of that song to seek permission to license (usually creating master recording licenses and synchronization licenses) and to work out the financial details of the song’s use. In many instances, the artist or songwriter of the recorded song is given the opportunity to accept or decline the synchronization of their song. This position is most active within media-based industries, including live events, television, film, advertising, theatre, and video gaming. Music supervisors may work within production companies, film studios, networks, music supervision companies, or do freelance work.

A supervisor’s responsibilities are to locate, secure and oversee music related talent. They liaise between the rights holders of the recorded music involved and the director of the project they have been hired to work on. In addition, they advise, generate and work within financial parameters of the project they are hired to work on. They must deliver musical elements within a timely manner and secure legal rights of the song before it is used. The music supervisor will gather the appropriate information to list credits and, in certain cases, will manage royalty collection.

The overarching responsibility of a music supervisor is to meet the needs of a project’s director and producer. This means catering to the creative goals of a project under a strict budget: often less than 5% of a project’s total budget (Wierzbicki).

The director/producer will discuss their vision for the project with the music supervisor, and how they expect the music to enhance this vision. The visual media will then be spotted by the supervisor – a process of choosing where selected music will be inserted (Schulenberg). Traditional spots include the main title, opening credits, and closing credits, while additional spots are incorporated to trigger emotional responses from viewers (Austin). Scores, or background music, are also an important consideration for enhancing visual media. Scores can range from the background to a dramatic scene to television bumpers – the music signifying leading into or coming back from a commercial break (Schulenberg).

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