This is topic Non-Sync music...What do you play? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-12-2000, 04:34 AM:
I like to play music people may not hear too much elsewhere...At my old art deco (1935) theatre, I played 30's and 40's jazz which suited the place no-end.
At my current mainstream theatre, Elvis is very popular. Especially with the younger ushers who know of him only as a drugged out fat bastard. They are surprised to actually find he was a hellava singer and I find they actually REQUEST Elvis and are disappointed if I don't bring the CD with me.
Tonight at IMAX (Where our in-house cd collection consists SOLELY of the 'Everest' soundtrack...AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!...) I played YMCA by the Village people between the shows and looked out the port to see three ushers doing the dance! (Before the patrons came in, of course). When the patrons did come in, I played 'Car Wash' by Rose Royce and found several patrons dancing along with the song as they walked in.
Whatever makes the night more enjoyable for one and all...
What do you guys play? Do you have any say in it or does management keep the cd player under lock and key?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-12-2000, 05:50 AM:
I highly recommend taking that cheezy music from your policy trailers (and don't tell me your music isn't cheezy) and copying it to a tape via the preamp out connections on the back of your processors. Then burn that to a cd, put it in the changer as a second disc and hit RANDOM/REPEAT! That way your audience can really get excited about being at (insert theater chain name here) theater between every single song! 
Sadly though, most theaters are now running specialized cds that make them money through yet MORE ads. As if slide ads weren't enough...as if film ads still didn't cut it!
Posted by Joseph Pandolfi (Member # 223) on 05-12-2000, 07:39 AM:
We have a service for our non-sync music that we run here called Digital Music Express (DMX) off a satilite dish. Generally we keep it on the Adult Contemporary Channel unless we are going into the Christmas Season. They also have a website you could check out. http://www.dmxmusic.com
Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 05-12-2000, 07:43 AM:
When playing music such as "Car Wash" by Rose Royce or "YMCA" by the Village People, either before or after your presentation, are you not liable for BMI, SESAC, and ASCAP fees.. or does your theater already pay them?
Posted by Chris Rhode (Member # 448) on 05-12-2000, 07:54 AM:
One of the techs that used to work at the theater that I work at had a smooth jazz CDs that he would load into the caddy and play until the place opened. Once we open, then we have to play that yucky Movie Tunes with Chris Eric Stevens!!! The name makes me want to vomit. They are in the process of puttting ads into the music although they don't have them in yet. Oh, the music they play is just the crappy popular stuff that you would hear on the radio like that Christina Aguillara and Toni Braxton, etc......------------------
Chris Rhode
chrisrhode@hotmail.com
My reputation preceeds me..... in fact, it arrived about 45 years ago!
Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 05-12-2000, 07:59 AM:
We run soundtracks from various movie titles. They're mostly instrumentals like "Braveheart", "CrimsonTide", "Titanic", "Saving Private Ryan", etc. I have never really been in favor of this because I think there are way better tunes out there than just soundtracks. The ownership and past management believed that people would enjoy listening to these songs since they were in a "cinema environment", but it is my finding that the average moviegoer is too stupid to realize the songs are from other films and just chalk it up as "elevator music".Although I perfer to listen to hard rock during my shifts in the booth, I don't think soft rock would be all that bad coarsing through the Non Sync channel. The only CD that I ever replaced was "Forrest Gump" of all selections. We had a young mother complain that while waiting for some bogus Disney movie to start, her children were sarenated by Bob Dylan singing "Everybody Must Get Stoned". Oh well, can't please everybody!
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-12-2000, 08:12 AM:
We have an advertisment company send us a CD. I won't really say it's got music, because it's mostly talking (like what Brad described) and 2-3 songs they are trying to promote. Whoever does the CD song programming for the advertisment company is always about 6 months behind the times. Also, the 'program' only lasts about 13 min., so it's likely a patron will have to sit through that crap twice.My understanding is that our theater gives some amount (like $50-yr.) to ASCAP, and we can play whatever we want.
Oh, and a note to John Wilson; There's been an amemdment to the US constitution. Playing "YMCA" by the Village People has been defined as cruel and unusual punishment, and has be banned from playing anywhere.... 
Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 05-12-2000, 09:00 AM:
Remember the conspiracy theory about people with 3 names being assassins (sp?).Just remember the name - Chris Eric Steven aka Movie Tunes Guy.
Posted by Ari Nordström (Member # 288) on 05-12-2000, 04:19 PM:
I usually play movie soundtracks. "Crimsom Tide", "Thin Red Line", "Blade Runner", Star Wars"... I play whatever I feel like at the moment, but very few people have complained so far. Quite the contrary, in fact.The ushers have learned to be nice and polite to me, too. If they don't like my CD selection, I always switch a nice little XMas CD the management sent to me a few years ago, featuring a french child artist. The kid is about five and his Reggae Christmas Mix is a real killer. A few minutes of that and no more complaints! 
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-12-2000, 05:39 PM:
We use the "Movie Tunes" CDs which are royalty free. The music on them ranges from fair to crap. The announcer is probably the blandest guy since Casey Kasem. What really irritates me is they've started to put things after the songs like, "This CD is now available at all Target stores." We've long had a policy against in-theatre advertising, so I'm just about to tell MovieTunes to shove their CDs if they're going to keep doing that.
Posted by Bryan Redemske (Member # 354) on 05-12-2000, 06:16 PM:
we have some crappy Theatre Radio Network thing. it's so bad. it has a mix of crappy new songs, crappy country songs as well as ONE good song. usually the Beatles. it's so lame...but it's better than Movie Tunes.
Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 05-12-2000, 08:45 PM:
Up here at the Fargo, we usually play organ recordings, which blend well with the 30's decor. once in a great while we might even
play public radio(yuck!)Josh
Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-12-2000, 09:51 PM:
I Hate Chris Eric Stevens!!!My favorite quote:
quote:
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to movie tunes.
-Chris Eric StevensYeah, I can just see it:
10:30-Board Meeting
11:00-Hair appointment
12:00-Lunch
12:30-Listen to Movie Tunes
I also like how they say "Advertise with movie tunes, we have a totaly captive audience," or something to that affect. Yeah, thats what we want to tell the patrons 
.
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-12-2000, 09:58 PM:
Dustin - that is too funny. Yes, I'll change my schedule immediately to make time every day at 12:30 to listen to Movie Tunes....
Posted by Michael West (Member # 428) on 05-12-2000, 10:50 PM:
Unfortunatly, in the 17 plex we play a tape made for the theater chain from a local radio station with some current tunes and a lot of promotions crap. in the imax we were playing the fantasia soundtrack but now we have returned to the living sea soundtrack, we still control the music there - at least for now.
Posted by Bryan Redemske (Member # 354) on 05-12-2000, 11:00 PM:
Josh, where do you work in Fargo?
Posted by Travis Cape (Member # 466) on 05-12-2000, 11:06 PM:
We play whatever I am in the mood for. Usually a mix of pop songs, which may include Elvis or some Disco if the movie is more mainstream. If the movie is a big art pic, then I tend to go with sentimental WWII songs, old musival soundtracks, or anything but the disco songs. I reserve those for print build up!
Posted by Jason R. Weinsteiger (Member # 456) on 05-12-2000, 11:45 PM:
yeeeah, i own the CD player at my theater. My boss bought it and started playing all his classical music. But i soon took it over.some of my favorites are:
Glen Danzig's "Black Aria"
the score to "Escape From LA"
the score to "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"
the score to "Army Of Darkness"
the soundtrack to "Final Fantasy 7" (a playstation game)
the soundtrack to "Rockman X" (a playstation game)
and when i'm feeling kinda rockin, i throw on some "Red Elvises"
of course when i'm cleaning up and noone's around, it's "Mr.Bungle" all night!!
jasoN
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"That's what life is - a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets." -Dante Hicks
Posted by Nic Margherio (Member # 273) on 05-13-2000, 12:01 AM:
At Landmark we used to have a deal set up wit h a local music store where they would supply us with albums to play in each auditorium (each soundrack had its own CD player) and they would advertise the album right outside the auditorium door in a little display. It was a really nice set up - it provided us with an ever-changing supply of good music to play for free. Also, there was no P.A. system so you didn't have to listen to anything in the lobby, which, as everyone here is sure to know, is the best way to ruin good music - listening to it over and over and over and OVER and OVER again.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-13-2000, 02:26 AM:
Barry Floyd wrote: 'When playing music such as "Car Wash" by Rose Royce or "YMCA" by the Village People, either before or after your presentation, are you not liable for BMI, SESAC, and ASCAP fees.. or does your theater already pay them?'Yes, we already pay an annual fee to APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association). All cinemas here must pay this fee.
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John Walsh wrote: 'Oh, and a note to John Wilson; There's been an amemdment to the US constitution. Playing "YMCA" by the Village People has been defined as cruel and unusual punishment, and has be banned from playing anywhere....'
I didn't mention... just before the last show went in I got a call from the floor to look out the port. I did and saw three pathetic ushers looking up at me doing the YMCA dance without the music...Sad, isn't it? So I done spun that tune agin!
Spookily (!) enough, I turned on the television at home today and there in all its glory was "Can't Stop The Music" and GUESS what song they were singing? Hmmm? Okay, it was 'Milkshake' but it was soooooooooooo close!
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"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage".
Indiana Jones.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-13-2000, 02:56 AM:
I find that videogame and anime soundtracks make good non-sync usage. Especially the ones that are imported from Japan, since most people will be totally unfamiliar with the content. Plus, I don't think they fall under the BMI and ASCAP rules, since the soundtracks have not been officially released in the US.Nothing lame like Tomb Raider, though, since too many people are familiar with it.
Posted by Erika Hellgren (Member # 22) on 05-13-2000, 08:38 AM:
All I have to say is that every booth should be supplied with its own CD-R recorder!
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-13-2000, 09:24 AM:
Dustin: That's pretty good!Several theatres I used to be involved with (as well as Carmike, I noticed) used to use a service out of Gallatin, TN called Mark V productions. (They made great pre-show tapes with top-40 hits, for drive-ins.) I believe it was just an old retired DJ who did various production work, because I recall getting some tapes from him when I worked in broadcast. He had a great voice. All of a sudden, Mark V's no where to be found. I wonder if the guy died?
Anyway, at the drive-ins, we had to pay ASCAP $10 a year to play these Mark V tapes, because of the music in them.
For indoor theatres, I'm of the belief that the n.s. music should be in the background, and unobstrusive. Instrumentals. There shouldn't be some guy screaming, "Heeeeeyy, groovy guys and groovy gals! This is from the HOT new CD by N-Sync...!"
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Better Projection Pays!
Posted by Dwayne Caldwell (Member # 417) on 05-13-2000, 10:12 AM:
I can't STAND Chris Eric Stevens! "Hang on! We'll REFRESH ourselves, then be right back with MORE hits from movietunes in just a moment!" Moron. At least with the General Cinema CD series, they had a few tracks that were instrumental soundtrack music. All the AMC Movietune CDs are songs, and bad ones I might add. I don't mind lyrical music at all, just as long as it doesn't get under my skin. Of course, the same could be said with some of the score music out there. The non-sync. music for the Mann Theatres, Mann Radio, is pretty much the same thing as the Movie Tunes (sans Stevens. They just have an announcer say "Mann Radio"), at least of what I've heard. I think Tomb Raider would be better, Joe . And we would play Muzak videos in our theatres through the Telex projectors when we weren't using our DMX (set usually at Ch. 80 the 80's Hits for one manager, and Ch. 24 Power Hits for another)at Granda Movie Grill Prestonwood in Addison. When I worked at GCC Town East 6 in Mesquite, me and afew friends who are soundtrack aficionados would bring our scores to work and play them when I or the chief assistant projectionist Scott was working booth (the chief operator wouldn't let us sometimes). And we never got any compliants from the customers. I even put Goldsmith's Total Recall in the player once and no one bitched that it was too exhausting or inappropriate (which it is now that I think in retrospect) to listen to. Like Aaron said, it's elevator music to most of these people.
I liked what they did at GCC Northpark 1-2 in Dallas. They played the soundtrack from the movies they exhibited. I'm sure some of the patrons didn't notice or care, but it was a nice touch. I actually got to keep some of those soundtracks when the theatre closed. After the closing party we had there, Ron Beardmore, the projectionist there just said "Help yourselves." That was pretty cool of him.
But now it's all definitely commerial. And I'm sure the patrons tune out the tunes as well as they tune out the scores. Personally, I'd like to put in the Dust Brothers' Fight Club or Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman's Ravenous in the player and see how well those scores go with the people downstairs.
Posted by Rob Brooks (Member # 186) on 05-13-2000, 10:45 AM:
TRN, unfortunately. Years ago I made up my own reel to reel tapes. TRN is one big continous commercial. You can't even listen to a song with out them telling you where to buy it. AOL is easy to use and easy to get started is usually the first thing you here.
Posted by Jason R. Weinsteiger (Member # 456) on 05-13-2000, 11:23 AM:
Nic sayeth:"At Landmark we used to have a deal set up wit h a local music store where they would supply us with albums to play in each auditorium (each soundrack had its own CD player) and they would advertise the album right outside the auditorium door in a little display. It was a really nice set up - it provided us with an ever-changing supply of good music to play for free."
-----
that's a darn cool idea! we have a great used record shop right down the road, who sometimes helps me out with advertising certain films. i'll have to run that by the boss. thanks Nic!
jasoN
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"That's what life is - a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets." -Dante Hicks
Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 05-16-2000, 09:33 PM:
Bryan,Up here in fargo I "volenteer" at the fargo theatre, a recently remodled single screen art house with wonderful art deco. BTW sorry so late with the reply. I've been busy
Josh
Oh, and Jason, Long Live FF7!!!!
Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 05-16-2000, 10:32 PM:
over in my theater we are hooked up to 3 seperate dmx (digital music express) sattelites. No need for CD's although i have limited to control of what is to play next.
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 05-17-2000, 08:08 AM:
In my screening room I use a CD that I burned myself. It is made up of a number of my favorite film's title music/song. Most are pretty famous, some are not.
Posted by Daryl Lund (Member # 356) on 05-17-2000, 06:17 PM:
There is nothing that is better than music from the mighty theatre pipe organ.With Andy Crow at the key board.
Posted by Scott Magie (Member # 368) on 05-18-2000, 01:13 AM:
So much to say... so little time... so late at night... so desperate for sleep.
Just this last post, then I rest.-First, to Dustin (and other Carmike lackeys)-
I have been MovieTunes-free for almost 5 weeks now... and the color is just starting to return to my cheekbones. Life without Chris Eric Stevens is a joy. No longer do I have to hear him droll on about Enigma, with their "eclectic mix of ethereal vocals and sounds". And "what's a movie without hot popcorn and an ice-cold coke?" The only thing I miss about ol' Chris is how lame he sounds when saying titles like "Gettin' Jiggy Wid It". That always made my day... 17 times a day!
-By the way, I liked Santana's "Smooth" and Kravitz's "American Woman" until they hit MovieTunes and showed up on 5 consecutive CD's!
-At my new theatre, I'm in charge of the CD player... currently in the random changer:
- The Sting
- The Rocketeer (James Horner's best by far!)
- Dances W/ Wolves
- Rock'n Instrumentals Vol. I & II (as seen on TV!)
- The 70's (soundtrack to new NBC series...)
- I'm planning to make a bunch of CD's with Main Titles from past movies. I think one out of 10 people in the audience will care, but that one person will care enough to make up for the 9 that don't. Soundtrack buffs UNITE!
------------------
Scott A. Magie
scoooot@hotmail.com
"Anybody wanna peanut?"
Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-18-2000, 01:34 AM:
Scott:
I don't really have to listen to Chris anymore. I'm either in the Projection booth, where I listen to the soothing electrical hum, or hiding out in the office, listening to whatever I want . The only thing worse than Movie Tunes is "Yanni." My manager loves it and whenever he's working, that's what's playing in the office.Lets see, Yanni or Chris Erik Stevens....why can't there be a gun too?
Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 05-21-2000, 12:44 AM:
Seeing how this is an art deco theatre from the thirties, and most of our patrons are over fifty...we play mostly big band music. On Saturday nights our organist plays all the old standards on the mighty WurliTzer Theatre pipe organ.
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 05-21-2000, 02:56 AM:
I think the most common radio call to my booth is from the ushers requesting that the music be turned off in whatever theare they are cleaning...
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 06-24-2000, 04:32 AM:
Just played YMCA by The Village People again...this time as the patrons walked in. Even THEY were doing the dance and having a little disco step as they came in.Not all of them, but enough to put a smile on their faces and mine.
see?
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"I could never be a woman. I'd just sit at home and play with my breasts all day."
Steve Martin - L.A. Story
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-24-2000, 07:33 AM:
Back in my manager days, I found if I played things like the Carpenters, that the ushers would make record time cleaning the auditoriums (to get out). Perhaps that is the idea behind MovieTunes, since it is nothing but bad music.
Get that cheezy stuff going, like the Village People or Meco and people generally have a good time.
Posted by Michael Cunningham (Member # 210) on 06-24-2000, 05:44 PM:
Back when we were still Act III, we got to choose from a collection of about 20 classical music CD's. That was nice, very understated and backgroundish. Now with Regal, we are forced to use the "THEATRE RADIO NETWORK" CD's. Uggh! Absolutely no choice in what to play and just as much advertising as actual music. The only good thing about it is that it plays in the lobby and can be heard by all employees. It's fun to watch them go slowly crazy as I am upstairs and don't have to hear it, ha - ha!-Mike
Posted by Chris Trainor (Member # 9) on 06-26-2000, 12:28 PM:
I just paid the licensing fee with ASCAP, and just setup the office PC with WinAmp and a playlist full of ASCAP songs and let it go. Make life nice and easy, I got a few hundred songs in there from my personal CD collection and I just cut ASCAP the couple of hundred bucks a year and not worry about it. It's kindof nice, I check their website to see if anything I want to play is part of their licensing, if so, I toss it in the queue, if not, oh well. --Chris
Posted by Rory Burke (Member # 512) on 06-26-2000, 03:03 PM:
Ahhh yes!! I remember in my booth days lifting the red velvet curtains to the melody of "2001" blaring at concert refernce level(hehe). I always loved the fact the it got a bit louder and louder and that the frequency response was rolled up as the curtains apprached the full open position. The crowd absolutely loves it. I recommend trying it. The song is perfect cause it only like 50 seconds in duration and it starts with the low rumble that will shake and test your Lfe.
Posted by Dave Cutler (Member # 515) on 06-26-2000, 03:36 PM:
At AMC I have to run Movie Tunes which we have all heard alot about already so I won't dwell on it other than to say that is sucks.At Science City @ Union Station (iWerks 15/70 - 3D) I play mostly movie themes that I burn on to a CD. If I feel like it I play some disco (people actually dance to it) or some pop, the ocassional jazz. Anything I am in the mood for. We pay roalties so I can pretty much play what ever I want.
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Dave Cutler
15/70 projectionist &
Booth Manager at a 24-plex
Kansas City, MO
"Do or do not, there is no try."
Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 06-26-2000, 06:18 PM:
Brad,Maybe THAT'S why Atchley played such HORRIBLE music!! Nah, for 2 years all we had were 2 CD's A Glen Miller Band CD and the soundtrack sampler to "The Commitments" On their own, not TOO bad but after 2 YEARS!!!!!! Then we started using the DMX untill it gave out.
Posted by Russ Kress (Member # 461) on 06-26-2000, 08:48 PM:
Man, this is a long thread!!!Let me conclude it by reminding everyone that you can never go wrong with a good polka!
Come on! Folks love polkas!
Russ
Posted by Martin Frandsen (Member # 74) on 06-27-2000, 01:24 AM:
Long thread? go to the CAP code thread, now that is what i call a long one, well over 100 posts! BTW polka is great! reminds me of ''Good morning Vietnam''
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It's the new small talk. You do it so awfully well! - My Fair Lady
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 08-16-2001, 05:45 PM:
This just in: UA has switched to MovieTunes 
from Theater Radio Network. Happened around August 1 or so.BTW, the proper spelling for the MovieTunes host is Kris Erik Stevens. He's a former pop music ("Top 40") DJ who now does voice-over work and Xmas radio specials.
Posted by Danny Hart (Member # 659) on 08-16-2001, 07:34 PM:
My God.Has anyone ever thought about making the music "set the mood" in the auditorium for the film?
If I had directed a film and had then read this thread, I would then insist on total control over pre-movie music, if this is the kind of thing that is going on. YMCA? Elvis? "Moovie Choonz Radio"? "cause the staff/I like it!!!"
Get a grip, folks. Thanks.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-17-2001, 08:08 AM:
Just what do you suggest is played before the IMAX 3D movie 'Alien Adventure' then Danny? They're there to have some fun for 40 minutes after all, not alter their life.I asked a question (albeit a long time ago) and the guys have answered honestly. Most of them seem to not like the music they play, but are forced to play it by their head office. Others have a choice and play pre-show music they feel is appropriate.
I guess we can all be thankful that one day you will make a film which comes with its own pre-show music so it can promptly be filed in the appropriate place.
Me...? I'll run what I want with what I want...if that's ok with you, that is.
Geez... 
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"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage' - Indiana Jones.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-17-2001, 08:18 AM:
Actually, we went through a change of management here a while back and were informed we could not play any other pre-show music except for IMAX movie soundtracks as they would not pay the royalties fee for any other music....now those were an exciting few months. The audience were just about asleep by the time they got to their seats.
Now they are discovering once again that it is, in fact, fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-17-2001, 02:48 PM:
On a whim, I went to that Kris Erik Stevens website and clicked on his trailer demonstration link... was surprised how many trailers he's done (and how he can actually sound a lot better than he does on the awful Movie Tunes).
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-17-2001, 05:09 PM:
We play at our 20's theatre jazz, show tune, movie music etc. What about the ASCAP and BMI police. Do they still go out searching for businesses playing non royalty paid music?
Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-17-2001, 05:43 PM:
We have Theater "Radio" Network CDs sent to us every month that have some fairly decent music from upcoming soundtracks. Unfortunately, it's also littered with ads for invention agencies and internet businesses. They used to have trivia contests that were unbelieveably easy to figure out, but they have since put a halt to those.I could (and have) burned better mixes of music, but management loves to hear the announcer's voice say "Thank you for choosing OUR theater!" And who are we exactly?
Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 08-20-2001, 08:19 PM:
We try to make the music match the movie at our theatre. Currently we've got Jill Solube (sp?) playing on Ghost World, Cyndi Lauper on Hedwig, a bluegrass CD on Songcatcher, the ever popular Ella Fitzgerald on The Closet, and the Crouching Tiger soundtrack on The Road Home. It's interesting that the cd we get the most comments on and that people inquire about is the Ella Fitzgerald. It's a pre-scat Ella CD that is a nice compilation of her songbook series. Every now and then we get some weird combination thing that happens when somebody moves a print and forgets to take the appropriate CD with it.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-20-2001, 09:07 PM:
I got an idea a while back:
Most of the theatres that I work in have muti-disc CD players but are only allowed to play the stupid MovieTunes® disk, thus leaving anywhere from 5 to 10 empty slots in the player. What a waste of money, eh?Well, I was thinking that MovieTunes® could put out a disk that contains JUST the ads that they want to play for this month and maybe another disk that contains those songs that they want to push. Then the other slots in the disk could be filled up with whatever movie soundtrack CDs happen to be current. Then they could put the player on "spiral play" and hit the repeat button. (Spiral play is the mode that plays track #1 from disk #1, then plays track #1 from disk #2, etc, etc...)
Heck! There is usually about a 1/2 dozen of those things lying around the theatre anyway. Why not put them to good use, instead of them ending up on the floor in the back seat of some assistant manager's car.
The movie company get's their products pushed. The record company get's their products pushed. MovieTunes® gets to play their advertisements. And, WE don't have to listen to the same awful music all the damn time.
This way EVERYBODY would be happy. (Potentially.)
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 08-22-2001, 04:12 PM:
We play the local radio station.Paul
Posted by Freddie Dobbs (Member # 915) on 08-22-2001, 06:19 PM:
I don't think anyone mentioned copywright laws, seems like Regal had a law suit a few years back...Anyone know anything about the Regal deal?
Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 08-22-2001, 06:48 PM:
I play whatever "I" want to playWe pay a yearly subs to PRS which means we can play what we want. Usually i'll tailor the tunes more to the customers than the movie, i.e if we have a film that has a more elderly crowd i'll play more laid back instrumentals, and if the crowd is mostly young i'll play contemporary stuff like indie and banging house. It just depends on the crowd.
Danny, playing stuff tailored to the film is all well and good but it's a bloody cliche, and anyway, whats the point setting a mood when it's going to get blasted away by 20mins of ads and trailers?
Fair point if your going straight into the film though.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-22-2001, 11:17 PM:
I agree that copyright may be a problem but if you are going to be playing movie soundtrack disks for the movies that you are playing or are going to be playing soon, in MY opinion, you ought be be allowed to do that. Especially since the companies often send those CDs out to the theatres as promos anyway.Then on top of that, you are still playing whatever ads your company wants you to play. I think everybody benefits from this.
If it's not allowed, I think it should be.
Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 08-23-2001, 10:45 AM:
Back in the early 1980s apart from using LPs and cassettes, I used to record onto ¼” tape almost non-stop music from a pirate radio station anchored in the North Sea 20 miles off the UK coastline called Radio Caroline. During daytime the signal from the 300 foot mast (claimed to be the highest ever construction at sea) although AM was exceptional and almost FM quality. Edited cassette tapes were then made. A few years later Melody Radio a London FM stereo station became the source, but no longer as the name and programming has changed to more chat, a good station though. I don’t consider that I was breaking the law as the cinema has an annual Performing Rights Society licence for playing recorded music. CD tracks or selections are now made onto mini-disc.Radio Caroline is broadcasting again by satellite, and the ship is now being refurbished. www.radiocaroline.co.uk
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Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 08-23-2001, 11:14 AM:
You should all go out and buy a "John Phillips Sousa" CD and watch how fast you can empty and fill an auditorium.
Posted by Freddie Dobbs (Member # 915) on 08-23-2001, 11:33 AM:
BOB, you kill me....... to funny.......
Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-24-2001, 02:22 PM:
I also play movie sound tracks. I am currently running the Sixth Sense, The Rock and Brave Heart (a nice mix of styles and moods). The customers seem the enjoy them and often ask what CD's we are playing so that they can buy them.
Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 08-24-2001, 10:11 PM:
My favorite movie theater (don't work there...yet) plays super hero/spy/action/kids tv themes from the 70s and 80s. It was okay the first couple times, but I've gotten into the habit of not showing up more than one minute before showtimes. There's a limit to how many times I can stand to hear those cheezy 80s singers grunting "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 08-26-2001, 06:30 AM:
When I own my own theater, the only device hooked up to the non-sync will be an 8-track player, and played most often will be one of the three tapes in the Columbia House set titled "Magic: The Very Best Music of the 70's" featuring all Muzak-style versions of 70's hits, including the theme from "Shaft" as performed by Percy Faith And His Orchestra. When I wanna have something more hip I'll play one of my K-Tel or Ronco tapes.
Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 08-26-2001, 04:53 PM:
I'll second Joe Redifer's taste in non-sync programming. When I get to choose, I go with selected orchestral anime soundtracks, image albums, symphonic arrangements, or jazz tracks. It's all good stuff that doesn't get played in the US. I get lots of comments and queries from audiences whenever I program with it. Hard to go wrong with anything from:Joe Hisaishi (all of Miyazaki's films, most of Beat Takeshi's films)
Yoko Kanno (Turn A Gundam, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus) and her orchestrator/spouse
Hajime Mizoguchi
Shiro Sagisu (Nadia, Evangelion)
Yuji Ohno (Lupin III jazz)
Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell, Blue Seed, Patlabor, Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Avalon)
Yuji Nomi (Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns)
Takayuki Hattori (Nadesico, Slayers)
There are domestic imprints of these titles now available in the US from ANIMEtrax, Tokyopop Music, and Disney imprint Milan Records. The Japanese versions of these discs are also available from Japanese bookstores or on-line from places like CD Japan, Amazon Japan, Anime Jungle (used goods), Mandarake (used goods), and Hoteiya Las Vegas (a little plug there since they're friends of mine ).
BTW I don't like to program vocals for non-sync. Too intrusive.
Later,
Paul
Last week in Long Beach, CA
Next week back in Las Vegas, NV
"Otaku wa tsurai yo!"
It's tough being a fan!
Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 03-26-2002, 12:57 PM:
We pay an annual royalty to PRS here and we compile a mixed CD monthly with pop music and a few oldies and a song or two from movie soundtracks for a touch of variety.During Oscars month, we try to program the nominated songs if we think they'll work with the rest of the pre-show music.
We do not play instrumentals too often. That style is reserved for special occasions. My favorite Soundtrack CD would have to be "The Hollywood Sound" featuring John Williams conducting The London Symphony Orchestra. Sixteen Oscar-winning themes.
The 2-Disc set by James Horner called "Titanic: The Essential James Horner Collection" is a VERY good buy as is another 2-Disc set called "Orchestral Film Music" by Michael J. Lewis.
I visited the Muvico "Egyptian" in Florida about two years ago and was really impressed with their selection of music (all orchestral soundtracks with no ads). The music is piped out as far as the parking lot. It's quite an experience.
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And, hey! Let's be careful out there.
~Manny.
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-26-2002, 07:38 PM:
Have you guys heard the latest disgrace on Movie Tunes? They have Noel Blanc, son of the great Mel Blanc, doing pale imitations of Mel's characters with stupid lines like (as Sylvester) "Movie Tuneth ith heard on over 25,000 theatreth worldwide! Thufferin' thuccotath!"It's enough to make a Looney Tunes fan puke.
Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 03-26-2002, 07:51 PM:
Traditional Jazz & Blues (Coltrane, Sinatra, BB King) Are in my opinion some of the best music to listen to before a show.
Can't go wrong with Jazz!! (no, I am not talking about Kenny G or any of that progressive "Smooth Jazz" Crap.)
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 03-26-2002, 08:03 PM:
The sound of the mighty wurlitzur or golden voiced barton or even a compton is the only reel theatre music
Posted by Geoff Bradley (Member # 658) on 03-26-2002, 09:43 PM:
Jesse, that's hilarious. Blew Pepsi clean out my nose. Brilliant!Gordon, You're so right.
How about all that great stuff from DeWolfe? Most of the Drive in ads usually had music of his or close rip offs.
John Williams all the way!
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 03-27-2002, 10:34 AM:
We make a big deal out of our preshow "concerts" We have a 1/2 sheet sized poster on a stand at the theater lobby that says "The Preshow Concert you will hear before this show is from a Compact Digital Disc." The there is a space for the pullout of the CD to be inserted and below that "Presented in 6 Channel Total Surround MegaSound (a logo)" "If you have a favorite CD from a movie soundtrack, or classical performance, let us know -- we will be happy to program it at a future engagement." A good portion of our audience is subscribers, so they are really into our preshow concert thing. We play the concerts at full volume and mean it to be listened to. It definately is not meant to be background music. Since we are a performing arts center, we already pay both ASCAP and BMI so I can play anything I want, except religious music -- I think that is carried by the third licensing company (SECAM or something?) which we don't pay. I explain to our audience that we have a great sound system, we are happy to let them hear their favorite music on it.
We try to play soundtrack cuts from the film, or at least end the preshow program with one cut from the film that is playing. We play lots of classical, but we won't play opera, although we get many suggestions for them and on occasion I will play cuts from those "Opera without the Words" series -- we don't play any vocals at all for that matter -- strictly orchestral, mostly movie scores from the great classic films, a number of times we've done the Mighty Wurlitzer CDs -- always a crowd pleaser, Anime scores are always good and an occasional new age thing if someone begs us. We NEVER play Yanni, however
Our non-sync concert is programmed, sometimes with multiple discs if I am matching cuts from movie scores. Usually the concerts last from 25 to 30 min. At 2min before the end of the program, the house lights go to 1/2 house. At 45 secs. the house goes to the "Credits" light-level and at 10 secs. Projector 1 rolls countdown, curtain warmers begin to fade-out and just as the last cord of the NS music fades and barely overlaps the first chord of the filmtrack, the curtains open and the sound of the Warner Brother cartoon theme begins, curtain-warmers fully out, house to "Show" light-level and we are off and running. And THAT'S the way it's done, boys and girls!
We pass the CD L/R output through a Sansui VarioMatrix Type II Quadraphonic decoder which gives us Left Front, Right Front, Left Rear, Right Rear extracted from the L/R program material -- lots of nice ambience and stereo spread into the rear channels. It is also passed through a DBX 115 (not sure of the number, might be 112) Subbass Enhancement processor for the subwoofers; the mixing console sums LF & RF for the center channel, hence "6 channel Total Surround MegaSound." .
In the mid-70's I produced THEATEROCK; same principle as above, 25 to 30 min programs, only it was rock-based because I was doing it for our college cinematheque. We were getting audiences of 1000+ every show in our big theatre and the rock programs were not just a nice interlude, but they became a real crowd control mechanism. The audiences responded so well to them that I started a service for other college theatres (in those days, before video, they actually ran FILM in college movie programs). I supplied them in either reel-to-reel or cassettes format. Both had the program recorded in both directions so the tapes never had to be rewound. It was music only -- pure rock, and although I did voice-over work at the time, there was NEVER any "DJing" during the THEATEROCK preshow programs. The only nod I gave to radio was, before the last rock cut, a top-40 jingle bridged the cuts and was a signal to the projectionist that he had only a few minutes left to film start. We had about 10 colleges subscribing to the service. Some of you may have heard THEATEROCK before the films if you went to any college cinemateques from about 1974 to 1980, mostly in the midwest, NJ and NY.
I was always into making the wait-time that audience has to sit waiting in a theatre, more than just "fill." I always thought, this is a theatre sound system, why not play everyone's favorite music through it. I remember when we ran NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD for some 1800 college kids, the preshow was cuts from horror films with the last cut being an organ rendition of Bach's Tocatta & Fuge. Instead of doing all that lights fade and warmers fade, etc as above, when the last cord of that chilling piece ended, everthing in the theatre went instantly went to a total blackout, even the isle lights went out. As that happened, the very last item on the tape played at full volume -- it was a blood curdling woman's scream that panned around the theatre as everyone sat there in total darkness -- it made quite a number of girls scream as well. Ain't cinema fun!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-27-2002, 10:37 AM:
It's great to see SHOWMANSHIP is still alive! ------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 04-02-2003, 11:34 AM:
National Amusements must use Digital Music Express or a similar channel for non-sync. Much preferable to Movie Tunes!
I was at the NA Multiplex Cinemas at Town Center Plaza (East Windsor NJ) on 3/15. The jukebox channel for the non-sync that day had pre-Beatles rock 'n roll. ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Lots of oldies-but-goodies plus a few "lost" tunes -- "I Hear You Knockin'" by Smiley Lewis (the original), "I Like Your Kind of Love" by Andy Williams, "Cradle of Love" by Johnny Preston. Cool lead-in to the movie I saw that day (Talk to Her).
Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 04-02-2003, 04:09 PM:
i am proud to say that so far this year i've seen 107 films without once having to endure a movie-tunes clone. last year i did a couple of times when i went to the ua galaxy in san francisco after they became a mock art-house. blecch. at least 2 chains and the several independents and reps around here are free of this scourge.
the castro theater has wurlitzer performances every day for the evening shows, with tunes relevant to the film (eg. last night "we're in the money" was played before "how to steal a million"). when they play "san francisco (...open your golden gates)", you know the film's about to start. unless it's 2001, in which case the last piece will be "also sprach zarathustra".
at my theater, the non-sync is my boss's band. i can only describe it as non-structuralist. once in a blue moon someone complains about it but it's never bothered me. one customer informed me the cd was skipping, and i told her that's how it's supposed to be, but went to check anyways. it was skipping! true story.
if the day comes when we have to use movie tunes, that will be the sad day when i quit my theater. i will not stand for that crap.
carl
Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-03-2003, 07:32 AM:
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)