Pop musicians find rockin' role recording for film

Radio killed the video star

By ANTHONY D'ALESSANDRO

Oscar's best song nominees typically represent a pluralistic sample of the music world, from Broadway tunes to comedic ditties; however, this year's race might wind up looking like the Grammys' best pop artist category.

The list of 56 tunes eligible for best song is crowded with such singer-songwriters as Macy Gray, Avril Lavigne and Sheryl Crow. While last year's 43 submissions sported eclectic artists (Todd Edwards, Imogen Heap), American standards (Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton) and rappers (Three 6 Mafia, who won the Oscar, Juicy J, Cedric Coleman, DJ Paul), this year's qualifiers point to a greater trend: More rock artists are taking their cues from soft-pop brethren Phil Collins and Bryan Adams and redefining themselves through film song and score work.

Film music execs attribute the musician migration to dwindling album sales as well the dominance of hip-hop on Top 40 radio. In addition, the fracturing of MTV into several niche video channels has stifled the mass exposure rock and pop artists once had.

"It's been harder for me in years past to land bigger-name rock artists on a film," says Sony Pictures worldwide music prexy Lia Vollack. "Today's musicians are interested in alternative avenues of exposing their music and broadening their audiences."

According to SoundScan, 2006 album sales through Dec. 10 totaled 144 million, down 21% from the full-year 2005 figure. Digital album downloads hit 5 million, repping a 57% spike over the same period; however, those stats, though promising, are still considered small, repping a mere 3% of total sales.

"In my lifetime, I've seen the record industry taken to its knees," says singer-songwriter Jewel, whose current album, "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland," has paled next to her 1996 debut album "Pieces of Me," which shipped 12 million units. "When I was first signed at 19, the idea was that one sold records. Now there is no hope of money by signing for a record. You do it as promotion."

This awards season, she co-wrote and sang "Quest for Love" for Luc Besson's "Arthur and the Invisibles" soundtrack, the ninth single she's written for film, beginning with Sean Penn's 1995 pic "The Crossing Guard."

"In the last year, I performed on TV shows, since radio isn't playing my genre," Jewel adds, "nor are record companies developing artists like me; they're going for the easy cool thing."

Though platinum acts can fetch anywhere from $500,000 and up for contributing a tune to film, both artists and studios admit that they're not in bed with each other just to crowbar a musician's B song into a pic's end credits.

"What we've found out is that only when a song is meaningful to the movie do audiences typically respond to the soundtrack," says Fox music prez Robert Kraft, pointing to the success of Zach Braff's "Garden State." Fox initially had a hard time signing Sony Music to the soundtrack, given the disc's lineup of mostly indie acts, chosen by Braff. However, the songs in "State" resonated with auds, and the album went on to sell 1.2 million copies, becoming a benchmark for the song-compilation soundtrack.

Sony is taking a similar approach with its album for the Jennifer Garner romantic comedy "Catch and Release" by loading it with edgy artists like the Magic Numbers and the Doves.

What has also helped rock artists in landing pic gigs is that "today's directors grew up listening to pop and rock musicians," says "Cars" composer Randy Newman. "They didn't grow up on orchestras. That's why you hear a lot of loop, atmospheric kind of scores."

While soundtracks are a niche market, the musical subgenre has seen an uptick of 29% this year (15 million units) largely based on the popularity of moppet musical projects such as Disney's "Cheetah Girls" and "High School Musical."

"Musical" has been especially significant in propelling its headliner Vanessa Anne Hudgens into the pop star pantheon. "The younger-demo Disney projects sell well since they do not cater to the download demographic," says Walt Disney music prexy Chris Montan.

Disney's "Cars" soundtrack has sold 700,000 units. Two of the songs in "Cars" were qualified by the Academy: "Real Gone," co-written and sung by Crow, and "Our Town," written by Newman and sung by James Taylor. The reason why "Cars" works, according to Montan, is because animation and musical films click with both crowds and crooners.

"Animation and musicals treat songs with great consideration. There's quite a bit of marketing with them since the movies are built around the songs. An artist knows when they contribute to such films, they'll hear their song for three minutes. Live action doesn't do that. Lyrics become the script in animation," Montan says.

Yet, several film music toppers concur that for a soundtrack to work, there has to be heart: A film needs to speak to the musician, and a storyline needs to beg for music.

"The driving force behind recording artists gravitating toward film is that it's a new challenge for them," says Paramount Pictures music exec Randy Spendlove, who, together with Par's music prexy Burt Berman, attracted Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am to co-compose his debut score for urban drama "Freedom Writers."

"I think there are artists concerned about sagging sales, but that doesn't prevent them from writing music," Spendlove asserts. "They're always looking for new ways to make music. Records were the format 50 years ago, then musicvideos and now movies. It's the natural course of a new canvas."