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{{Short description|Short piece of epic music, composed for film trailers}}
'''Trailer music''' (a subset of [[production music]]) is the background music used for [[Film trailer|film previews]], which is not always from the film's soundtrack. The purpose of this music is to complement, support and integrate the sales messaging of the mini-movie that is a film trailer. Because the score for a movie is usually composed after the film is finished (which is long after trailers are released), a trailer will incorporate music from other sources. Sometimes music from other successful films or hit songs is used as a subconscious tie-in method.
'''Trailer music''' (a subset of [[production music]]) is the background music used for [[Film trailer|film previews]], which is not always from the film's soundtrack. The purpose of this music is to complement, support and integrate the sales messaging of the mini-movie that is a film trailer. Because the score for a movie is usually composed after the film is finished (which is long after trailers are released), a trailer will incorporate music from other sources. Sometimes music from other successful films or hit songs is used as a subconscious tie-in method.
Trailer music is known for its sound-design driven and hybrid orchestral style. Trailer music tracks can vary greatly in duration, depending on the theme and target of the album.
Trailer music is known for its sound-design driven and hybrid orchestral style. Trailer music tracks can vary greatly in duration, depending on the theme and target of the album.
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The music used in the trailer may be (or may have suggestive derivatives from):
The music used in the trailer may be (or may have suggestive derivatives from):


* Music from the score of other movies. Many films have tracked their trailers with music from other campaigns, such as ''[[Scream (1996 film)|Scream]]'', ''[[Die Hard]]'', ''[[Beetlejuice]]'', ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'', ''[[MouseHunt (film)|MouseHunt]]'', ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'', ''[[Dragonheart]]'', ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]'', ''[[Requiem for a Dream]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'', ''[[Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story]]'', ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'', ''[[Come See the Paradise]]'' (27 times), ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' (24 times), ''[[Dracula (1992 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'' (18 times).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundtrack.net/trailers/|title=Trailer Music|access-date=2008-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417015114/http://www.soundtrack.net/trailers/|archive-date=2008-04-17|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Music from the score of other movies. Many films have tracked their trailers with music from other campaigns, such as ''[[Scream (1996 film)|Scream]]'' (6 times), ''[[Die Hard]]'', ''[[Beetlejuice]]'' (12 times), ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' (7 times), ''[[MouseHunt (film)|MouseHunt]]'' (4 times), ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'' (22 times), ''[[Dragonheart]]'' (10 times), ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]'' (11 times), ''[[Requiem for a Dream]]'' (5 times), ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'', ''[[Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story]]'' (13 times), ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'' (7 times), ''[[Far and Away]]'' (6 times), ''[[Waterworld]]'' (12 times), ''[[Come See the Paradise]]'' (27 times), ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' (24 times), ''[[Dracula (1992 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'' (18 times), ''[[Backdraft (film)|Backdraft]]'' (15 times), ''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]'' (14 times), ''[[The Shawshank Redemption (1994 film)|The Shawshank Redemption]]'' (14 times), ''[[The Fugitive (1993 film)|The Fugitive]]'' (12 times), ''[[The Rocketeer (film)|The Rocketeer]]'' (12 times), ''[[Rudy (film)|Rudy]]'' (12 times), ''[[Crimson Tide (film)|Crimson Tide]]'' (11 times), ''[[The Matrix]]'' (11 times), ''[[T2: Judgement Day]]'' (10 times) and ''[[Drop Zone (film)|Drop Zone]]'' (5 times).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundtrack.net/trailers/|title=Trailer Music|access-date=2008-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417015114/http://www.soundtrack.net/trailers/|archive-date=2008-04-17|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Popular or well-known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric, or familiarity.
* Popular or well-known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric, or familiarity.
* Classical music, such as Strauss's [[The Blue Danube]] (''[[The Waterboy]]''), [[Mozart's requiem|Mozart's Requiem]] (''[[Cliffhanger (film)|Cliffhanger]]''), Beethoven's [[Beethoven's 9th|9th symphony]] (''[[Die Hard]]''), or ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]''.
* Classical music, such as [[Johann Strauss II]] [[The Blue Danube]] (''[[The Waterboy]]''), [[Mozart's requiem|Mozart's Requiem]] (''[[Cliffhanger (film)|Cliffhanger]]''), Beethoven's [[Beethoven's 9th|9th symphony]] (''[[Die Hard]]''), or ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]'' (''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]'').
* Specially composed music. One of the most famous Hollywood trailer music composers, credited with creating the musical voice of contemporary trailers, is [[John Beal (composer)|John Beal]], who began scoring trailers in the 1970s and, in the course of a thirty-year career, created original music for over 2,000 movie trailer projects,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020113.html?categoryid=4051&cs=1|title=Razor-thin copyright line|first=Melinda|last=Newman|date=3 June 2010|access-date=2010-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606043129/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020113.html?categoryid=4051&cs=1|archive-date=2010-06-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> including 40 of the top-grossing films of all time, such as ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'', ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', ''[[The Last Samurai]]'' and ''[[The Matrix]]''.
* Specially composed film trailer music. One of the most famous Hollywood film trailer music composers, credited with creating the musical voice of contemporary trailers, is [[John Beal (composer)|John Everett Beal]], who began scoring trailers in the 1970s and, in the course of a thirty-year career, created original music for over 2,000 movie trailer projects,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020113.html?categoryid=4051&cs=1|title=Razor-thin copyright line|first=Melinda|last=Newman|date=3 June 2010|access-date=2010-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606043129/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020113.html?categoryid=4051&cs=1|archive-date=2010-06-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> including 40 of the top-grossing films of all time, such as ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'', ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', ''[[The Last Samurai]]'' and ''[[The Matrix]]''. He is considered by the New York Times as the pioneer of original scores for [[Trailer (film)|film trailer]] music,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/arts/music/trailer-music-trailerization.html | title=Movie Trailers Keep Tweaking Well-Known Songs. The Tactic is Working | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=January 6, 2023 | last1=Ducker | first1=Eric }}</ref>
* Sound-design-focused and hybrid orchestral styles are typical of trailer music for films and games. Companies like [[BMG Production Music]] and composers like [[Inon Zur]] specialize in creating trailer music that can quickly captivate an audience.
* Songs, which may imitate recognizable (but often expensive to license) songs.
* Songs, which may imitate recognizable (but often expensive to license) songs.
* "Library" music, which is previously composed production music. Trailer music library companies typically didn't offer their music to the public and developed and licensed music exclusively to the motion picture studios.
* "Library" music, which is previously composed production music. Trailer music library companies typically didn't offer their music to the public and developed and licensed music exclusively to the motion picture studios.


== Video Game Trailers ==
==Notable trailer music companies==
Developers often collaborate with composers or production companies to create original scores that reflect the game's atmosphere.


=== Notable Trailers Featuring Original Music ===
* [[615 Music]]
*[https://www.amadeamusicproductions.com/ Amadea Music Productions]
* [[APM Music]]
* [[Audiomachine]]
* [[Corner Stone Cues]]
* [[Elephant Music]]
* [[E.S. Posthumus]]
* [[Gerrit Kinkel Productions]]
* [[Immediate Music]]
* [[Pfeifer Broz. Music]]
* [[Two Steps from Hell]]
* [[West One Music Group]]
* [[X-Ray Dog]]
* [[Killer Tracks]]
* [[Mortifer V.]]
* [[PostHasteMusic]]
* [[Position Music]]
* [[Megatrax]]
* [[Groove Worx]] (formally Groove Addicts)
* [[Epic Music World]]
* [[Warrior from Heaven]]
* [[Ninja Tracks]]
* [[Twelve Titans Music]]
* [[Revolt Production Music]]
* [[Hi-Finesse Music]]
* [[IconAudio]]
* [[DeVso Music]]
* [[Trailer Music World II]]
* [[Epic Score]]
* [[J Trax Music]]


* [https://wccftech.com/mortal-kombat-11-launch-trailer-switch/ Official Launch Trailer | Mortal Kombat 11] by international DJ, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike together with 2WEI
== Notable trailer music composers ==
* [https://www.vg247.com/nintendo-reveals-the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - E3 2016 Trailer] by Manaka Kataoka
*[[Michael Baiardi]]
* Halo 3: "Finish the FIght" Trailer (2006) by Marty O'Donnell
*[[2WEI]] (Composer team)
* [https://www.otakustudy.com/video-game/2015/08/metal-gear-solid-v-the-phantom-pain-gamescom-2015-trailer/ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | Gamescom Trailer]
*[[Chris Field (composer)|Chris Field]]
* [https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/jurassic-park-and-crysis-inspired-fps-ferocious-gets-new-gameplay-trailer/ Ferocious - Gameplay Trailer (2024)] by DFAD
*[[Clint Mansell]]
* Cyberpunk 2077 – E3 2018 Trailer by Marcin Przybyłowicz
*[[Globus (music)|Globus]]
* Final Fantasy VII Remake – E3 2015 Trailer by Nobuo Uematsu
*[[Groove Worx]]
* [https://wccftech.com/mass-effect-3-earth-extended-trailer-shows-fall-earth-epic-human-reaper-battle/ Mass Effect 3: Take Earth Back Cinematic Trailer (2012)] by Clint Mansell
*[[Hans Zimmer]]
*[[Jo Blankenburg]]
*[[John Beal (composer)|John Beal]]
*[[Mark Petrie]]
*[[Thomas J. Bergersen]]
*[[Veigar Margeirsson]]
*[[Zack Hemsey]]
*[[Brian Tyler]]
*[[James Paget]]


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 15:59, 8 December 2024

Trailer music (a subset of production music) is the background music used for film previews, which is not always from the film's soundtrack. The purpose of this music is to complement, support and integrate the sales messaging of the mini-movie that is a film trailer. Because the score for a movie is usually composed after the film is finished (which is long after trailers are released), a trailer will incorporate music from other sources. Sometimes music from other successful films or hit songs is used as a subconscious tie-in method. Trailer music is known for its sound-design driven and hybrid orchestral style. Trailer music tracks can vary greatly in duration, depending on the theme and target of the album. Some albums contains only sound-effects instead of actual music.

The music used in the trailer may be (or may have suggestive derivatives from):

Video Game Trailers

[edit]

Developers often collaborate with composers or production companies to create original scores that reflect the game's atmosphere.

Notable Trailers Featuring Original Music

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Trailer Music". Archived from the original on 2008-04-17. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  2. ^ Newman, Melinda (3 June 2010). "Razor-thin copyright line". Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  3. ^ Ducker, Eric (January 6, 2023). "Movie Trailers Keep Tweaking Well-Known Songs. The Tactic is Working". The New York Times.
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