Listening Fiesta with Catherine Wharton

Tuesday, May 4th at 11am PT - 2pm ET / ViacomCBS

BRIEF

As an in-house music supervisor across promos, we’re constantly looking for new dynamic and driving cues that grab attention and convey the necessary emotion for the project quickly and uniquely. Recent placements include Kesha’s Raising Hell for a fun party starting vibe with heart, Tate Mcrae’s You Broke Me First for an emotional frienemy tension build, and Vo Williams History In The Making for an equally empowering and epic get out the vote song. See below for some specific briefs we look for when creating music for promo needs:

Epic Promo-Friendly Hip Hop/Pop - Looking for big, fun, driving energetic tracks with hip hop/trap elements that can work for promos, show opens, or transitions. As current trends hip hop move towards dark, sparse, and mid-tempo production it becomes difficult for us to find fresh tracks with tons of energy. These can be dramatic, driving, and darker anthems or tracks that have a bit of playfulness to them. The latter should be driving and fun, able to play well over comedy.

Reference Songs:

Diplo, French Montana, Lil Pump, Zhavia Ward - “Welcome To The Party”
Bassnectar (ft. Ohana Bam and Lafa Taylor) - “Speakerbox”
Run The Jewels - “The Royal We”
grandson. - "Despicable"
Haviah Mighty - "Vamonos"
Party Favor & Dillon Francis - "Shut It Down"
Big Freedia – "Rent"
Diplo - "Worry No More (ft. Lil Yachty & Santigold)"
Joel Fletcher & Reece Low - "Turn Up (ft. Savage)"
Wiz Khalifa - “We Own It”

Keywords:
Epic
Driving
Energetic
Electronic elements
Tough/Badass
A la Fast & Furious soundtracks

Dark Pop - Dark and twisted take on current pop trends. Should feature modern pop production with minor inflections, chop and screw production, dark synths, or haunting sound design elements (nothing corny that would make you think of spooky cliches like Halloween). If using guitars, they should support pop melodies as opposed to rock.

Reference Songs:

Billie Eilish - “Bury A Friend”
Billie Eilish - “Therefore I Am”
Banks - “Gimme”
YUNGBLUD - “Die A Little”
Son Lux - “Easy”
Grandson - “Blood // Water”
Lorde – “Supercut (El-P Remix)”
Grimes – “We Appreciate Power”
MISSIO - “I Don’t Even Care About You”

Keywords:
Gritty
Edgy
Lo-fi vocals
Driving percussion
Layered vocalise
Haunting
Piano
Unique, but not distracting samples

Youthful, Emotional Synth Pop - Cues can range from minimal, mid-tempo 80s-inspired synth pop with lingering drones to upbeat electro pop without being too dancey, can fit within a range of light-hearted, tender moments

Reference Songs:

The Jonas Brothers - “I Believe”
Lauv - “I Like Me Better”
LANY - “Thick and Thin”
Stephen Puth - “Look Away”
John Mayer, Cautious Clay - “Swim Home”
Banners - “Someone To You”
American Authors - “Best Day Of My Life”
Jonas Blue - “Fast Car”

Keywords:
80s-inspired but still modern
Synths
Uplifting/Inspiring
Tender
Minimal
Youthful
Innocent
Gated Reverb
Nostalgia