Music from the Movies

I got an email from a record producer recently – I’m not going to name him – asking about Music from the Movies.com. He made an interesting point in his email, remarking that the future of film music and indeed film music journalism surely cannot lie in the United States and the United States alone? Music from the Movies, which began life as a print magazine in 1992, went on to become a popular and oft-visited website for film music fans and industry names alike. As Web Editor and Chief Correspondent of the site, I was very proud of its status and the fact that it didn’t exist to make a profit. When the print magazine ceased production in 2006 it was a sad day; whether you realised it or not Music from the Movies was always produced by a small group of devoted people in the UK, along with Rudy Koppl and a few valued contributors in California. Nobody earned a single penny from their work and it was always a labour of love; the same went for the website – which subsequently went offline in March. The site’s disappearance was indeed unforeseen and as surprising to me as it was to anyone else.

I remember stumbling across a couple of messageboard threads in recent months, and noticed some bitter words about our magazine, and indeed its demise. I personally just wrote the words and kept the website updated and was never involved in any part of the ‘business’ end of Music from the Movies; but I do know that it wasn’t an easy decision. To carry on would have meant increasing the price of the magazine to a ridiculous level and any major revamp of the website would cost money that was never there in the first place. Nobody has come out of this with a pocketful of cash and I resent anybody thinking so; if anything certain members of the team are equally, if not more, out of pocket thanks to their own personal investment to keep the website alive.

That can be put behind us though and I hope to see a new future for Music from the Movies; it’s certainly not impossible – in fact it looks as if there may be life in the old dog yet... One thing is for sure though; you can guarantee that whatever it looks like on the surface, the same passion and devotion will go into its recreation and continued re-development. All I can say is watch this space…

As to the record producer’s comment about US-led film music journalism – I too agree that the art form shouldn’t forever be so LA-centric. There are plenty of people all around the world who not only make great film music, but also appreciate it, with passion and insight. You only have to look at the Spanish conventions in Ubeda, Madrid and on Tenerife, not to mention the online magazines still coming out of Germany and France. Hopefully Music from the Movies can return in the UK, with continued emphasis on the high-end work happening in the US and London, but also standing alongside our European friends and neighbours who love film music as much as we do.

Michael Beek
Web Editor/Chief Correspondent, Music from the Movies