The Future of Background Music: How Technology is Changing the Way We Listen and Create

Background Music

Background Music is an essential aspect of any audiovisual production, whether it be a film, television show, video game, or advertisement. It is the musical accompaniment that plays behind the main audio and visuals, providing a subtle layer of emotion, mood, and atmosphere that helps to enhance the overall viewing experience. In this article, we will explore the history and significance of music and its impact on modern media.

The concept of music can be traced back to the early days of cinema in the 1920s when silent films were accompanied by live piano or orchestra performances. The music played a critical role in filling the silent void and helped to convey emotions and create tension in the absence of dialogue. As technology progressed, film studios began to incorporate recorded music into their productions, leading to the development of the film score as we know it today.

The global Background Music Market brought in $1.35 billion. With a CAGR of 6.3% throughout the projected period, the background music market is anticipated to reach US$ 2.31 billion in value by 2026.

In the 1930s and 40s, the Golden Age of Hollywood, film scores became more complex and sophisticated, with composers like Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, and Alfred Newman pushing the boundaries of what was possible in terms of musical storytelling. They used music to heighten the drama, build tension, and create a sense of grandeur and spectacle. This era also saw the emergence of the leitmotif, a musical theme associated with a particular character or idea, which would later become a staple of film and television scoring.

The advent of television in the 1950s brought new challenges and opportunities for Background Music. With the rise of episodic programming, composers had to create music that could be reused and repurposed across multiple episodes, often on a tight budget and schedule. This led to the development of the cue library, a collection of pre-recorded musical cues that could be quickly and easily inserted into a scene to provide mood and atmosphere.

Stock Music, usually referred to as production music or library music, is available for licencing or authorization for usage by clients in television, cinema, and other media.

In the 1960s and 70s, popular music began to play a more significant role in television and film, with directors like Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese using rock and pop songs to create a counterpoint to the action on screen. This era also saw the emergence of the concept album, where music was created specifically for a particular film or television show, such as Pink Floyd's "The Wall" or the soundtrack to the TV series "Miami Vice."