12 Weeks
Level 4
3-Credit Tuition
$1,545Non-Credit Tuition
$1,290Building on the essential skills acquired from Music Supervision 1, students will continue to expand their fluency in music supervision by analyzing the use of music in montages, main titles, end credits, trailers, video game promos, and advertising. Students will also learn more advanced music editing techniques working with stems as well as mixing techniques to alter audio in order to make a more convincing live sound for source music usages.
The course contains exclusive interviews with award-winning music supervisors, sound and music editors, publishers, producers, engineers, and other music industry executives, including music supervisor Thomas Golubić (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Six Feet Under, Ray Donovan), composer Jeff Beal (Ugly Betty, House of Cards, Rome, Grand Hotel), trailer music supervisor Vanessa Jorge Perry (Sideways, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter), video game producers, music supervisors, editors, licensing experts, Emmy-winning showrunners, and award-winning soundtrack producers.
In addition, students will create and replace temp tracks, design and budget for a soundtrack, acquire effective negotiating techniques through live negotiations, and work on longer media forms while conforming to critical feedback. Students will review and create agreement templates for composers, songwriters, publishers, and master owners in a variety of licensing and buyout scenarios.
The final project will consist of music supervising a full-length TV show with commercials and will stress creative excellence and open communication between the production side and the creative side through a team-based approach. At the conclusion of the course, students will research opportunities in the field of music supervision for future employment and opportunities.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- effectively “spot” scenes and longer forms for music needs
- build and replace a “temp” track
- work effectively with your DAW to achieve desired audio results
- design and budget for a soundtrack/compilation release
- negotiate win-win outcomes while building and maintaining relationships
- communicate effectively with a variety of production stakeholders
- respond to critical feedback and adjust your work in a timely fashion
- work as a production team member
- customize composer, publisher, and master owner license agreements
- discover unique work opportunities for music supervisors
- get started as a music supervisor
Syllabus
Lesson 1: It’s Showtime!
- Choosing Pre-Existing or Custom Composed?
- Custom Composition
- Licensed Compositions
- Licensing and Clearance Services
- Television Theme Songs
- Television Dramas
- Television Sitcoms
- Say It Quickly!
- News, Sports, and Radio
- News Magazine and Interview Formats
- Sports
- Public Radio
- Animated Series (Children)
- Animated Series (Adult)
- Motion Pictures
- Iconic Opening Sequences and Their Influence
- Other Genres and Media Types of Interest
- Assignment 1: Adding Your Theme to Picture
Lesson 2: Get Your Edit On!
- Snippin’, Splicin’, and Slidin’!
- Snippin’ and Slidin’
- Copy/Paste—Remix—Repeat!
- Mixers, Effects, and Automation
- Inserts
- Bus
- Aux Tracks
- Preparing Multiple Song Options for Preview
- Sends
- Music Editor Chad Birmingham
- Defying Physics for the Sake of Story
- Music Editing Using Alternate Mixes
- What You Need Delivered for the Most Flexibility
- Sounds Easy—What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
- Music Editing Using Stems
- What You Need Delivered
- Stems in Practice
- Three Approaches to Working with Stems
- Assignment 2: Make a Mix for an Ad
Lesson 3: Featured Songs
- Montages
- End-of-Season/Series Montages
- Daytime Dramas (Soap Operas)
- Montages in Feature Films
- Television Promos, Teasers, and Trailers
- Video Game Cinematics
- Cinematic Composers
- Film Trailers
- Trailerize That Song!
- End Credits (Television Series)
- End Credits (Subscription Television)
- End Credits (Film)
- Assignment 3: Add a Song to the Mix
Lesson 4: Soundtracks
- Types of Soundtracks/Compilations
- Film Music: Songs and Score Soundtrack
- Television
- Video Games
- Compilations
- Unique Approaches to Soundtracks
- Who Ya Gonna Call? Rights Owners!
- Master Recordings
- Budgeting and Standard Practices for Licensing 1
- Demographics—Who is going to buy this?
- Assignment 4: Build a Soundtrack Compilation
Lesson 5: Licensing and Contracts
- Whose License Is This Anyway?
- Schedule A
- Most Favored Nations (MFN)
- Festival Rights
- Tiered Deals (Options)
- Step Deals
- Video Game Music
- Here Comes Spidey!
- Business Music Licensing
- Specialty Licenses
- Grand Rights
- Mechanical Licenses
- MTV Blanket Master/Sync License
- PRO Blanket Licenses
- Ephemeral Use
- Digital Disruption
- Micro Licensing
- Assignment 5: Pitch Music for Scenes
Lesson 6: Time to Negotiate!
- IBN—Interest-Based Negotiations
- Separate the People from the Problem
- Focus on Interests—Not Positions
- Create Options for Mutual Gains
- Define Your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)
- Define Objective Criteria
- The Negotiation Process
- Assertiveness and Qualities of an Effective Negotiator
- Assertive and Non-Assertive Actions and Outcomes
- Assertive Skills
- Types of Assertion
- The Effective Negotiator
- Honesty in Negotiations
- How much you got?
- Propose a Fee and Know Your Partner!
- Caught in the Middle
- Assignment 6: Negotiation
Lesson 7: Negotiation Part 2—Hardball, Ethics, Teams, and Gender
- Hardballing Tactics
- Distributive Bargaining
- Positions Taken during Negotiation
- Common Hardball Tactics
- Questionable Negotiating Tactics
- Ethical Reasoning
- Ethics in Music Supervision and Licensing and Clearance
- Think before You Act
- Multi-Party and Team Negotiating
- Negotiating Teams
- Detrimental and Beneficial Effects of Negotiating Teams
- Gender, Negotiation, and Music Supervision
- Assignment 7: More Negotiation
Lesson 8: Temp Music
- The Rise of Temp Music?
- Temp Score in Film
- Temp MX Editors
- Temp Music in Television
- Who Needs Score?
- Pass Me the Soap!
- When the Temp Music Shows That There Is No Need for Music
- Can I Get a Witness?
- Temp Music in Ads
- Case Study: Ed Sheeran and “Heinz Ketchup Please”
- Assignment 8: Analyze and Replace Temp Music
Lesson 9: Music in Advertising
- Hierarchy and Production Flow
- First Step: Communicate and Organize!
- Second Step: Mobilize!
- Third Step: Find Solutions!
- Fourth and Last Steps
- Demographics and Sonic Branding
- Sonic Branding and Experiential Usages
- Sonic Branding in Retail Establishments
- Songs that Sell
- Guilty by Association?
- Too Obvious?
- Mixed Message?
- Let’s Get It Covered
- It’s Not about the Money—Or Is It?
- Assignment 9: Analyze Ad Music
Lesson 10: Showtime! (Final Project)
- Communication, Setting Deadlines, Assigning Tasks and Deliverables
- Email, Texts, and Skype—Oh My!
- Deadlines, Feedback, and Revisions
- Final Project Team Assets and Overview
- Organizational Tools and Budgeting
- Maybe If They Can Just See It!
- Project Spreadsheet Content
- Spotting Notes
- Preparing for Problems
- File Naming Protocols
- Assignment 10: Music Libraries
Lesson 11: Revise, Update, and Educate!
- Interactions and Social Dynamics in Production
- Music Supervisors and Executive Producers (EPs)
- Music Supervisors and Music Editors
- Music Editors and Picture Editors
- Music Supervisors and Composers Are on the Same Team!
- Composer Contracts and Deals
- Composer Contracts (Exclusive/Buyout)
- Composer Agreement (Negotiated Terms)
- Composer Licensing Agreement (Spec Deals)
- Tips and Tricks for Music Editing and Mixing
- Score and Songs Happening at Once
- Stems and End Credits
- Unions
- Music Licensing and Unions
- Fi-core/Beck Status to the Rescue?
- Assignment 11: Song Selections for Scenes
Lesson 12: Final Project Submission/Get Started
- Doing It Live: On-Set Challenges
- It’s on the Page and in the Ear
- The Feedback Process
- Treatment and Delivery of Files
- Doing It Live: Mistakes (on Purpose) and All
- Dancing in the Dark
- Things That Go “Thump”
- Adding Effects to the Mix to Emulate Different Spaces
- Cue Sheet Review
- Cue Sheet Ingredients Overview
- Format, Resize, and It’s a Wrap!
- Changing States of Cue Sheet Needs
- Cue Sheet Prep and Protocols
- Music Supervision in Business Music
- Job Opportunities in Business Music
- Getting Started—Advice from the Trenches!
- Robert Townson, Evan Greenspan, and Vanessa Jorge Perry
- RC Cates, Peter Tolan, and Thomas Golubić
- Daniel Esmond, Paul Hatfield, and Ted Kocher
- Cindy Badell-Slaughter, Eric Polin, and Scott Hanau
- Chad Birmingham, Jeff Beal, and Evelyn Brown
- The Guild of Music Supervisors
- Assignment 12: Submit Scenes
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Music Supervision 1, or equivalent knowledge and experience is required. Completion of Music Business 101, Music Publishing 101, Music Licensing, Copyright Law, and Songwriting for Film and TV is recommended.
Students should be able to describe the basic concepts of copyright, licensing, publishing, and desktop production skills.
Textbook(s)
- Music Supervision: The Complete Guide to Selecting Music for Movies, TV, Games, & New Media (2nd Edition) by Ramsay Adams, David Hnatiuk and David Weiss (Schirmer Trade Books, 2017)
- Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury (Penguin Books, 2011)
Software
- Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Free options, such as GarageBand (Mac) or Cakewalk by BandLab (PC), are acceptable, however, a full-featured DAW, such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase Pro, Ableton Live (Suite or Standard), Reaper, Reason, or FL Studio (Producer or Signature Edition) is preferred.
- A program to capture in-browser audio, such as the Chrome Audio Capture extension (free)
- Basic video editing software, such as iMovie (Mac only), Shotcut (free), etc.
- Office suite, such as Microsoft Office, Google Drive (free), Apple iWork, Apache OpenOffice (free), etc.
Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Chats. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author
Brad Hatfield is a Boston-based Emmy award-winning composer, keyboardist, arranger, orchestrator, and award-winning educator. Writing and producing songs in a variety of genres, Brad's works have been heard internationally through repeated placements in film (Borat, Iron Man 2, Analyze This, The Break Up), and TV shows/promos (Friends, CSI, NCIS, Saturday Night Live, American Horror Story, The Sopranos, GLEE, The Good Wife), just to name a few. Brad served as co-composer for the FX series Rescue Me, and is currently composing for the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless, where he has annually received Emmy nominations in 2015 through 2019.
As a keyboardist, Brad has performed and recorded regularly with the Grammy nominated Boston Pops since 1990 under John Williams and Keith Lockhart. He has accompanied artists including James Taylor, Bono, Martina McBride, Patti Austin, Guster, Audra McDonald, and Kenny Loggins. The Boston Pops has commissioned Brad to orchestrate for a variety of artists including Demi Lovato, Darlene Love, Kristin Chenoweth, and Susan Tedeschi.
Brad has also toured internationally with jazz artists performing at major festivals (North Sea, Montreal, Perugia) and well-known venues (The Blue Note, Birdland, Ronnie Scott's). Brad appears on dozens of recordings ranging from Jazz to Americana, and was the featured piano soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River soundtrack.
Brad received the 2012 UPCEA "Best Online Course" award for his Berklee Online Music Supervision course, and also won the 2014 UPCEA "Excellence in Teaching" award for his work at Berklee Online as a facilitator of his Music Supervision and Songwriting for Film and TV courses. Brad holds a graduate degree in Management from Cambridge College. Read Less
Instructor
Fred Archambault is a Producer, Mixer, Songwriter, Musician and Engineer from Los Angeles, CA. He is best known for his work with Avenged Sevenfold lending his hand to production on their albums City Of Evil and Waking The Fallen. He has also worked with the likes of Atreyu, Deftones, Panic At The Disco. He currently is the Manager of Music Production for Warner Bros. Television in Burbank, CA.
At the 2015 Pensado Awards, Fred won two awards: Excellence In Live or Front Of House Sound and Outstanding Achievement in Sound for Visual Medium for Last Call with Carson Daly.
Fred is an active member of the National Recording Academy (NARAS) and served on regional and national committees for the Grammy Awards. Read Less
Instructor
Nikole Luebbe Sherman is a Music Supervisor based out of
Los Angeles, California. She started her career as an intern for
Alexandra Patsavas at Chop Shop Music Supervision where she assisted
on hit tv shows Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder.
She then worked as a Music Coordinator at the Heavy Hitters
Music Library where she worked in artist development, signing artists to
the catalogue and pitching songs for TV and Film. She is currently the
Music Manager at reality television production mecca Tinopolis USA,
where she is the Music Supervisor of Top Chef (Bravo), Welcome to
Plathville (TLC), Sugar Rush (Netflix), Top Chef Jr (Universal Kids) and
Cat Vrs Dog (Discovery).
Nikole studied Music Business and Voice at Berklee College of
Music where she received her Bachelor of Music Degree. With years
of experience in music for TV and FILM she is able to choose, clear and
license the perfect music for any project. Her close relationships with
Composers, Songwriters, Bands, Sound Designers/Editors and Film Music
Catalogs as well as her extensive knowledge of Music Theory and History
allow her to match the best artists, songs and people to the best
projects.
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Music Supervision 2 can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Related Degree Majors
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
