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BMG Production Music has named Dan Pounder (pictured at right) to co-head alongside EVP and global managing director John Clifford. Pounder will head finance, operations and systems for the Berlin-based company which specializes in pre-cleared and custom production music services servicing content creators across broadcast, films, trailers, games and advertising. 

For four years, Josh Wakely has been prepping a television project that many writers would kill to work on. Now the TV and music-video vet has one of the industry’s foremost producers backing him.

Kobalt has announced the promotions of Julie Hurwitz (pictured at center) and Rob Christensen (left) to co-heads of synch and brand partnerships. The two will oversee Kobalt Publishing’s global synch team — Christensen will lead the West Coast, Asia and Australia/New Zealand teams and Hurwitz will oversee the East Coast, European and LATAM teams.

Composer, songwriter and Oscar winner Alan Menken will be honored with the Max Steiner Award, presented by Hollywood In Vienna on Oct. 3. Over an illustrious career that spans over 40 years, he is the musical mastermind behind such beloved classics as “Under the Sea,” “Be Our Guest,” “Seize the Day” and “A Whole New World.”

Director X may not be a household name, but he is a legend of filmmaking. The Toronto native is responsible for some of music’s most iconic music videos, from DMX’s “What’s My Name?” and 112’s “Peaches and Cream” to Drake and Future’s “Life Is Good” in 2020. Over three decades, the visual artist whose real name is Julien Christian Lutz continues to elevate the bar.

David Buckley will score the movie “Unhinged” starring Russell Crowe. Directed by Derrick Borte and written by Carl Ellsworth, the Solstice Studios psychological thriller rooted in a story of road rage is the company’s first theatrical release and is slated to open on Sept. 4. It is currently in post-production.

Ilan Eshkeri has been tapped to score the BBC Earth docuseries “Perfect Planet.” Eshkeri, who has previously composed scores for “Still Alice” and “Young Victoria,” joins the ranks of Hans Zimmer and Steven Price who previously worked on “Planet Earth II” and “Our Planet,” respectively.

There’s nothing like being honored for your 52nd Oscar nomination on your 88th birthday and finding yourself serenaded by 350 of the town’s top composers and songwriters. But that was Saturday afternoon for composer John Williams at the Society of Composers & Lyricists’ annual Oscar music reception, which was attended by nearly all of the original-score and original-song nominees on the day before the Academy Awards ceremony.

The 10th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards were held at the The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles on Thursday night (Feb. 6). Winners in the film categories included Mary Ramos for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” Kier Lehman for “Queen & Slim” and Terri D’Ambrosio for “The Last Black Man In San Francisco.”

Hulu’s updated version of the 2000 John Cusack-led, Stephen Frears-helmed, Nick Hornby-authored classic “High Fidelity” is the type of show that can — unironically — play the perfect song for every moment. And the team brought in to oversee that very delicate process was Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe and Alison Rosenfeld.

In the ten years since the Guild of Music Supervisors was formed, the organization has come a long way. Granted, the job still involves low pay, long hours and little respect, but at least the craft has been validated with Grammy and Emmy categories introduced by the Recording Academy and the Television Academy, respectively.

There’s no “we” in “I’m Still Standing,” but maybe there should be: The Elton John/Bernie Taupin songwriting collaboration is still on its feet after 53 years, which, in fickle, friendship-dismantling pop years, is about a millennium.

Gender parity isn’t an issue in Oscar-winning songwriting-composer Kristen Anderson-Lopez’s house, what with her longstanding collaboration with husband Bobby Lopez, but at the Oscars luncheon on Monday, it was a different story. “There were 13 female directors represented in the shorts and documentary fields,” Anderson-Lopez notes, adding, “but how do we get from there to best director having gender parity?”

Discovery Networks, which last month unveiled a new business model that would have all but assured series composers a drastic income drop, has scuttled that plan in response to outrage expressed by the media music community.

A woman will be conducting at the Oscars for the first time on Sunday, Feb. 9, the Academy announced today.

When “Curb Your Enthusiasm” returns for its much-anticipated 10th season it does so with it a musical theme that’s a prime example of recognizable sonic branding and has become synonymous with comedy in our complicated times: “Frolic” by composer Luciano Michelini.

Universal Music Group Nashville knows a thing or two about timing: The country label group waited just a few hours after the Chrissy Metz-sung “I’m Standing With You” was nominated for an Oscar to announce that they’d signed the “This Is Us” star to a record deal.

“Joker” composer Hildur Guðnadóttir became only the fifth woman in Oscar history to be nominated in the original score categories during Thursday’s nominations announcement.

Underscore? Try overscore. The co-star of “Uncut Gems” is undoubtedly the film’s music. The result of a second collaboration between composer Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, and director Josh Safdie, the cosmically synthesized score blends multiple Moog tones for a sonic identity to accompany Adam Sandler’s role as Manny.

Nominees for the 2020 Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS) Awards were announced today. The annual event is scheduled for Feb. 6 at the Wiltern Theater and coincides with the tenth anniversary of the GMS.

Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir continued her winning streak, claiming top honors for both her “Joker” and “Chernobyl” scores at Tuesday night’s inaugural awards of the Society of Composers & Lyricists at Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center.