Snubbed by Oscars, ‘See You Again,’ ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Win at Music Supervisor Awards

Melinda Newman
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Want to know the power of a well-placed music synch in a television show or movie? Just ask She Wants Revenge’s Justin Warfield.

At the sixth annual Guild Of Music Supervisors Awards at Los Angeles’ Ace Theater on Jan. 21, the rock band’s frontman credited the use of its 2006 track “Tear You Apart” in an episode of this season’s American Horror Story with getting the group back together. After the song aired in October, it soared into the Top 5 on iTunes and was re-added to the rotation at Los Angeles’ KROQ. Furthermore, the renewed success propelled the band, which had been on a break since 2012, to reform to play a 10th anniversary show at Hollywood’s Fonda Theater. The Feb. 17 concert sold out in 10 minutes and another show has been added.

More from Billboard

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Noms Announced, Honoring Walt Disney Music President Chris Montan

“Synchs can bring a band out of a hiatus,”said Warfield, who joined AHS music supervisor PJ Bloom to present an award. He called music supervisors “the first line of defense [who] put our music out into the world.”

The awards recognized outstanding music supervisors in 15 categories, representing movies, television, games, and trailers.

Other artists expressing their appreciation for synchs included Joe Walsh. Three days after Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey’s passing, Walsh was on hand to co-present the award for best use of music by a brand. Talking to Billboard before the ceremony, he declined to comment on Frey’s death. “I haven’t said anything because there are no words,” he said.

Double Grammy nominee Andra Day opened the show, performing a soaring version of “The Light That Never Fails” from the documentary Meru. Interscope’s BØRNS played “Electric Love,”a song used in a Hulu campaign and The Diary of a Teenage Girl composer Nate Heller and singer Reni Lane sang “Dream Song,” from the indie film. Meghan Trainor closed the two-hour show with a stripped-down version of “Better When I’m Dancing,” from The Peanuts Movie, as well as her smash hit “All About That Bass.” She joked that the latter was “brand new. I wrote it five hours ago,” but she wasn’t kidding when she thanked music supervisors for nominating “Dancing” for an award, calling music supervisors “the new radio.”

Will Smith to Join Jada Pinkett in Boycotting 2016 Oscars

Also presenting were Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell, American Idol season 14 winner Nick Fradiani, Mad Max composer and producer Junkie XL, and Rebel Wilson, who reminded the honorees how great it was just to be nominated. “I didn’t get nominated for an Oscar,” the Pitch Perfect star joked, “because they’re a bunch of racist c—ts.”

Chris Montan, president of Walt Disney Music, received the Guild’s first Legacy Award for his work on such movies as The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid and Frozen. Montan recalled how his first movie as head of music was Martin Scorsese’s The Color Of Money and he thought that would be what his job was like, until, he joked, he had to work on movies like Ernest Saves Christmas. But the pluses, such as watching Angela Lansbury nail her songs as Mrs Potts for Beauty and The Beast in one take, far outweighed the bad. “Every day, I get to go into the ring with some of the greatest composers, musicians and songwriters in the world,”he said.

The Guild of Music Supervisors Awards was attended by more than 200 members of the Guild, which was formed in 2007 with the goal of preserving and promoting the role of music supervisors.

The recipients of the Sixth Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards are:

1. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – FILM OVER 25 MILLION

Straight Outta Compton – Music Supervisor: Jojo Villanueva

2. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – FILM UNDER 25 MILLION

Carol – Music Supervisor: Randall Poster

3. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – FILM UNDER 5 MILLION

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl — Music Supervisor: Howard Paar

4. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – DOCUMENTARY

The Wrecking Crew – Music Supervisors – Julie Houlihan, Micki Stern, Suzanne Coffman

5. BEST SONG/RECORDING CREATED FOR A FILM

“See You Again” from Furious 7 (DJ Frank E, Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa and Andrew Cedar; Performed by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth) UNIVERSAL PICTURES

6. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – TELEVISION DRAMA

Narcos — Season 1 – Music Supervisor: Liza Richardson

7. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – TELEVISION MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Empire — Season 1 – Music Supervisor: Jen Ross & Dave Jordan

8. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – DOCUSERIES OR REALITY TELEVISION

The Voice — Season 8 – Music Supervision: Clyde Lieberman & Jill Meyers

9. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Bessie — Music Supervisors: Evyen Klean & Jennifer Reeve

10. BEST ORIGINAL SONG/RECORDING CREATED FOR TELEVISION

“You’re So Beautiful” by Jussie Smollet by Empire (FOX) –  Music Supervisors: Jen Ross & Dave Jordan

11. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION – TRAILERS                  

Steve Jobs (Trailer #2) – Maura Duvall Griffin, Ali Pistoresi – Motive

Suicide Squad (Comic Con First Look Trailer) – Bobby Gumm – Trailer Park

12. BEST MUSIC SUPERVISION IN A VIDEO GAME

Guitar Hero Live (Brandon Young & Katie Byam – Activision)

13. GUILD OF MUSIC SUPERVISORS LEGACY AWARD

Chris Montan

14. BEST USE OF MUSIC, BRAND

Apple

15. BEST USE OF MUSIC, MUSIC HOUSE/AGENCY

Able Baker

Oscars 2016
Oscars 2016

Best of Billboard