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Guide to Film Score and Music Resources
The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with the best research sources and tools for film music and scores. For further assistance, contact Judith Downie, Humanities Librarian.
Books
Non-Book Sources
Internet Sources
Prize Winners

 

Books

Books frequently provide a large overview of the topic and often include useful bibliographies.

All you need to know about the music business
ML3790 .P35 1994 

American film music : major composers, techniques, trends, 1915-1990
ML2075 .D33 1990 

Lullabies of Hollywood : movie music and the movie musical, 1915-1992
ML2075 .F34 1993 

Music in film : soundtracks and synergy
ML102.M68 R43 2004 

Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood Film
ML2075 .K34 1992 

 

Non-Book

CSUSM Media Library has a wide variety of sound recordings, videos and DVDs with film scores. The best search is for a specific film title in the CSUSM catalog with a TITLE search, but you can also search by composer using the AUTHOR search (type last name, first name in the search box).

CSUSM Media Library has a some videos on the technical aspects of film making, including incorporating music into the film. A recommended SUBJECT HEADING search is Motion pictures -- Production and direction and then modify the search to location: VIDEO. If you search under GENRE/FORM for music, you will note two different listings for 'music video recordings' and 'music videos'. The 'recordings' will get you a mix of popular and informational films, where the 'videos' are performances of music.

To find articles in both the print and electronic journals, it is recommended to use CSUSM Research Databases RILM or Communication and Mass Media as places to start. 

The journal Popular Music addresses a variety of topics in music and performance. This title is available in the library's periodical stacks starting with vol. 10 (1991) and online to CSUSM users through the library catalog starting with vol 19 (2000.)

 

Internet Sources

ASCAP: How to Acquire Music for Films provides a Q&A format addressing the legal issues of using someone else's music in your work.

Film Music Magazine limits some material to subscribed members only, but job postings, technical and legal advisory columns, and current news are available for free.

Film Music Society is devoted to preservation of and research on film and television music.

 

Prize Winners
When you want to learn from examples of scores regarded as some of the best, check out these pages:

American Film Institute's 100 Years... provides access to PDF files of both the 250 nominated and the 25 winners for film scoring.

List of Movie Music Awards only provides lists for the Oscars and the Golden Globes, but does list the nominees who didn't win as well as the winners. 

Movie Music UK Awards Database lists not only British prizes, but both well-known and lesser-known American prize winners for film music.

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