Slumping CD sales and the increasing influence of iTunes over the music industry have taken a toll on the once reliable revenues of movie soundtracks -- and that’s left studios increasingly reluctant to release soundtracks to many films.
“While it’s still worth it for the right project, there are a lot of studios who aren’t even doing soundtrack deals anymore because they think it’s a waste of time,” Patricia Joseph, VP of Music Placement and Licensing for NYC-based Razor & Tie Entertainment, told TheWrap.
Joseph, whose company worked on the soundtracks for “Taken,” “Speed Racer,” Woody Allen’s “Whatever Works” and “Alvin & the Chipmunks,” said if “there are only a couple of songs that are licensed into the film and available on their own, the studios are starting to think that it just doesn’t make sense to the bottom line put a record out.”
Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” was full of classics such as AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” -- not to mention a celeb-packed satirical singalong featuring Bono, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Slash, Sting and Snoop Dogg -- yet Universal Pictures has not put out a soundtrack.
“Studios look at factors like the licensing fees, the production fees, the partnership deal they could strike with a label,” says one L.A. music producer who has worked on a number of big budget soundtracks, “and it just doesn’t seem worth it.”
Even some movies starring actual singing sensations don’t make it to CD.
“Beyoncé Knowles was one of the stars of 'Obsessed' and had a song in the movie,” notes the music producer, “but Sony never released a soundtrack.”
Not that you couldn’t get the tune if you liked it -- “Smash Into You,” the Beyoncé track featured in the film, had already been released on the deluxe version of the singer’s “I Am Sasha Fierce.” (Universal had no comment, and Sony did not return TheWrap's requests in time for this article.)
Not all soundtracks are tanking. “Hannah Montana: The Movie” went platinum in just two months, “Twilight” has sold 2.2 million copies since it hit the shelves in November 2008 and “Slumdog Millionaire” soared to number two on the Billboard albums chart after winning the Oscar.
But gone forever are the days of “The Bodyguard,” the best selling soundtrack of all time -- thanks to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” -- moving 17 million copies, “Top Gun” selling 9 million copies and the rootsy 8 million sales of “O Brother Where Art Thou.” (See accompanying story, "The Top 10 Soundtracks of All Time.")
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is the highest grossing film of 2009 so far, having generated over $380 million in box office and over $809 million worldwide since its release on June 24. In years past, the soundtrack for a blockbuster like that would be flying off the shelves. But even with a new song by the popular Linkin Park, “New Divide,” the album is all rusty parts, according to Chris Byerly, store manager of Amoeba Music on Sunset.
