I have some time this weekend (Seattle snow ) and thought I'd put together something. The Jonsi a las are on the longer side. What would the typical length of a song be for a film trailer? Any thoughts on this one? Much appreciated...

Seth

Good question. I've been waiting to see a response from someone experienced with these. I submitted a full song but the last half that I think would survive the cut if any of it. ("Love Life"). I'm guessing trailers are about 1 minute but we need an expert answer.

I did get this comment from a screener on a recent return to an ad listing - not a trailer.
"Hello Judy,
When pitching for commercial advertising it is important to keep in mind that in most cases you have to have a singular (marketable) concept that repeats. Usually some kind of catch phrase that will help to market a product. This message must be expressed quickly and simply as most ad spots last about 30 seconds. Watch some commercials on television and check out the placement of the select words being expressed in the music. The melodies have to stay out of the way of the voice over dialogue."

I don't know if any of that applies to trailers - Somebody help us out here.

Sorry I didn't post earlier. Once I got the response, I was in the studio for 2 days straight.

I wrote taxi with my length question and got this response:

I hear you... The referenced artists tracks are a bit lengthy. Its safe to
say keep the intros short as to gain their attention, but yeah, 3 to 4
minutes or an (average song length) should work just fine.


I submitted a full length tune. I ended up working down to the wire on this one.

I bet the bar is super high on this so I'm not holding my breath, but I sure love how a listing can get me off my ass to write/record a cool song in 2 days.

Nice to meet you by the way...the songs on your Taxi page are K I L L E R.

Seth

A theatrical trailer is typically 2mins and no longer than 2:30. Tracks written specifically for trailers are anywhere from 0:45-3:00, but typically in the 1:30-2:30 range.

If you want to work in trailers, study them and how the music is used. Also study music specifically written for trailers.

Thanks Seth, both for the info and the compliment on the family's music. I'm the non-musician mom type who hangs out at Taxi, and demands more songs! more songs! from my kids.

So I'm betting they'll kill my submission before it gets to the chorus because the intro is too long. Ah well, it's all in the learning curve.

Nice meeting you.