Music, Sound, and Media Interest Group
Mission
For much of the 20th century, "film music" and "Hollywood music" were virtually synonymous pejorative terms in the world of American art music and criticism. The scholarly study of Hollywood film sound—and the role of music and sound in media more broadly—still remains on the periphery of American musicological scholarship: many musicologists and film scholars alike have tended to focus on art and experimental film, rather than films and other modes of media more closely aligned with popular culture. As a result, from a scholarly perspective, music and sound in American film and media remains largely unexplored territory.
In recent years, a growing body of literature and theory has emerged around both Hollywood film sound and the role of sound in American media culture more broadly. The Music, Sound, and Media interest group is an organization of scholars whose research touches on sound in film and other media, including television, radio, video, and digital media. The group explores research issues and methodologies unique to the study of music within the context of film and other media, generating a dialogue with existing film theory, historiography, and trends in film studies. The group offers a space for scholars working in this subdiscipline to share new and important research in the field, as well as pedagogical challenges and methods that arise in dealing with film and media in the music classroom. It also serves as a hub in which to build a body of source studies and bibliography on music and sound in film and other media.
Film Music Resources
Music and the Moving Image Annual Conference
Music and the Moving Image Journal
Film Music Magazine - News, jobs, articles and reviews
Film Music Network - News and jobs
Film Music Society - Composers & songwriters, studios, research libraries, and other organizations
Film Score Monthly - Online magazine
Film Sound - A great film music bibliography
Soundtrack.Net - News, features, reviews, resources, and podcasts
Directory/Research
For questions and news related to the Music, Sound, and Media interest group, contact Mary Simonson.