Music Supervision and Its Enduring Legacy: The Guild of Music Supervisors’ State of Music in Media Conference 2025
- Sarah Scarlata
- Aug 21, 2025
- 4 min read
Music holds a unique power in media productions which shapes culture and creates a lasting imprint on storytelling. The popularity of artists is directly attributed to needle drop placements in productions, whether they are a breaking new artist like The Linda Lindas or a legacy artist like Kate Bush experiencing a career revival. Our understanding of the emotions of a story dramatically increases when it features our favorite songs.
The Guild of Music Supervisors’ 11th annual State of Music in Media conference was a celebration of the craft with an emphasis on education regarding the path music takes from its creation to being synchronized to picture. The day was filled with informative panels with the biggest names in music supervision speaking about their process and where we’re headed in the synch licensing field.
APM Music proudly sponsored this event which included some of our most sampled archival albums from our catalog up for grabs in the Vinyl Tent and an old-fashioned photo booth which snapped pictures of attendees. Some of the APM albums available in the tent included Drugs from Sonoton, compilations of our Italian classics from That’s Amore and Canopo Vintage, and Small Screen Classics and Crystal Harmonics from KPM.
The Guild’s Co-President, Heather Guibert, had this to say about the conference:
“It's a wonderful opportunity to bring people from all different aspects of the Film, TV, multimedia industries, along with the music industries, together to talk about the work that we're all doing ... to help uplift the craft, help educate about the craft, and really bring people together, in a really organic and wonderful way.”
Questlove was this year’s keynote speaker and offered a unique perspective based on his multi-faceted career in music. From his humble beginnings as the drummer in The Roots which blossomed into his role of Musical Director on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to his groundbreaking music documentaries like the Academy Award winning Summer of Soul, his influence in our industry is iconic. His conversation focused on the power music has in connecting generations and building legacy in visual media.
Music Supervisor and former Guild of Music Supervisor President Thomas Golubic had this impression of Questlove’s appearance:
“What he's doing right now is a gift to American culture, and I think that there's not many people that are in a position where they can build things that will really resonate with a lot of people in an exciting way, and I feel like everything he's doing right now is resonating. It's nice to be able to have a conversation with somebody who's having a really exciting moment and exciting a shift in his career.”
The conference included a wide variety of panel discussions featuring some of the brightest minds in music supervision, composition, and music clearance. There were four main categories of panels which included Music Business: Master the skill of synch deals, Craft of Music in Media: Where story meets sound, Career Advancement: Navigate the industry with intention, and Iconic Soundtracks: Honoring the legacy & the architects. The topics of discussion were engaging whether the attendees were seasoned professionals or looking for their first opportunity.
Some panel highlights included Music Licensing 101: Cleared for Sync, Behind the Music of Wicked, Beyond the Score: 2025 Emmy Nominated Composers, How Iconic is too Iconic?: Navigating Overexposure of Popular Music in Ads, The Most Memorable Songs Synced to Picture & Their Lasting Effect on Pop Culture, The Music of Big Mouth, and Iconic Soundtracks: Then and Now.
APM Music’s Senior Account Director Jim Cathcart participated in the Music Licensing 201: Live Mock Negotiation panel hosted by Linda Osher which included advanced real-life scenarios commonly encountered in music licensing. He said this on the importance of learning about the legal aspects of music licensing:
“IP rights and music rights in general can be tricky to navigate, especially if you don't know the ins and outs of what that process looks like - from the creative side of things to securing those rights for licensing uses in productions. So there are a lot of people who are green to it or new to it or think that they have all of their bases covered, but don't necessarily understand that there might be issues that arise at any point of that process.”
The last panel featured three titans of music supervision: Karyn Rachtman (Pulp Fiction, Boogie Nights, Clueless), Maureen Crowe (The Bodyguard, Wayne’s World, Chicago), and Bonnie Greenberg (My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Mask, The Best Man). The Iconic Soundtracks: Then and Now panel hosted by Anton Monsted, the Head of Music, Original Movies, at Amazon MGM Studios, gave insight into the challenges and successes of music supervising some of the most famous movie soundtracks of our generation. Crowe discussed getting permission from Freddie Mercury of Queen to remix "Bohemian Rhapsody"in surround sound so viewers would be more immersed in the car singing scene in Wayne’s World. These innovative details make music in visual media unforgettable and historic.
Having an annual gathering for these discussions is a valuable resource and creates deep comradery in the music industry. APM applauds everyone who participated and planned this amazing day of education and community.
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