Getting to Know 5 Alarm: Part 1 – EVELYN WONG, Music Director

We’re starting a series of blogs focusing in on the members of our incredible team here at 5 Alarm. First up, our Music Director, Producer and Director of Royalties, the inimitable Evelyn Wong.

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You know Ms. Wong as the lightning-fast music director who knows our catalog back to front, and always has spot-on suggestions for your brief on her curated playlists. But Evelyn has a really interesting backstory, as a young prodigy violinist and composer. She’s worked in many fields in the music industry including as a music supervisor. Everyone who knows Evelyn knows she has incredible taste in music – and often knows about emerging bands/artists before anyone else does. I asked her to compile her top 10 list for 2016, and interviewed her a bit. Scroll down and turn your speakers up…


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Gallant – Ology

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Anderson Paak – Malibu 

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BadBadNotGood – IV

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Yuna – Chapters

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Shura – Nothing’s Real

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Lapsley – Long Way Home

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Frank Ocean – Blonde

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Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil – Dois Amigos, Um Seculo de Musica: Multishow Live

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Wet – Don’t You

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James Blake – The Colour in Anything

CHRISTY: Evelyn, tell us a little bit about your background. You’re originally from North Carolina, toured the US and Asia as a violinist, and attended Duke University?

EVELYN: That pretty much sums it up! I was a classically trained violinist for many years, so that was my primary focus before college. I studied with Elaine Richey at the NC School of the Arts, and then spent the summers sort of rotating between a few festivals/schools including the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, the Meadowmount School of Music, and a couple tours with a Dallas-based Symphony Orchestra. I started out studying Music Composition at Duke before totally switching gears, only to eventually make my way back to music (albeit in a totally different capacity) after graduating. Since then I’ve worked as a coordinator, a music editor, Director of Licensing & Royalties, and now as a Music Director and  Producer at 5 Alarm!

CHRISTY: You also have experience as a music supervisor. What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on as a supervisor?

EVELYN: Some Girl(s) was a really fun project to work on.  It’s an adaptation of a Neil LaBute play, so the entire film is very character-driven. This gave us an opportunity to think more critically about the music, i.e. developing themes for each character and using it as a tool to underscore the rich complexities of the characters and the interactions between them.  That’s not something you always get to explore on a project, so I was stoked!

 

CHRISTY: You go to a lot of live music shows in Los Angeles. What’s your favorite venue, and your absolute favorite show you’ve seen there?

EVELYN: Woof, that’s tough but I gotta give it up to summers at the Bowl! For me personally, a good show is as much about the music as it is about the shared experience between friends and strangers. My friend Fabio came up with the brilliant idea to bring enough glow necklaces for the entire section, so it’s become a bit of a pre-show ritual of ours to pass them out. It’s so fun, and people really seem to love it. I mean, people literally and figuratively light up and suddenly you’re like sharing snacks and convulsively dancing to Basement Jaxx with 200 of your closest friends. Humans connecting, yay! I asked him once how he got the idea and he kinda shrugged his shoulders and said “who doesn’t like glow necklaces?” Truest statement I had heard in a long time.  Other than the Bowl, I’d maybe say the El Rey. I’ve had some really memorable experiences at the El Rey, like Femi Kuti, Lapsley, and most recently Bomba Estereo!

CHRISTY: Talk to me about your Top 10 list from 2016. How do you find out about your new favorite artists?

EVELYN: A few different ways, really! Sometimes my favorite artists come from stops along a deep rabbit-hole Soundcloud dive of favorite producers and what they’re into, or word of mouth between friends. Sometimes we have marathon listening sessions where we take turns playing new discoveries (to us).  We’re so lucky to live in such a culturally and artistically diverse city as LA, that sometimes all it takes is just keeping your ears and your mind open to new things. There’s so much out there, that it can be overwhelming sometimes. What a great problem to have though, right?  Lapsley, Gallant and Shura were all Soundcloud dives from a few years ago and I just totally dug their style and individuality. Their albums were finally released in 2016 so it was cool to kind of see the evolution of their sound and production value from beginning to finished product.  My Lyft driver actually turned me on to Anderson Paak! I was on my way home from the Gallant show, and we got to talking about music. We ended up sitting on my street for like 40 minutes – he played me some Anderson Paak and The Internet, and I played some Gallant and BadBadNotGood. It was awesome!

Thanks Evelyn!

Top 10 from 2016:

Gallant – Ology

Anderson Paak – Malibu

BadBadNotGood – IV

Yuna – Chapters

Shura – Nothing’s Real

Lapsley – Long Way Home

Frank Ocean – Blonde

Caetano Veloso and Gilbert Gil – Dois Amigos, Um Seculo de Musica: Multishow Live

Wet – Don’t You

James Blake – The Colour In Anything

Celebrating 10 Years and 100 Albums with Sonic Quiver

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This month, we’re celebrating a wonderful 10 years and 100 albums with one of our dear catalogs, Sonic Quiver.

Sonic Quiver is an American production music library based out of sunny Florida, USA. Founded in 2007 by Shana Lazarus, the library celebrates its 10th anniversary and 100th release in 2017. Over the last decade, the international team of producers and composers have been having a blast creating one of the most useful and vibrant production music libraries of its time.

Sonic Quiver has become known for its inspired, youthful energy, spanning a broad spectrum of genres, with cues specifically tailored for broadcast and film. Sonic Quiver offers a robust collection of trend-driven content from commercial producers, covering genres like indie, rock, punk, country and blues. The label also features sophisticated orchestral compositions for drama and film, including crime, thriller, epic, romance and action.

Sonic Quiver boasts a strong American identity with albums like ‘West Coast, Best Coast’; ’Country Trash’; ‘Deep Fried South’; ‘Bluegrass and Blues’ and ‘Aloha!’ and is your go-to library for those quirky, cheerful indie cues (‘Reasons to Smile’; ‘Sunshine Indie’ and the ‘Instant Happiness’ series), and their attitude to Rock ’n’ Roll is quite simple: “go big or go home” (‘Pedal Says Fuzz’, ‘Grinding Gears’, ‘Stoked’ and ‘Emo Rock’).

Sonic Quiver is the perfect blend of youth and heritage; offering high-quality orchestral cues from established and respected composers, coupled with on-the-pulse commercially influenced releases from world-class producers.

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LISTEN TO SONIC ROAD TRIP HERE

Sonic Quiver’s 100th album “Sonic Road Trip” takes you on a non-stop road trip of its first 99 releases with a 100-track compilation album ‘SONIC ROAD TRIP’. In the opening act we put on our boots and take a hitchhike tour through the USA: Surf & Garage Rock; Rockabilly, Country & Blues into Hard Rock, Punk & Indie. From there, we take a pit stop at the road house for a little quirky and carefree Folk and Acoustic.

Next up, we go on a world tour with some Reggae, Latin, European and all round beach and sunshine vibes. And the final act is Cinematic and Dramatic: Epic Trailer, Orchestral Drama, Action and Suspense and we bring you home with some contemporary uplifting, inspirational cues.

Sonic Quiver throughout the years…

“It’s been one heck of journey, and we’re just getting started.”

 

Happy Holidays – Thanks for a wonderful year in 2016!

It’s that time of year again – cloudy cool weather in Los Angeles, holiday decorations up everywhere you look, and Christmas music on the radio! We’ve had a banner year here at 5 Alarm – 2016 was full of great placements, fantastic awards and amazing new libraries that we now represent.

5 Alarm had placements in 30 feature films, from mega blockbusters (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) to awards-season contenders (Manchester By the Sea.) Our music was featured in almost 130 television shows, including Empire, Fear the Walking Dead, Halt and Catch Fire, Luke Cage, Mr. Robot, Quantico, The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, Veep, Vikings and Z: The Beginning of Everything. We also landed placements in 40 trailers for major feature films such as Moana, 10 Cloverfield Lane and Office Christmas Party.

At the Production Music Conference in the fall, we cleaned up at the Mark Awards, taking home 6 trophies – more than any other company! Some fantastic libraries we represent in France were the big stars of the night –  Best EDM Track (Parigo Music), Best Country Track (SuperPitch Music), Best Use in Underscore in TV Program (SuperPitch Music) and Best Use in a Full Length Theatrical Film (Pennybank Tunes). And here at 5 Alarm, our own in-house catalog took Best Rock Track and Best World Track. The PMC was an amazing event and we look forward to seeing everyone there again next year.

As part of our new relationship with ole, we began our representation of some fantastic catalogs. Beta Rhythm Farm, Boom Music, Camaleon, Clockwork Orange Music, CUE, Epic, Full Clip Music, Gourd Music, Hens Teeth Music, L’il G’Rilla Music, Nelvana, Music for Sport, Private Reserve, Scorebuzz Music Library, Spider Cues, The Pitch, Tread Music Library, Vibey Library, and Vibey Underscores are now repped by us in the United States. 4 Elements Music, Blue Dot, Brand X Music, BURN, Crush, Deep East Music, Flashpoint, Indie Production Music, L.A. Edition, Mediatracks, Music Outside the Box, Omni, PostHaste, Sonic Quiver, Spice Vocal Library, All Music and Super Pitch Music are now repped by us in Canada. It’s been such a joy getting to know the music and people behind these incredibly varied and useful catalogs!

We also debuted two new Premium Catalogs – Sync Stories and Tonic Music + Sound Design.

Sync Stories is the brainchild of Eric Vasquez, a visionary leader in the production music industry. Previous to SyncStories, Eric served as Chief Creative Officer for 411 Music Group and founded the organization in 2012, and before that, songwriter, composer and producer for various TV, Film and Advertisement productions including Undercover Boss, The Expendables 3, and Google to name but a few. His music career began at the young age of 15 as a drummer and promoter, which eventually led to an invitation to drum for legendary 80’s punk rock band, Dr.Know. Soon after, Eric hit the road for 8 years on tour itineraries that included the Dead Kennedys, NOFX, Bad Brains, Bad Religion and many iconic bands of the late 70’s and early 80’s punk rock movement. His new creative endeavor SyncStories is a “One-Stop” music licensing organization, artist repertoire and music publisher for TV, Film, Interactive Media and Commercial Artist Recordings. Their unique team of active A&R representatives, consisting of expert music producers, artists, DJ’s and tastemakers, provides quality, curated content to the audiovisual and recording community, while leveraging emerging and established artists in Indie, Pop, Urban and Electronic Dance Music. 5 Alarm now has 53 albums of music from these incredible indie cutting edge indie artists available for licensing.

Tonic Music + Sound Design comes to us from veteran composer and sound designer Kevin Teasley, and provides premium Music & Sound Design for Theatrical Trailers and Advertising. Prior to starting Tonic, Kevin was highly in-demand as a composer and the principal in the L.A. music company Distortion, which specialized in trailer music. He scored trailers for such movies as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Mummy 3, among many others. Kevin then began work as composer and sound designer of the hit Jennifer Lopez Las Vegas Residency Show “All I Have” at Planet Hollywood, as well as touring with recording artist Chris Brown. Some recent trailer credits for Tonic through 5 Alarm/ole include: The Accountant, The Great Wall, Arrival, War Dogs, Pete’s Dragon, The Girl on the Train, Stark Trek Beyond, Allied and The Conjuring 2.  We’re proud to represent the first three volumes of Kevin’s Trailer Toolkit with Drones and Atmospheres, Hits, Impacts and Sub Boomers, and Epic Cinematic Taiko Hits.

We hosted a mixer before the PMC to show off our beautiful new offices – thank you to ole for finding us such a great new space!

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Our conference room with large windows looking out on the city of Burbank!

Conference Room w PMC Awards

Note the MARK awards on the table!

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Studio Vibe

Check out our newly finished studio – where the magic happens!

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Waiting room of the new 5 Alarm Music offices

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On a more personal note, we celebrated when our Marketing Director/Operations Manager Danielle Malmlund became Danielle Saunders, marrying her longtime love in June. And our Music Director and In-House Composer, Christy Carew, welcomed another baby to her family in August. A year of great new beginnings for the 5 Alarm Family, and we are so looking forward to what 2017 will bring!

Thank you to all our clients and catalogs for contributing to our success in 2016. We wish everyone joyous holidays with all the blessings of the season.

5 Alarm Music Wins Big at the 2016 Mark Awards!

Mark Awards

5 Alarm Music is proud to take home a total of 6 Mark Awards at this year’s Mark Awards at the Production Music Conference for 2016. That’s more than any other company! This year’s accomplishments came out of France with the Best EDM Track (Parigo Music), Best Country Track (SuperPitch Music), Best Use in Underscore in TV Program (SuperPitch Music) and Best Use in a Full Length Theatrical Film (Pennybank Tunes)! The 5 Alarm Music catalog itself took home The Best Rock Track and Best World Track. Vive La France! Learn a bit more about these catalogs below.

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Parigo Music

The Parigo music library is a loveable collection of lively tracks perfect for driving the good times.  Parigo features French, English and Russian vocals with European flair and pizzazz!

Listen: http://www.5alarmmusicsource.com/#!label?l=11121&page=albums


 

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SuperPitch Music

SuperPitch is an independent Music House with a solid and edgy artistic direction by award-winning Kouz Production founders and directors Thomas & Grégoire Couzinier.

SuperPitch focuses on high-quality craft as well as a strong creative vision for each album, EP or Artist Series, and takes pride in being a clearly artist-driven and off-field record label. We provide solid directions and encourage cross-boundary compositions that lie between “commercial music” and “production music”. Because we are used to producing a vast array of original and bespoke music for commercial and feature films, we know what filmmakers, producers and art directors need way better than your usual lot. So far, we’ve produced cutting-edge pop, folk and electronic tracks but are already busy expanding our production to score and far-out musical cues!   In addition to the SuperPitch catalogue, feel free to check out our 2 new collection labels: SuperPitch Drama and SuperPitch Entertainment.

Listen: http://www.superpitch.co/


 

 

5 Alarm Music

5 Alarm Music

The 5 Alarm Music catalog demonstrates today’s most popular and growing styles, utilizing some of the best commercial bands, producers and composers in the film & television world. Many of our writers are Emmy & Grammy award winning writers. The 5 Alarm Music library is a modern, well-rounded collection performed with real instruments and features contemporary style-alikes in our popular “Off The Charts” series.

Listen: http://www.5alarmmusicsource.com/#!label?l=11081&page=albums


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Pennybank Tunes

Like a well stamped passport, Pennybank Tunes brings culture and sophistication to your speakers.  These collections of Parisian serenades, authentic motifs from the Far East, late night smoky jazz and romantic Classical themes are bound to sweep you off your feet.

Listen: http://www.5alarmmusicsource.com/#!label?l=11124&page=albums

Exciting New Developments for 2016!

It’s been a very busy six months at 5 Alarm Music! We were acquired by ole, the world’s fastest growing independent rights management company, moved offices from Pasadena to Burbank, and added a fantastic new team member.

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So who is ole? ole is one of the world’s foremost rights management companies with investments of over $500M in music intellectual property (IP). Founded in 2004, with operations in Toronto, Nashville, New York, Los Angeles and London, ole is engaged in IP acquisitions, creative development, and worldwide rights management. The ole catalog includes over 50,000 songs and 60,000 hours of TV and film music across all genres. Copyrights under ole’s control include songs recorded by artists such as the Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé, Blake Shelton, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, One Direction, Rihanna, Rush, Taylor Swift, and Timbaland.

ole controls substantial A/V music and secondary rights including catalogs from Sony Pictures Entertainment, MGM, Miramax, Nelvana, and Nu Image/Millennium, as well as an extensive production music library of over 750,000 tracks including Jingle Punks, 5 Alarm Music, MusicBox, Nelvana Production Music, Auracle, and Cue.

We’re all very excited to be a part of the ole family and the transition means we are also repping quite a few awesome new libraries, and handling all the new clients and relationships that come along with all of these quality catalogs.

Beta Rhythm Farm – Rhythmic Invention, Sound and Motion beyond the ordinary. Raw to refined.

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Boom Music – Boom Music is a diverse, contemporary catalog of highly useful, media-friendly styles from harmonic blues to the latest electro styles. All of BOOM’s music is passionately played, full of energy and recorded superbly.

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Camaleon – Popular Latin Artists drive this collection of reggaeton, hip hop, merengue and dance.

CdA Distribution (Camaleon)

Clockwork Orange Music – Characterized by compositions that are ideally suited for television programs, documentaries, commercials and other audiovisual productions. Beautiful, melodious music beds composed by composers who have earned their spurs.

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CUE – A collection of dramatic underscore and various popular genres.

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EPIC – By Survivor, Fear Factor, Pirate Master composer Russ Landau. Powerful orchestral music for winners, heroes, the terse, the nominated, the eliminated, cliffhangers, judgement day, tragedy and adventure.

Landau Music Group (EPIC)

Full Clip Music – Frankensteined hybrids spanning every genre of rock, hip hop, orchestral and electronic music that will instantly grab hold of your ears with their mismatched hands.

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Gourd Music – With various ensembles of guitar, cello, flute, oboe, harp, fiddle, hammered and mountain dulcimer, banjo, mandolin and more. Gourd Music creates texture and tone color. Part folk, part classical – and uniquely Gourd’s.

Gourd Music (gourd_music)

Hens Teeth Music – An underground library from Down Under, featuring uplifting slices of indie electro pop.

Hens Teeth Music (hens_teeth_music)

ICON – A new breed of trailer music combining the emotional sound of a live orchestra with modern recording and mixing techniques and contemporary instrumentation.

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L’il G’rilla Music – Kicking it old school with great contemporary live recordings of old soul style tracks with awesome horns.

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Music for Sport – Tailored for media by some of today’s top UK composers. Whether you are sports based or not, you will find this modern music library extremely useful.

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Nelvana – Nelvana Production Music offers you access to the orchestral drama, swinging jazz bands and hard to find niche music from calliope to spaghetti western.

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Private Reserve – A collection representing a cross section of genres, styles and moods.

Bergman Music (Private Reserve)

Scorebuzz Music Library – Scorebuzz Music is an original collection of film scores and contemporary tracks. We cover a wide range of musical styles and genres to fit any and all media needs.

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Spider Cues – Epic cinematic energy and high impact music for soundtracks, television and film.

Labrador (Spidercues)

The Pitch – A collection of songs perfect for your next corporate production or infomercial.

Scared American (The Pitch)

Tread Music Library – A distinctive catalog of genre-hopping rock and electronic hybrids from composer Troy Stoilkovski

Tread Music Library

Vibey Library – Real Ska/Reggae and eclectic Sixties Pop Punk from real bands recorded the old school way for new school production needs.

Vibey Library

Vibey Underscores – A new music library dedicated to Beds, Drones, Atmospheres and Underscores. Grouped in Musical Genres and Moods. If you’re looking for that subtle little rhythmic conga touch, thumbing underscore or atmospheric mood…we have it.

New Repped in CANADA

4 Elements Music – Built for today’s discerning and fast moving music users, the 4 Elements Music Library is packed with carefully selected, creative music to take projects to new heights.

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Blue Dot – The coolest new broadcast/netcast music on the planet. Designed exclusively for ultra fast commercial production, targeted to match your audience.

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Brand X Music  – Widely regarded as the premiere music library for motion picture and advertising.

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BURN – Loaded with energy. Rock, hip hop and dance tracks from the hottest producers packaged into broadcast-ready edits for grabbing attention and never letting go.

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Crush – A blistering new collection of high energy production music for sports and action. A rock-based explosion of pure adrenaline, Crush is perfect for sports highlights, hard-driving car commercials or any other situation that calls for maximum impact.

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Deep East Music – Based in Soho, London and set up by Ciaran McNeaney and Alex Marchant.

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Flashpoint – Global security or local trouble? FlashPoint is the soundtrack of real life drama.

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Indie Production Music – Using first-rate production with hints of retro, the Indie Production Music Library captures the elusive but unmistakable sound of independent film soundtracks.

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L.A. Edition – L.A. Edition is the editor’s choice for contemporary film and television production.

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Mediatracks – Established 15 years ago, Mediatracks Music Library is a UK independent music library, delivering the best in British contemporary themes and commercials.

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Music Outside the Box – The world’s most perception shattering, ear bending, paradigm shifting music tracks.

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Omni – An 8200-plus-track music resource packed with the highest quality music tracks in the styles most needed for any contemporary media production.

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Posthaste – PHM is a full service catalog for motion picture advertising that creates original music and scores for trailers, commercials, television and film.

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Sonic Quiver – Sonic Quiver is an electrified and vibrant mix of moods and styles. This collection has been designed with aesthetics in mind and offers music that is original and useful.

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Spice Vocal Libray – A collection of fresh and powerful songs from some of the best songwriters.

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As you can see, we’ve got a wide and varied range of fantastic new music to offer our clients, and lots of new clients to show our libraries off to. It’s definitely an exciting time for us!

Our new offices in Burbank are an amazing, fresh new space adjacent to Warner Brothers and many other Burbank landmarks. After 15 wonderful years in Old Town Pasadena, it was hard to part with our funky old digs, but we’re loving the new view from the 8th floor!

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All of us here at 5 Alarm is also very excited to welcome Lindsay Stella to our team as Account Executive. Originally from Simi Valley, CA, Lindsay has a background in music clearance and music supervision, having previously worked at EMG Inc and Full Pursuit. She also spent many years as a touring musician with well-regarded indie bands. She collects instruments (Lindsay plays piano, violin, bass and guitar!), loves to play softball and has hilarious stories behind some of her tattoos. Welcome, Lindsay!

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And that’s just a little sampling of what’s been going on in these parts for 2016. Lots of new exciting developments to write about in the weeks to come!

PMC, Big Dawg and Placements, Oh My!

Ah, it’s fall in Southern California – that means only a few more weeks of temperatures in the 90s! We hope everyone is enjoying bidding summer farewell as much as we are. TV season bustles on and we’ve got some exciting new developments to share!

The 5 Alarm Music team recently had the opportunity to attend the PMA’s Production Music Conference, held at the Director’s Guild of America, Los Angeles. This was a fascinating, fun and informative event with a full schedule of panels – all moderators and panelists were pulled from the ranks of the industry’s top composers, music supervisors, and production music professionals.

We learned a lot about how the industry is changing, especially with alternative income streams such as AdRev, and the rise of streaming channels such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu producing Emmy-worthy original content. The highlight of the conference was the 1st Annual Mark Awards, named in honor of the late Andy Mark, who was a library owner and founding member of the PMA. Two of the fantastic libraries we represent were nominated – 9 Lives Music for Best Ambient Track and Montmorency Records for Best Electronic Track. Happily, both tracks won the coveted Mark Awards trophy! 5 Alarm was nominated in two categories for Best Usage of Production Music as Theme Song in a TV program and Best Use of Production Music as Underscore in a TV program. While we didn’t take home trophies that night, it was a fantastic event and we look forward to many more gatherings of our friends in the industry.

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The view from our seats at the Mark Awards!

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5 Alarm team, (only missing two important members!)

Another exciting development has been the addition of a new urban library – Big Dawg Music. “Finally, something to clean out your eardrums! Big Dawg raises the bar for our standard in quality with a fresh new collection of modern songs and instrumentals. Big Dawg’s composers have worked with some of the most legendary artists in the industry such as RZA (Wu Tang Clan), KRS-One, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Busta Rhymes and G-Unit. Our collection of urban and pop songs will help any project stand out.”

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Big Dawg is starting its run with 4 amazing albums – Urban Mixtape, Chart Toppers Volume 1, Old School Urban and Symphonic Hip Hop.

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Bringing back the mixtape, Big Dawg’s collection of modern hip-hop and upbeat anthems takes you from the boroughs of New York to the hottest clubs in LA. 

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Fresh and cutting-edge, ‘Chart Toppers Vol. 1’ is a collection of distinctive songs and instrumentals that stand toe to toe with today’s platinum hits.

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Bringing you back to the streets of New York, ‘Old School Urban’ produces an authentic and reminiscent vibe to the signature boom bap sound and classic era.

 

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Taking a fresh and edgy approach, Big Dawg’s ‘Symphonic Hip Hop’ collides southern trap with orchestral elements. Fitting for everything from sports highlights to blockbuster action flicks, this album has what you need to keep the energy going.

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Last but not least, we’re riding high on some incredible placements so far in 2015. On television, you can hear us in a diverse range of programs from Hand of God to Mistresses to The Astronaut Wives Club. You’ve heard us in trailers for Batkid, Hitman: Agent 47 and Kung Fu Panda 3. National advertising campaigns include Coca-Cola, AT&T, Dow Chemical and Centrum Gummies as well as internet spots for McDonald’s and Enterprise.

Now that the seasons are changing and you’re putting on your boots and scarves, try on some new selections from any of our 72 high-quality music libraries and hear all the amazing music we have to offer. We’re always here to help and tailor the perfect search to your project at lightning speed.

Celebrating Milestones As We Approach TV Season

Weekends at the beach, exotic vacations and warm breezy nights – we’re certainly enjoying the dog days of summer here in beautiful Pasadena! As we sign new libraries and gear up for the 2015 TV season, our staff has been celebrating some fantastic milestones.

Our dear Danielle Malmlund, Marketing Director and Operations Manager, was recently on vacation in Tulum, Mexico – on the beach, under the stars and enjoying an adult beverage (or two.) To her surprise, her boyfriend of nine years had planned the moment perfectly and got down on one knee to propose! We’re so excited for Danielle and Jason, as they plan their wedding for June 2016. She’ll be a truly stunning bride!

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Beautiful Wedding Music

In other exciting news, our much beloved Evelyn Wong is changing roles here at 5 Alarm. For nine years, she has served as Licensing and Royalty Manager – she’ll now be Director of Licensing and Royalties, and is adding Music Director to her title! Evelyn is an incredibly talented violinist, composer and musician, performing as soloist with the North Carolina Winston-Salem Symphony at the tender age of 10. She toured the US and Asia with the acclaimed North American Elite Youth Orchestra, and is an alumna of the Meadowmount School of Music. Evelyn studied violin with Elaine Richey of the North Carolina School of the Arts, and Margaret Pardee of the Juilliard School of Music. She was also the concertmistress of the St. Paul’s School Chamber Orchestra, and winner of the St. Paul’s School Kaiser Competition in Music Composition. Evelyn attended Duke University, where she was the recipient of the 2000-2001 Mary Duke Biddle Music Composition Scholarship. She also has extensive experience in Music Licensing (Goal! The Dream Begins) and as a Music Supervisor, on such feature films as Some Girl(s) and the upcoming Mattresside. Other little known facts about Evelyn include that she has perfect pitch (an excellent party trick!) and a one-eyed rescue dog named Diego. Her knowledge of music is vast and varied, and along with a great sense of humor, she brings true professionalism and a deep understanding of clients’ needs to the table. She is the perfect person to join me as a Music Director and we all offer our congratulations!

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Evelyn’s Picks

We’re also incredibly happy and proud to have the talented Natalie Gilbert joining our team, as Music Licensing and Royalties Administrator. Natalie has a great deal of experience in the world of licensing, royalties and entertainment law. We love adding creative people to our team who have extensive backgrounds in the music industry, and Natalie certainly fits the bill. She’s a singer, songwriter, composer and producer, with fifteen years in broadcast radio as a host and voiceover talent, nine solo albums, and four singles! She loves vintage architecture, classic cars and is great at kickball. So should we ever form a 5 Alarm team to play in the minor leagues, we’re covered. Welcome, Natalie!

 

 

Let’s talk about new music and our fantastic new additions. Imagem Production Music UK have teamed up with London’s pioneering record label WotNot Music to bring you a contemporary catalogue of cutting-edge electronic music. The WotNot Music Library showcases producers fresh from the club scene, playing sell-out nights at well-known UK clubs as well as festivals such as Dimensions and Shambhala, to name but a few. With records out on a range of underground labels, their unique take on production music provides a refreshing spectrum of current sounds and innovative ideas, ripe for the picking. You can check out the 5 brand new releases from WotNot live on our search engine.

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Check out WotNot!

Additionally, we’ll be adding new libraries to our catalog in the fall – stay tuned for Big Dawg, Hibou Music and Tonic!

Here’s wishing you all a beautiful rest of the summer, and we’ll be checking back in as the seasons turn with more exciting updates. Don’t forget, we’re your Music Concierge, always here to help!

A Night Out With Made Up Music

Music comes from a vast and mysterious place with the biggest catalyst being inspiration.  In an age of TV ratings behemoths like The Voice or American Idol which focus on the singer alone, it’s rare to see people on a stage working together and making a sound that can only come from a collaborative creative energy.  On 5/13/15, the violin-driven rock sounds of The Waterboys tore the house down at The Fonda Theater in Hollywood with Made Up Music‘s very own Ralph Salmins manning the drums.

The Waterboys at The FondaThey played their hits that include Fisherman’s Blues and The Whole Of The Moon to a crowded house full of loyal fans who sang along to every lyric sang by powerhouse frontman Mike Scott.  The energy was infectious as the seasoned band (which also included bassist David Hood of The Swampers/Muscle Shoals fame) didn’t take any note for granted.

5 Alarm Music’s very own Danielle Malmlund and Sarah Scarlata were there to soak it all in with wide eyes.  Who said rock n’ roll is dead?

The Waterboys_Ralph, Sarah, Dani CROP

This same creative spirit can be found in Made Up Music’s diverse and comprehensive catalog, here are some highlights:

MUM171_01 La Tropicana

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MUM168_04 Too Good To Be True

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MUM137_07 Pressured

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MUM129_02 First Steps

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Support Songwriters

A lot of interesting decisions have recently been made in regards to songwriter royalty payouts. Please see the below articles for information on what’s been going on.

Pandora’s Payout Process

Google, Amazon and Pandora Join Forces To Fight Music Industry Over Royalty Rates

FCC Approves Pandora’s Complicated Plan

ASCAP Responds to Pandora Rate Court Decision

Pandora and the like, are determined to stand in the way of meaningful music licensing reform so that they may continue to shortchange songwriters. This is a wake up call for creators to stand together, get involved and fight for their right to be paid a fair market rate for the use of their works.

The End of an Era Indeed

The Music of Mad Men

mad-men-season-7

It’s the end of an era, indeed! The past 8 years have been a dramatic roller coaster ride through the lives of Dick Whitman (AKA Don Draper) and his ad agency cohorts in AMC’s hit series Mad Men. We will miss all of Roger’s witty one-liners, Peggy’s ladder climbing successes, Don’s inspirational boardroom pitches and the endless shots of whiskey with all of the regrettable decisions that tend to follow! Here is a playlist of 5 Alarm Music tracks that helped paint the musical landscape of the 60s and early 70s in the series:

Music of Mad Men