Long Live The Movie Soundtrack

It’s no surprise to anyone these days is that album sales are down across the board.  Platinum records sales are decreasing each year and are usually exclusive to artists on major labels.  This is leaving both unsigned and indie musicians in a tight financial state.  Even the bigger indie acts can only make their money from extensive touring.  However, this is having a great effect on movie soundtracks.

I’ve spent the last six months or so writing for a music website.  A couple of weeks ago, I was looking over the website for the latest news when I discovered that the tracklisting for New Moon had been released.  However, instead of finding the expected listing of emo, Fall Out Boy wannabes, I discovered one of the best compilations of artist I’ve seen all year.  The soundtrack included new songs from The Killers, Thom Yorke, Death Cab For Cutie, and Ok Go.  Those were just the major players too.  Most of the soundtrack contained some of the hottest indie artists around, such as St. Vincent, Grizzly Bear, Band of Skulls, and Editors. 

I was completely shocked.  How could Twilight score such renowned acts? The answer was surprisingly simple.  Soundtracks are some of the best ways for musicians to make money nowadays.  They won’t make much from album sales and touring is only profitable in the long run.  Songs written for soundtracks guarantee a profit from the movie studios and the fact that they’re exclusive makes them more likely to be bought.  While the Internet will still make these tracks available for free, fans of the series are likely to buy it just in support of the movie.  It’ll help increase the artists’ fanbase as well as make a profit for the movie studio.  Everybody wins. 

Do you agree? Disagree? Post your comments below!