bigbadjosh89 Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Please correct me if I'm wrong, and I apologize in advance if this is the case, but I have to know. Everyone knows that while John Williams does not forbid the arrangement of his music, it is extremely difficult to gain the rights to. However, is not the Cadets corps song "Cadillac of the Skies" by John Williams, from the movie 'Empire of the Sun?" Can anyone tell me why this is? Did they decide to pay a large amount of money (ridiculous amount) once so that they could play his song over and over, or does Williams have a soft spot for the Cadets, or what? I thought about this many times, and just decided to post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertrombone Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 It's a ##### to get rights to arrange his stuff. Randy Bass was able to swing the deal to arrange Star Wars b/c they both had a piece on Summon the Heroes, a disc of patriotic and Olympic type music in the 90's. And he was able to do Superman b/c of how well he did Star Wars. Both were custom arranged for our ensemble specifically. Kind of cool to have a piece written with your section in mind, ya know? Soloists were chosen by the player, not assigned by the instrumentation. Fun story. Superman was literally buried in some basement at USC film school, or some such. They had to dig it out and we copied it by hand (copier) to have a workable copy of the HAND-WRITTEN original! Randy then arranged using the copy. As far as I know, this arrangement has not been, nor will it ever be published. And to further give us a kick, ours was the first performance since the studio recordings! World Premiere performance, baby! Don't know about Empire of the Sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvs me sum mello! Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 One of the things I've never liked about Williams is his lack of contact-ability. His "website" is just a Sony music page. Most other major film composers have detailed websites and contact information. You want to do a Hans Zimmer piece? Send him an e-mail. Danny Elfman? Give him a call, his number is public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertrombone Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 One of the things I've never liked about Williams is his lack of contact-ability. His "website" is just a Sony music page. Most other major film composers have detailed websites and contact information. You want to do a Hans Zimmer piece? Send him an e-mail. Danny Elfman? Give him a call, his number is public. Think about it--John Williams is only the highest-paid composer in the history of the Universe (capitalized correctly, I believe). Danny Elfman, by comparison, did Batman Returns. Of course his number is published--he needs the business! Williams does only what he wants to, and at this stage of his career he is busy with all the remakes of Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Superman. But you're right--he's notoriously absent. Probably cuz everyone would be calling. You can get in touch with him if you really want. Just look at the information that I've given in certain posts and start making some phone calls. But if you don't have a contract and a check for a score for $10 million, don't expect him to pick up before the answering machine kicks in. One last thing, me thinks nobody said, "Dang, that's good music, but I hate the composer because I can't call him!" That first chord in Star Wars makes "un-contact-ability" just kind of melt away--especially when playing it! (nothing more than a major chord with a 1st trumpet up top) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerdurden Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Unless I'm mistaken, I think Jay Bocook is one of the few people who have permission to arrange Williams' tunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AQFlamDrag Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Regarding arranging rights and such, I have no clue. But Cadets also played "Far and Away" in 1995. (Also a Williams piece). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Who actually controls the rights to use these film scores--the composers or the studios who paid for them? (And who own copywrite of the films they're in.) I'd always thought the studios had sole ownership and controlled the rights but, judging by numerous comments I've read on the forum, it sounds like it's actually the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerdurden Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Who actually controls the rights to use these film scores--the composers or the studios who paid for them? (And who own copywrite of the films they're in.) I'd always thought the studios had sole ownership and controlled the rights but, judging by numerous comments I've read on the forum, it sounds like it's actually the latter. Each case is different. For a well established composer, usually they will have some or all of the share of the copyright or publishing rights. If you're a newbie, the studio or producer will usually end up owning the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Each case is different. For a well established composer, usually they will have some or all of the share of the copyright or publishing rights. If you're a newbie, the studio or producer will usually end up owning the music. Pretty good gig. Have your cake and eat it too. I heard that one of the reasons Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball were able to make Desilu into such a powerful production studio was the fact that they'd managed to set up a deal early on where they owned the negatives to I Love Lucy episodes. Which still get more syndicated play than a lot of new shows. Money in the bank. Again and again and again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoreyD Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Aww but would it be nice just to hear and see some Jurassic Park in the Drum Corps Idiom(SPELLING) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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