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Breaking Down the Roles: Music Editor

Dec 18
Music editors play a crucial role in enhancing the emotional impact of a film or TV show by helping to craft the soundtrack. Their contribution ranges from mood, atmosphere to even creating memorable theme tunes. They start working while the project is being edited, collaborating with the Director, Composer, and Music Supervisor to decide on the music’s purpose, style that fits the story, and mark the points in the project where music is required (spotting). They develop the temp score, which is used by the composer and film editor to achieve the right tempo with the cut. The music editor attends all recording sessions, works with a specialist music mixer, creates different mixes, lays down the tracks, and fits them exactly to the picture for the final mix. Music editors also act as a bridge between the sound and picture teams, ensuring a seamless integration of sound and music for the finished product.

The Music Editor ensures fair and timely distribution of royalties. They track all music used in a production via a cue-sheet. The cue-sheet lists all songs and music used in the production, and this responsibility may also fall on the Music Supervisor. The role of the Music Editor varies depending on the production, with some being involved from the start, while others are only responsible for the music record onward or just for final mix and cue sheets, or just the cue sheets.