Trailer music (a subset of

production music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be music licensing, licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libra ...

) is the background music used for film previews, which is not always from the film's soundtrack. The purpose of this music is to complement, support and integrate the sales messaging of the mini-movie that is a film trailer. Because the score for a movie is usually composed after the film is finished (which is long after trailers are released), a trailer will incorporate music from other sources. Sometimes music from other successful films or hit songs is used as a subconscious tie-in method. Trailer music is known for its sound-design driven and hybrid orchestral style. Trailer music tracks can vary greatly in duration, depending on the theme and target of the album. Some albums contains only sound-effects instead of actual music. The music used in the trailer may be (or may have suggestive derivatives from): * Music from the score of other movies. Many films have tracked their trailers with music from other campaigns, such as '' Scream'' (6 times), ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart (writer), Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel ''Nothing Lasts Forever (Thorp novel), Nothing Lasts Forever'' by Roderick ...

'', ''

Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American Gothic film, gothic dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDowell (author), Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren based on a story by McDowell and Larry Wilson (sc ...

'' (12 times), ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

'' (7 times), '' MouseHunt'' (4 times), ''

Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...

'' (22 times), ''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue, based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, ...

'' (10 times), ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'' (11 times), ''

Requiem for a Dream ''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald, and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same ...

'' (5 times), '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'', '' Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story'' (13 times), ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American epic film, epic historical drama, historical war drama film directed and produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays Scottish warrior William Wallace in the First War of Scottish Independence against Edward I of Engl ...

'' (9 times), ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American gothic romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as the title ...

'' (7 times), '' Far and Away'' (6 times), ''

Waterworld ''WaterWorld'', also known as ''WaterWorld: A Live Sea War Spectacular'', is a stunt show attraction based on the 1995 film '' Waterworld'' found at Universal Studios Hollywood (1995), Universal Studios Japan (2001), Universal Studios Singap ...

'' (12 times), '' Come See the Paradise'' (27 times), '' Aliens'' (24 times), '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (18 times), ''

Backdraft A backdraft (North American English), backdraught (British English) or smoke explosion is the abrupt combustion, burning of superheated gases in a fire caused when oxygen rapidly enters a hot, oxygen-depleted environment; for example, when a windo ...

'' (15 times), '' Glory'' (14 times), ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American Prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. The film t ...

'' (14 times), '' The Fugitive'' (12 times), '' The Rocketeer'' (12 times), '' Rudy'' (12 times), '' Crimson Tide'' (11 times), ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...

'' (11 times), '' T2: Judgement Day'' (10 times) and ''

Drop Zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers and airborne forces, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land ...

'' (5 times). * Popular or well-known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric, or familiarity. * Classical music, such as

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

The Blue Danube "The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februar ...

(''

The Waterboy ''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy Ba ...

''), Mozart's Requiem (''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

''), Beethoven's 9th symphony (''

''), or ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...

'' ('' Glory''). * Specially composed film trailer music. One of the most famous Hollywood film trailer music composers, credited with creating the musical voice of contemporary trailers, is John Everett Beal, who began scoring trailers in the 1970s and, in the course of a thirty-year career, created original music for over 2,000 movie trailer projects, including 40 of the top-grossing films of all time, such as ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

'', ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'', ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'', ''

The Last Samurai ''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 American epic period action drama film directed and produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Tom Cruise, ...

'' and ''

''. He is considered by the New York Times as the pioneer of original scores for

film trailer A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

music, * Sound-design-focused and hybrid orchestral styles are typical of trailer music for films and games. Companies like BMG Production Music and composers like Inon Zur specialize in creating trailer music that can quickly captivate an audience. * Songs, which may imitate recognizable (but often expensive to license) songs. * "Library" music, which is previously composed production music. Trailer music library companies typically didn't offer their music to the public and developed and licensed music exclusively to the motion picture studios. {{cite news , last1=Mike , first1=Alex , title=Song Customization , url=https://soundraw.io/ , access-date=14 April 2024

Video Game Trailers

Developers often collaborate with composers or production companies to create original scores that reflect the game's atmosphere.

Notable Trailers Featuring Original Music

Official Launch Trailer , Mortal Kombat 11
by international DJ, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike together with 2WEI
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - E3 2016 Trailer
by Manaka Kataoka * Halo 3: "Finish the FIght" Trailer (2006) by

Martin O'Donnell Martin O'Donnell (born May 1, 1955) is an American composer, audio director, and sound designer best known for his work on video game developer Bungie's titles, such as the ''Myth'' series, ''Oni'', the ''Halo'' series, and ''Destiny''. O'Don ...

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , Gamescom Trailer

Ferocious - Gameplay Trailer (2024)
by DFAD * Kingdom Come: Deliverance – Cinematic Trailer (2017) by Inon Zur

* Cyberpunk 2077 – E3 2018 Trailer by Marcin Przybyłowicz * Final Fantasy VII Remake – E3 2015 Trailer by

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Joh ...

Mass Effect 3: Take Earth Back Cinematic Trailer (2012)
by Clint Mansell

References

Film advertising material *