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I used to subscribe to Soundtrack from around 1993 - 1995. I also ordered quite a few back issues, so I have several magazines from between 88 and 95. In december 1995 I decided to discontinue my subscribtion, as I got increasingly frustrated with the old men on the cover. I had no interest in reading about Herrmann, Rozsa, Steiner and those guys, I hoped for interviews with the new generation of composers from the 80s and 90s, and in that regard Soundtrack clearly losed out to Film Score Monthly which took over from the mid 90s as my film music source.
That said, Soundtrack had several interesting articles up through the years, including some early interviews with Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Gary Chang and Alan Silvestri.
What are your favorite Soundtrack Magazine features or articles?
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Posted: |
Apr 19, 2017 - 9:51 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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The first soundtrack magazine I subscribed to was Film Score Monthly. I had first noticed their 'ad' on, I think, filmmusic.com around 1994 or thereabouts. I sent some dollars for subscription to Lukas in the ol' snail mail, and got my first issue -- the one with TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3. I subscribed all the way to their final issue (which incidentally featured my own Elfman buyer's guide), and stuck around for a couple of online issues before I cancelled. I have since acquired ALL issues prior to my subscription -- back to the very first one-page newletter sent to 11 people in the world -- making it a complete FSM magazine collection.
I've also been sent a number of other magazines over the years, although these are nowhere near complete collections. These include Soundtrack!, Music from the Movies, Legend, Cinemascore, The Cue Sheet, Pro Musica Sana, Film Music Notebook, The Hollywood Reporter - Film and TV Music Issue, Reel Music Magazine, The Journal of Film Music and others.
I've got quite a collection of these ol' magazines.
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Posted: |
Apr 19, 2017 - 10:33 AM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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SOUNDTRACK began as SCN or SOUNDTRACK COLLECTOR'S NEWSLETTER and when I began with them they were IT. A whole magazine dedicated to all film composers, the other available mags then were indeed more like newsletters. And as much as I admired how Lucas upgraded his into a world class magazine that all others emulated, it was SCN that was first and international. FSM stayed close to American composers (or those who moved here) and pretty much ignored the rest of the world. SCN had both interviews and discographies from American, British, Italian, French, Spanish and even Japanese composers! They had this worldview that I had admired till the end. Thanks Luc Van de Ven!
Also special mention to the John Barry based MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES, Goldsmith inspired LEGEND, Morricone's MSV, Rozsa's PRO MUSICA SANA, Film Society's THE CUE SHEET and the ton of other more short-lived mags that flourished over the years.
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The ones about Herrmann, Rozsa, Steiner and those guys.
Nice one!
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Soundtrack and CinemaScore were invaluable resources, and happily coincided with one the greatest eras ever for film music -- the late 70s and 80s. Every issue of Soundtrack boasted an interview with a major composer -- people like North, Sarde, Jarre, Scott, Delerue, Kamen, et all. They even persuaded Jerry Goldsmith to sit down for a chat a couple of times (something he would later balk at doing).
CinemaScore was somewhat sporadic in its appearances, but made up for that with its extensive and exhaustive coverage. The late David Kraft (brother of Richard) provided CinemaScore with wonderful reports of scoring sessions (David Kraft also worked in TV news, so his coverage was polished and professional and well above the standard of most "fanzines"), while David Stoner offered detailed coverage of the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome session. (Occasionally there would be embarrassingly bad articles tho, such as the one written by my teenage self comparing the two Legend scores!  )
Many of the people who wrote for both publications would later figure prominently in the film music business -- Richard Kraft, James Fitzpatrick, David Stoner, Daniel Schweiger, etc.
I used to write reviews for CinemaScore and Soundtrack, and later contributed a few interviews to ST (conducted with my mate Darren Cavanagh, with whom I interviewed Poledouris, Broughton, Conti, etc.). I also wrote for the Goldsmith Society's "Legend" magazine (for which I interviewed John Corigliano).
Soundtrack and CinemaScore would eventually merge, but in the 90s Film Score Monthly was staring to take over, thanks to Lukas Kendall's connections to the scoring scene in Hollywood (and his eventual move to LA). Concurrently, Music From The Movies (which I also wrote for) in the UK was on hand to cover scoring sessions in London and the film scoring scene in that country as well as Europe.
I'm very grateful those magazines were on hand to document what proved to be a magnificent wave of inspiration (and creative freedom) in the medium. Sadly there isn't much of interest to write about today, in this age of micromanaged mock-ups and temp track pastiches.
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Posted: |
Apr 19, 2017 - 11:39 AM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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I, too, collected many copies of this (quarterly?) publication both by subscription and availability of back issues. I also subscribed to a few issues of composer dedicated publications such as those for John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith (the former did not last beyond a few issues).
Amusingly, when I purchased a back-issue lot (maybe a dozen issues) the package was opened by UK border authorities ... back in the 1980s they were probably checking what I was buying from the Netherlands ... I smile when I think of the expression on the officer's face wondering what in earth these books were about 
But I'm afraid that despite my love of this music my available funds were restricted and in those pre-internet days it was difficult to garner interest in the names of many composers and/or films which meant nothing to me ...
... and cut-backs in spending due to a young family meant I let such subscriptions lapse.
But if I could ask, Paul, you state:
... (conducted with my mate Darren Cavanagh, ...
I corresponded for several years with Darren in the 1980s ... we met once, very briefly, at a trade fair in Manchester at which he bought a few vinyl LPs off me (incl. the very rare Sebastian). He was forever buying new scores - I couldn't keep up with his purchases!
Ironically, as a hoarder, it is only recently I went through and disposed of numerous letters (and lists of new purchases) of his wondering what has happened to this young correspondent. For such an ardent film music fan I expect to see his name on a soundtrack forum somewhere, hoping that he prefers anonymity, rather than my fear that he may no longer be with us.
Or has he merely moved over to the dark side and left OSTs in his past?
Mitch.
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Posted: |
Apr 19, 2017 - 5:32 PM
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By: |
Jim Doherty
(Member)
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I started out with the publications from The Max Steiner Music Society, Elmer Bernstein Filmmusic Notebook, and The Miklos Rozsa Society's Pro Musica Sana. Then I subscribed to most of the major hitters: Soundtrack Collectors' Newsletter (later Soundtrack! The Collectors' Quarterly, and still later, simply Soundtrack), Randall Larson's Cinemascore (which I LOVED), and, of course, FSM. I also really liked The Soundtrack Collector, put out in the mid-90s by Phil Nohl. It did not run articles on/interviews with composers, but it DID feature TONS of pictures of rare album covers accompanied by in-depth notes about the LP. I also liked The Cue Sheet from The Society for the Preservation of Film Music. I had a few issues of the British publication Music for the Movies. Looking back, we had a pretty large selection of publications to choose from over the years. It was so exciting to get any of these in the mail. Please remember that back in the days before the internet, this was one of the only ways to get information about your favorite composers or any planned soundtrack releases.
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Posted: |
Apr 19, 2017 - 8:29 PM
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By: |
PFK
(Member)
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I started out with the publications from The Max Steiner Music Society, Elmer Bernstein Filmmusic Notebook, and The Miklos Rozsa Society's Pro Musica Sana. Then I subscribed to most of the major hitters: Soundtrack Collectors' Newsletter (later Soundtrack! The Collectors' Quarterly, and still later, simply Soundtrack), Randall Larson's Cinemascore (which I LOVED), and, of course, FSM. I also really liked The Soundtrack Collector, put out in the mid-90s by Phil Nohl. It did not run articles on/interviews with composers, but it DID feature TONS of pictures of rare album covers accompanied by in-depth notes about the LP. I also liked The Cue Sheet from The Society for the Preservation of Film Music. I had a few issues of the British publication Music for the Movies. Looking back, we had a pretty large selection of publications to choose from over the years. It was so exciting to get any of these in the mail. Please remember that back in the days before the internet, this was one of the only ways to get information about your favorite composers or any planned soundtrack releases.
My history with the film music magazines in like yours Jim. I first wrote Albert K. Bender in 1970 and joined the Max Steiner Music Society. I too then subscribed to other film music magazines and newsletters as they came out. Al Bender passed away last year at 94! I visited Al in 1973 at his home in Los Angeles. He's on Wikipedia.
Do you remember Sandy Smith? Back in the 70s he issued a newsletter called Soundtrack Collectors of New England. He lived in New Hampshire and has passed away.
Up until the late 90s these paper newsletters and magazines were the only way to keep updated in the world of film music.
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While I bought FSM on the newsstand and then started subscribing in its last print years, I never found Soundtrack on newsstands and wasn't enticed enough by the CD ads I saw (on Prometheus releases?) to subscribe. I guess I needed to have an easier way to buy a single copy. My loss.
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