The Art of Placing Music in Sports Content

During the first “Happy Hour” event of 2021 — titled “The Art of Placing Music in Sports Content” — we welcomed veteran music supervisor and DJ Justin “Commie” McMullen to discuss the ins and outs of selecting the perfect tracks for sports content. 

 

Happy Hour Guest: Justin “Commie” McMullen

One of the UK’s most experienced and esteemed music supervisors, Justin McMullen began his career as a producer and DJ, performing to crowds in some of Europe’s hottest nightclubs. 

Transitioning to behind the scenes, he joined the UK’s largest paid-television broadcaster in 2003 and served as a senior music supervisor for the better part of a decade. His main focus was placing music in sports and world-class events, including football, cricket, and rugby union. He is currently Director of Music at the Peter Gabriel-backed sync-licensing company Cuesongs.

The interview was conducted by Songtradr CXO, Victoria Wiltshire.

 

Entering the Music Industry

Early in the virtual sit-down, Commie explained that he’d been interested in music (as well as sports) since his teenage years – a point that other successful music industry professionals have touched upon in previous Happy Hour installments. 

“My first job was actually when I was 15,” said Commie. “My parents worked in sports, both of them in sports marketing and broadcast. They did a lot with the World Cup particularly, but also other major sporting events like the America’s Cup and Wimbledon. 

“After the event was finished, from a marketing point of view they always wanted to do a sort of wrap video, which was highlighting the sporting success of the tournament and also how well the brands did. 

“My mother, in particular, didn’t know an awful lot about music,” continued Commie, “so she would come to me. I must vouch I didn’t know an awful lot about music myself, but I would basically give her some ideas for those videos.” 

Besides providing Commie with an invaluable firsthand look at the process associated with choosing ideal songs for sports footage, the early gigs made clear the powerful impact that music and sports can have on viewers when combined. 

“I think there’s just something, when you watch music with sport – they’re both big emotional touchpoints. And put together they create something very powerful,” he said. 

Upon graduating from high school, the future Sky Senior Music Supervisor embarked on a gap year, including spending time in Australia, before completing a post-gap university stint in France. While abroad, he discovered his love for DJing, both due to his longstanding interest in music and because “you didn’t need to be a musical genius, yet you could make people dance and happy and work a crowd.” 

Upon returning to the UK, he honed his DJ skills while in university and again, like so many previous Happy Hour guests, scored a career-changing opportunity as a result of networking and initiative. 

“I was out one night, and we went to a club in my local town and a very famous DJ was playing in the club. And I just walked up to him at the end of the night and said, ‘That was great. Can I have a job, please?’

“Rather than calling ‘security,’ he actually said, ‘My brother runs a DJ agency. Why don’t you have a chat with him and see if he’s got anything available?’ Fortune favors the brave,” finished Commie. 

This opportunity initially led to small jobs, followed by opening sets, club residencies (as well as the creation of the DJ Commie moniker), a professional relationship with DJ Judge Jules (winner of DJ Mag’s “Best DJ in the World” award), and several successful music releases.

 

Pivoting From the Creative Side to a Behind-the-scenes Role

As an array of indie acts debuted (and fans’ listening preferences changed) in the new millennium, Commie pivoted into a behind-the-scenes role with Sky TV. Significantly, he signed on with the company – and set the stage for his many subsequent career successes – on the heels of a simple phone call, underscoring once more the substantial upside of having strong communication skills in the music industry. 

“I thought, I’ve got to get a day job. What do I enjoy doing? And I went, ‘Oh, I remember doing those montages for my mum.’ So I did exactly the same thing again; I phoned up Sky’s switchboard, then said, ‘Can I speak to the music department, please?’

“I said, ‘Hi, I’m a DJ, I know a lot about music, I love sport, I’ve done this a bit, can I have a job?’ 

And the guy said, ‘As it would happen, we’ve got someone going on maternity leave. Would you like to come in for an interview?’” 

With this interview (and a brief test of his musical knowledge) in the books, Commie was hired by the 30-year-old broadcasting company. And needless to say, his deep understanding of music’s creative side proved useful as he pinpointed suitable tracks for some of the UK’s most popular sporting events and content. 

 

Bringing Music and Sports Together

“For broadcast, certainly at Sky, there was a lot, because you have all the different sports, all the different types of programming,” Commie said when asked about the music that’s most commonly placed in sports. 

“Generally, the effort goes into the matches. … The matches or the promos for the matches. Or the big cut this summer, the big season launches.”

And though rock and electronic music are inherently suited for sports placements, Commie emphasized that he and other supervisors will select any music that fits the program at hand, regardless of genre. 

“It really can be anything,” stated Commie. “Sometimes something very slow and beautiful can work.” 

In spite of their clear-cut technical requirements for placements – “It just has to bang,” Commie said – sports producers are also less driven by a song’s popularity and artistic appeal. Consequently, placement opportunities are perhaps more readily available for stylistically well-matched indie artists than they are in film, television, and other forms of visual media. 

“I think sports producers are less driven by having the next big thing or being particularly clever or artistic. I think they want something that editorially sticks strongly,” he indicated. 

This point means that creators could only be one phone call or message away from a career-changing opportunity – not unlike those which McMullen took advantage of at the start of his DJ years and when beginning with Sky. 

“Make friends, go on LinkedIn and try to make friends with people who are producers on football shows,” said Commie. “I know of a few artists actually – and I won’t name them, because they’d kill me – but I know of a few artists who’ve kind of gone down that route. It can be done.” 

Professional results are far from guaranteed, but there’s no telling which doors a friendly message or quick phone call will unlock. 

Fans can catch the full Songtradr Happy Hour on YouTube.

 

Watch the full panel discussion:

 

 

Watch other Songtradr Happy Hour Sessions in full:

• Finding Your Virtual Audience
• The Power of Women in Music
• Making Music for Ads: The Do’s + Don’ts
• Music Placements that Break the Mold
• Creating Killer Artist Images
• Hip Hop Deconstructed with Murs
• Touring’s Out. Now What?
• Power Songwriting for Sync Placement
• Up Close and Personal with Hit Filmmaker Jon Turteltaub
• Pitching Yourself to the Industry
• Music for Gaming: What’s Working + What’s Ahead
• Balancing Branding with Artistry
• Music Through the Ages: Soundtrack or Catalyst for Change?
• How to Make Money with Your Music: Monetization Tips for Indie Artists
• Music Supervisor Roundtable: How the Music & Media Business Has Been Impacted by COVID-19 

 

The content of this post was written by Paul Resnikoff and Dylan Smith of Digital Music News, as a broader partnership with Songtradr.

 

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