Extreme Music
{{short description|British music production company}}
{{Other uses|Extreme music (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Extreme Music
| logo = File:Extreme_Music_Logo.jpg
| logo_size =
| logo_caption =
| image =
| image_caption =
| former_name =
| type = Subsidiary
| industry = Music production
| genre =
| fate =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| founded = {{start date and age|1997}}
| founders = {{hlist|Russell Emanuel|Dolphin Taylor }}
| defunct =
| hq_location = London, England
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country =
| num_locations =
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people =
| products =
| brands =
| production =
| services =
| owner =
| num_employees = 82
| parent = Viacom (2005; 2005–2008)
Sony Music Publishing (2008–present)
| divisions =
| subsid =
| website = {{url|extrememusic.com}}
}}
Extreme Music is a production music arm of Sony Music Publishing. The company creates and licenses music for use in television, film, advertising, and online media. Their library includes music from artists and composers such as Quincy Jones, Hans Zimmer, George Martin, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Junkie XL, Labrinth, Ramin Djawadi, Timbaland, Ricky Reed, Brian Tyler, Blues Saraceno, Rodney Jerkins, Eddie Kramer, John Debney, Two Steps from Hell and Dweezil Zappa. Extreme Music is headquartered in London, with its creative operations based in Santa Monica, California.{{cite news|last1=Gray|first1=Tyler|title=Can Hans Zimmer Make Reality TV Music Suck Less?|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3015529/generation-flux/can-hans-zimmer-make-reality-tv-suck-less|access-date=5 July 2016|work=Fast Company|date=August 9, 2013}}{{cite magazine|last1=Aswad|first1=Jem|title=Russell Emmanuel: Taking It To Extremes|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1083037/russell-emmanuel-taking-it-to-extremes|access-date=5 July 2016|magazine=Billboard|date=November 19, 2012}}{{cite news|last1=Matthews|first1=Christopher M.|title=When Things Get Real on TV, Music Pays Real Well|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hot-gig-in-hollywood-composing-background-music-for-the-bachelorette-1438036366|access-date=18 July 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|date=July 28, 2015}}
History
Extreme Music was founded in London by Russell Emanuel and Dolph Taylor in 1997. Emanuel had played bass with a punk band, Class Ties, and worked a day job as a studio assistant at MCA Music Publishing and Abbey Road Studios. After leaving MCA, Emanuel worked at Bruton, a production music library which produced sound-alike music that was recorded, produced, and licensed inexpensively. He recorded one sound-alike album for Bruton, and financed his band’s touring through the royalties the album generated.
Emanuel also managed bands, including Stiff Little Fingers. After beginning a job at a third production library, MatchMusic, Emanuel and Stiff Little Fingers drummer Dolph Taylor began to compose music for MatchMusic together. They built a MIDI suite, and when not on tour, they recorded original tracks that reflected their own musical sensibilities. "We were forever knocking our heads against old-school attitudes and being told that 'This is what the marketplace likes.' But we were seeing a new generation of editors coming into the industry and going to clubs and hearing all these thumping records, and they wanted to know why production music didn't sound like that," Taylor said in a 2003 interview. Taylor and Emanuel decided to approach commercial artists, some of whom they already knew, and ask them to record production music tracks.
With a $100,000 investment from angel investor Mark Levinson, Extreme Music was founded in 1997. The company was positioned to reflect the
punk rock ethos of its founders; for example, they mailed condoms to 1,000 music industry executives with packaging that read "Extreme Music: The Only Safe Thing You'll Ever Get From Us." With a focus on production, they "upped the industry ante by using professional recording studios and top-notch musicians."{{cite news|last1=Inglis |first1=Sam |title=Russell Emanuel & Dolph Taylor Of Extreme Music |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun03/articles/extrememusic.asp |access-date=18 July 2016 |work=Sound on Sound |date=June 1, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606073149/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun03/articles/extrememusic.asp |archive-date=June 6, 2015 |url-status=bot: unknown }}
In August 2005 Extreme Music was bought by Viacom, the then-parent company of CBS, UPN, and Paramount Pictures for $45.1 million, and in 2008 it was acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing (now Sony Music Publishing). The terms of the sale were not disclosed.{{cite magazine|last1=Butler|first1=Susan|title=Famous Price Could Hit Half a Billion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCkEAAAAMBAJ&q=Viacom+extreme+music&pg=PA8|access-date=5 July 2016|magazine=Billboard|date=April 28, 2007}}{{cite news|last1=Mair|first1=Bob|title=Music Libraries: From Last Resort to Power Players|url=http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=8075|access-date=5 July 2016|work=Film Music Magazine|date=June 14, 2011}}{{cite news|last1=BMN staff|title=Technology & facilities - EXTREME MUSIC VENTURE.|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/technology-and-facilities-extreme-music-venture/1143918.article|access-date=5 July 2016|work=Broadcast Music Now (subscription required)|date=May 22, 2002}}
In January 2013, Extreme introduced Customix, a web application created specifically for music supervisors to quickly customize songs from its library.{{cite news|last1=Berkman|first1=Fran|title=New Web App Customizes Music for TV and Movies|url=http://mashable.com/2013/01/23/customix/#hBKMKvD9sOqP|access-date=5 July 2016|work=Mashable|date=January 23, 2013}}{{cite news|last1=Jarvey|first1=Natalie|title=Extreme Music Launches Music Editing Tool|url=http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2013/jan/23/extreme-music-launches-music-editing-tool/|access-date=5 July 2016|work=LA Business Journal|date=January 23, 2013}}
Extreme Music tracks have been licensed by editors, music producers and music supervisors at production companies, networks and advertising agencies, including A+E, Fox, BBC, HBO, the NFL and Apple. Among other productions, music from the Extreme library has been used in Mad Men, Ray Donovan, Dancing with the Stars, Birdman, Creed and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.{{cite news|last1=Morris|first1=Christopher|title=Timbaland and Mike "Daddy" Evans make Extreme pact|url=https://variety.com/2011/music/news/timbaland-and-mike-daddy-evans-make-extreme-pact-1118035776/|access-date=18 July 2016|work=Variety|date=April 21, 2011}}{{cite web|title=Extreme Music|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2843612/|website=imdb.com|publisher=IMDb|access-date=2 August 2016}}
In August 2013, Extreme partnered with composer Hans Zimmer and his business partner, Steve Kofsky, to launch Bleeding Fingers Music. A joint venture, it creates show-specific libraries and scores for unscripted, reality, documentary and light drama television shows. In 2017, it was ranked as the leading custom music scoring company in the industry.{{huh|date=April 2023}}.{{cite news|last1=Grieving|first1=Tim|title=Bleeding Fingers Stretches Its Grasp With 'Planet Earth II'|url=https://variety.com/2016/music/spotlight/bleeding-fingers-planet-earth-ii-1201843|access-date=21 September 2016|work=Variety|date=24 August 2016}}{{cite magazine|last1=Galo|first1=Phil|title=Sony/ATV's Extreme Music and Hans Zimmer Form Joint Venture: The Bleeding Fingers Custom Music Shop|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/tv-film/5640673/sonyatvs-extreme-music-and-hans-zimmer-form-joint-venture-the|access-date=5 July 2016|magazine=Billboard|date=August 12, 2013}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{official|extrememusic.com}}
{{Sony}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Extreme Music Bleeding Fingers}}
Category:1997 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Record labels established in 1997
Category:Music production companies
Category:Music companies of the United Kingdom
Category:Television soundtracks
Category:Music publishing companies of the United States
Category:Companies based in Santa Monica, California
Category:Former Viacom subsidiaries
Category:Sony Music Publishing