A Risk in Sound Investments : The Odds Are Stacked Against Successful Movie Soundtracks

In the weeks since their career was launched on film, the Commitments--a group of musicians brought together for the film of the same name--have enjoyed the kind of success that most real bands only dream of.

Their album reached a respectable No. 8 on the Billboard pop chart and has spawned a series of follow-up projects. Band members have performed at a glitzy benefit concert and gone club-hopping with rock’s royalty, somehow stepping off screen and into real life.

That’s sweet soul music for MCA Records, which released “The Commitments” soundtrack. But the marriage of movies and music is not always so harmonious.

Although nearly a dozen movie soundtracks are on the charts now, they historically account for less than 5% of U.S. record sales, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. Because of the poor odds for success, movie makers often have a tough time getting even their own record affiliates to release the albums.

Indeed, industry executives say soundtrack fever is just as likely to produce such discordant efforts as the Bee Gees-led recording from the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” movie as a runaway success such as “Dirty Dancing,” which spent 18 weeks at No. 1 in 1988.

“If a movie doesn’t perform as well as you expect, you can really get killed on a soundtrack,” said Giant Records President Irving Azoff, a pioneer in the rock soundtrack field who recently released the hit recording from “New Jack City.”

“New Jack City” was a film project of Warner Bros., whose record division has a joint venture deal with Azoff. Most major motion picture companies own companion record units--the exceptions being Paramount Pictures Corp. and Fox Inc., which distributed “The Commitments” film.

But the interests of the movie and record sides don’t always coincide.

Sony’s music labels passed on the chance to distribute the soundtrack to “Boyz N The Hood,” which was produced by its film division. The record landed at Quincy Jones’ Qwest label, for which it reached No. 12. Qwest is a a division of Warner, Sony’s archrival.

A&M; Records has the soundtrack rights to another upcoming film from Sony Pictures, “Mo’ Money,” a comedy starring Damon Wayans. A company source said the “Mo’ Money” soundtrack went to A&M; because of the involvement of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who are signed to the label.

A Sony spokesman conceded that opportunities have been lost, but said the company is working to improve cooperation between its movie and music units. “We are aggressively back in the soundtrack business,” an unnamed Sony executive was recently quoted as saying.

Gary LeMel, president of music for Warner Bros Inc., said Warner makes every effort to give its own companies first crack at the soundtracks from movies produced by the studio. Warner and its affiliates released eight of the 17 soundtracks culled from Warner Bros. films this year.

Yet it’s not always advisable to keep a project in-house, according to LeMel, especially if there’s no interest in the project or the artists best suited to the film are with another label.

“We don’t always stay in the family, but we try to stay in the family as much as we can,” LeMel said. “Warner Bros. Records (and its affiliates) don’t want to be saddled with every soundtrack album we put out, and we don’t want to force those soundtracks on them.”

The musical accompaniment to a movie usually is determined in the early stages of development. Options range from pop compilations, which have the best sales record, to orchestral scores. When big-name acts contribute to soundtracks, their label often controls the album. The rights to a soundtrack can cost $250,000 to $1 million.

“The Commitments” reportedly came in at the high end. The producers were so confident of the film’s soundtrack potential that they limited screenings of the musical footage to top record executives and demanded that any deal include solo contracts for certain band members.

“The Commitments” represents something of a multicultural phenomenon, since the story of Dubliners who find redemption in black music comes from an American production company, an English director, an Australian-owned movie studio and a Japanese-owned record company.

MCA Music Chairman Al Teller secured the album rights earlier this year, after screening a 20-minute musical montage from director Alan Parker’s film about some scruffy Irish musicians who play 1960s-era soul songs.

“When it was over he jumped out of his seat and said, ‘I want this soundtrack,’ ” producer Marc Abraham of Beacon Pictures recalled. “Al saw what we saw, which was that people would buy the soundtrack if they saw the movie.”

Teller said he went with his instincts.

“Ultimately, I felt what I heard and saw was very special,” he explained. “It had that magical quality that would make it work for the audience. These guys were essentially musicians first and actors second.”

The Commitments’ future is difficult to predict, because the band doesn’t really exist outside the context of the film. Solo projects are planned for lead singer Andrew Strong and a couple of his cohorts.

Their success, in any event, probably will spawn imitations.

One big believer in the power of song is James G. Robinson, owner of Morgan Creek Productions. Robinson insisted that the Bryan Adams single “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” be played over the end credits of his company’s “Robin Hood--Prince of Thieves.” The single and the movie are big hits, despite some hand-wringing about interposing a pop song on a medieval-themed movie.

Robinson learned the value of soundtracks when Polygram released the music from Morgan Creek’s “Young Guns II,” which featured the hit song “Blaze of Glory” by Jon Bon Jovi.

Robinson subsequently eliminated the middleman and formed his own company, Morgan Creek Music Group, with Jim Mazza and David Kershenbaum.

“Robin Hood,” its first release, sold more than 2 million copies in 90 days. Morgan Creek has since released albums by such diverse acts as Little Feat and Mary’s Danish.

Movies and music, Robinson explained, are natural partners--when paired correctly. “I can’t imagine a movie without music,” he said. “With the right music, you get the movie out to the audience. And people who go to movies are usually the same people who buy records.”

That’s Entertainment

Movie soundtracks account for only a small percentage of overall U.S. record sales, but there have been some major successes over the years. Top sellers include “Saturday Night Fever,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Top Gun” and this year’s “Robin Hood” and “New Jack City.” There are 11 soundtrack albums currently ranked on Billboard Magazine’s Top 200.

Top-Selling soundtracks from 1991 movies Domestic figures, based on information supplied by the record companies.

New Jack City: 2 million

Robin Hood: 1 million

Jungle Fever: 1 million

The Commitments: 900,000 copies

Boys N The Hood: 900,000 copies

Soundtrack Facts Movie soundtrack history: Musical scores have existed since the early days of film, and have attracted such top classical composers as Prokofiev, Copland and Honegger. The musicals of Hollywood’s golden era also produced dozens of hits. But it wasn’t until the 1960s, with the movie “Easy Rider,” that the idea of a multi-artist rock compilation came into being.

Soundtrack hits: Movie soundtracks account for 7 of the 30 most popular albums since 1955. The soundtrack to “West Side Story” holds the No. 1 spot. Released in 1962, it spent 54 weeks at No. 1. The best-selling pop-rock soundtrack is “Saturday Night Fever,” which was the No. 1 record for 24 weeks in 1978. The other top sellers are “Purple Rain,” “Blue Hawaii,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Mary Poppins” and “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Movies as soundtracks: The 1983 hit, “Flashdance,” introduced the notion of movie as soundtrack. It had the look and feel of a music video, and was inspired by the success of MTV. A follow-up, “Footloose,” was also successful. But the genre died out soon afterward.

Modern-day soundtracks: Contemporary directors have taken soundtracks in some bold new directions. “Batman” spawned two records--one featuring the musical score by Danny Elfman and the other featuring nine pop songs by the rock star, Prince. Pop artists have also expanded into orchestral composition for films. Peter Gabriel wrote the score for “The Last Temptation of Christ” and David Byrne did the music for “Married to the Mob.”

Based on reports from Billboard Magazine and news accounts. The list of most popular soundtracks reflects numbers of weeks at the top of the sales charts, not volume of sales.