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ELECTRONIC MUSIC GENRES

ELECTRONIC MUSIC GENRES

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    Electronic music and the electronica genre dates back further than you might think when, in the 1920s and 1930s, the first electronic musical instruments were created, leading to the electro music genre. Subsequent technological developments and techniques (such as editing recorded, natural and industrial sounds, and changing the tape speed and direction) developed in the 1940s and 1950s across Europe, Africa, Asia and America.

    Fast forward to the 1960s and 1970s, when digital computer music began to be developed across the world. As these approaches to electronic music blended with popular genres, such as disco and early hip hop in the 1980s, it led to the emergence of electronic music genres as we know today.

    From that moment on, electronic music has evolved and given birth to a seemingly endless number of genres, plus infinite sub-genres and interpretations of genres. Here, we’re going to attempt to breakdown the main genres and their subgenres. However – as with all creative things – there is an element of subjectivity at play here!

    So what one person would call deep house; another would call tech house. What one person would dub dubstep (sorry, cheap pun); another would name brostep. Depending on where you are in the world, these all have very different interpretations and definitions. For this article, we’re going to stick to the main ones, as we recognise them here at Audio Network HQ in London. So let’s get into it.

    Contents

    • Bass music
      • Bass Music Subgenres
    • Disco
      • Disco sub genres
    • Drum and Bass
      • Drum and Bass sub genres
    • Dubstep
      • Dubstep Subgenres
    • ​EDM
      • EDM Subgenres
      • EDM Artists
    • Garage
      • Garage Sub Genres
    • Jungle
      • Sub genres of jungle
    • Hardcore
      • Hardcore sub genres
    • House
      • House Subgenres
    • Techno
      • Techno Subgenres
    • Trance
      • Trance Subgenres

    Electronic Music Genres

    The main types of electronic music genres are well recognised and largely agreed on. However, this particular type of music evolves and develops as quickly as its technology, so an advance warning: this may become incomplete just months after this post is published (we’ll do our best to keep it updated!).

    We’ll also be taking a pretty UK/US-centric view in this article, whilst referencing as many notable global viewpoints as possible – but a definitive global view on this topic is another long article in itself. For the purpose of this piece, the main electronic music genres are:

    • Bass music
    • Disco
    • Drum and Bass
    • Dubstep
    • EDM
    • Jungle
    • Hardcore
    • House
    • Techno
    • Trance
    • Garage

    Bass Music

    Bass music can be quite hard to define. It is a bit of a catch-all term, used to umbrella a load of sub-genres and interpretations of other genres. For example, bass house, some interpretations of trap and niche interpretations of moombah and garage can sit in this category. But the main ones, in our opinion are below.

    Bass Music Subgenres

    This list could be exhaustive, but again, we’ve stuck to the main ones. Others should arguably be included (UK bass music, moombahton and more) but these two encapsulate the genre best and are less ambiguous, in our humble opinion.

    • Bass House
    • Trap

    Bass House

    This is a far more dancefloor-centered version of house. its origins are debateable but one source traces it to the mid-2010s, when dubstep was declining in popularity and the UKG, house and bassline scenes were on the rise. It’s high energy, bass-heavy (obviously) and designed to get the crowd going.

    Trap

    Now, this one could’ve easily sat under dubstep, or even hip hop (if we had included in this article). We’ve gone for bass music though, as, again, it’s a bit of a hybrid genre. It evolved in the early 2010s out of the dubstep scene, blending with more American-influenced trap hip hop from Atlanta.

    Disco

    Evolving from Philadelphia’s 1960s and 1970s R&B scene, as well as other African-American and Latino music scenes at the time, it was major players such as Stevie Wonder, The O’Jays, Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer who pioneered this ground-breaking sound, which dominated the 1970s and 1980s. Seriously influential, it’s continued to evolve and is arguably the reason many other genres on this list exist.

    Disco Subgenres

    Some would argue every other genre in this list is a sub-genre of disco, but we’ll be looking at some of the more direct, modern offshoots of this pioneering and classic genre.

    • Electro Disco
    • Nu-Disco
    • Italo/ Euro Disco

    Electro Disco

    Loads of funk and a futuristic vibe, electro disco is strongly influenced by German luminaries Kraftwerk – and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Most, if not all, instrumentation is replaced with synthesisers and other electronic alternatives such as vocoders.

    Nu-disco

    Not to be confused with disco house or French disco, nu-disco appeared in the mid to late 1990s. DJ Harvey and Gerry Rooney get the lion’s share of the credit, as their label Black Cock Records released unofficial edits and remixed funk, rock and disco tracks. Other notable pioneers are Dave Lee (FKA Joey Negro) and Crazy P.

    Italo/ French/ Euro Disco

    It’s probably not fair to lump these all together, but the European disco scene is a thriving one with many components and scenes in it, so we’ll approach the continent as a whole. Emerging in the 1970s and consistently adapting, we’d look to the uplifting takes of Mark Ashley, Irene Cara and Laura Branigan to get a feel for this sound.

    Drum and Bass

    A truly British genre (and a great British export), drum and bass was born as many subcultures collided in the UK underground dance scene – most notably breakbeat and jungle. It stripped elements from the aforementioned genres and has had a thriving scene in the UK – and now globally – for over 25 years. With a seemingly endless number of sub-genres, even the scene itself can’t decide which ones are ‘official’, so we’ve stuck to the ‘main’ ones.

    Drum and Bass Subgenres

    • Tech Drum and Bass
    • Neurofunk
    • Liquid
    • Jump Up
    • Dancefloor Drum and Bass

    Tech Drum and Bass

    With more of an organic sound and feel, tech drum and bass tends to be deeper, with a raw percussive sound that sticks to the core elements of the genre and delivers more of a rolling rhythm. Some of the bigger names are Break, DLR, Konflict and Bad Company.

    Neurofunk

    One of the more extreme and futuristic takes on the genre, Neurofunk has been heavily influenced by trailblazers across Europe and New Zealand. With a robotic edge and plenty of funk (as the name suggests) this could only be listened to in a club – or maybe a fight club. Head to NOISA, Black Sun Empire, State of Mind and, more recently, AKOV to get a feel for it.

    Liquid

    The Liquid sound is centred on more melodic elements and has absorbed many influences, from jazz to an EDM vibe. Look to London Elektricity, Camo & Krooked, Calibre and Netsky for the bigger proponents.

    Jump Up

    Not for the faint-hearted, the jump up sound is one of the more aggressive-sounding; a UK-centric contingent– and a divisive one. DJ Hazard, Taxman, Annix and Macky Gee are a good representation of the jump up vibe.

    Dancefloor

    This is a relatively new sub-genre of drum and bass, and though all drum and bass could be classed as dancefloor, this definition speaks to the sound that doesn’t quite fit into any of the above. The likes of RAM Records and artists including Dimension, Grafix, Metrik, Wilkinson and Sub Focus are your go-tos here.

    Dubstep

    Originating in the UK underground dance music scene in the early 2000s, dubstep took the world by storm over the next 15 years or so. Some say it blew up too quickly, leading to what many felt was a bastardisation of its roots. This is another genre that, due to its relative infancy, tends to provoke arguments about how you define a true subgenre…

    Dubstep Subgenres

    We’ve tried to stick to what we feel are the main subgenres – you will most likely have different names for each of these – but we’ll explain what we mean by each one. We tended to approach dubstep in a more linear fashion, as a technique to break it down, so let’s delve in.

    • Classic
    • Tear Out
    • Brostep
    • Deep
    • Chilled

    Classic

    This is the original dubstep: garage, dub and reggae-influenced with a major focus on the lower end of the frequencies. This emerged in the very early 2000s and was pioneered by the likes of Hatcha, Coki, DMZ, Skream, Benga and N-Type.

    Tear Out

    Far more mid-frequencies and with more of a raucous approach, this was one of the first evolutionary steps of the dubstep sound. Up to this point, there wasn’t as much of a focus on getting the dancefloor rocking, but the likes of Caspa, Rusko, Coki, Emalkay and Doctor P changed that.

    Brostep

    It’s from this point that the dubstep scene started to really fracture and divide. As the sound was exported to the US and producers interpreted it with more of a rock or metal sentiment, many of the original fans felt it was too much of a departure from its roots.

    Others, though, couldn’t get enough of it and it transported the scene to stadiums, festival headline slots and commercial radio. Skrillex, Zomboy, Datsik, Eptic and Flux Pavilion are a good representation of this sound.

    Deep

    This is essentially the modern interpretation of the classic sound that pays homage to those early days. It was this contingent of the scene that opposed the ‘bro’ sound the most. Artists such as J Kenzo, Truth, Kaiju and Kryptic Minds.

    EDM

    Now then, we have a seriously contentious entry on this list. EDM. Standing for Electronic Dance Music. Is it even a genre? Or is it just a catch-all statement abbreviated and overly used to describe specific types of electronic music?

    All of those questions and more have been debated for over a decade now. So, we’re going to just let you know how we’re defining this type of electronic music – purely for the sake of this article. When we reference EDM in this sense, we’re looking to that ‘big room’, stadium or Tomorrowland-festival style house music. Think Guetta, Swedish House Mafia and the like.

    EDM Subgenres

    With the above in mind, it kind of means sub genres here aren’t as relevant, as all EDM is, within this article at least, is that big house sound that dominated the UK and US charts for virtually the whole of the 2010s. With that in mind, we’re going to list a few artists instead, so you get what we’re calling EDM.

    EDM Artists

    • David Guetta
    • Martin Garrix
    • Deadmau5
    • Marshmello
    • Avicii
    • Calvin Harris
    • Steve Aoki

    Garage

    Born at Paradise Garage in 1970s and 1980s New York, garage is often associated with the UK scene, with many Brits unaware of its American roots. Since the 1990s, the UK grew obsessed with the sound and it helped set the foundations for many new subgenres.

    Garage Subgenres

    We wanted to show just how much this genre led to new sounds, so we’ve gone against our criteria for other genres in this article, to illustrate the point.

    • UK Garage
    • Speed Garage
    • 4/4
    • Bassline
    • Grime

    UK Garage

    When you say garage in the UK, this is what most people will think of. The 90s were its heyday. It was a vibe created through the UK underground dance club scene and seemingly nothing could stop it from hitting the mainstream. Artists like M. J. Cole, Artful Dodger, Zed Bias, So Solid Crew, Craig David and Ms Dynamite are major players of this sound.

    Speed Garage & 4X4

    These are the more high-octane takes on the garage sound. By taking 4-to-the-floor New York garage, speeding it up, and combining it with breakbeats, a far more chaotic sound was born. We know, 4x4 and speed garage aren’t technically the same thing, but their origins and sounds are so linked we’ve put them together. Some would even argue 4x4 is an umbrella term for speed garage and our next subgenre. Check out artists like 187 Lockdown, Todd Edwards, Double 99 and Groove Armada.

    Bassline

    For a while this sound was massive in the UK, it then went through a period of becoming almost comical. Now though, the UK bassline scene is thriving. Similar to speed garage in many ways, this takes that 4X4 vibe to new levels of energy. Artists such as DJ Q, Flava D, TS7 and Platnum are a good representations.

    Grime

    This is a seriously contentious subgenre for the garage section. However, if there was no garage, there would certainly be no grime. In fact, most of the pioneering grime vocalists, producers and DJs started out in the garage scene. Grime went on to become a British institution in its own right. If you’re not familiar, listen to the likes of Kano, Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Skepta, Ghetts and D Double E.

    Jungle

    Jungle is the UK-export that came before drum and bass. It’s far more percussive in approach, it has very strong Caribbean influences and was born out of the Soundsystem Culture in the early 1990s UK underground scene. It’s widely accepted that, without this, you wouldn’t have drum and bass.

    Subgenres of Jungle

    Emerging out of the breakbeat and hardcore scenes of the late 80s in the UK, it’s actually debateable that jungle itself was a sub-genre of those scenes. It’s also largely debateable if jungle really has sub-genres. However, for the purpose of this article, there’s one we’re highlighting.

    • Ragga

    Ragga

    Ragga jungle is the far more reggae-influenced sound within the jungle scene. You’ve got some awesome artists that have been flying this flag for years but some of the more recent ones to know about are Chopstick Dubplate, Krinjah and Congo Natty. The difference between this jungle and the ‘original’ jungle is that is has more completely original productions, whereas the original jungle was heavily reliant on samples.

    Hardcore

    Without question one of the unapologetically intense genres within the universe of electronic music, hardcore is even heavier than its name suggests. There are three sub genres we’re going to look into here, all of which may be a shock to the system if you’ve not heard this particular genre than was a product of many scenes colliding – including techno, metal and rock.

    Hardcore Subgenres

    The three sub genres of hardcore may be hard to differentiate between to the newer listen, but they actually have very unique takes on this in-your-face sound.

    • Gabber
    • Happy Hardcore
    • Hardstyle

    Gabber

    Started in Rotterdam and gaining huge popularity in the Netherlands and north of the UK, gabber first came to fruition in the 1990s. Its never quite broken the mainstream, much to the joy of its most passionate followers, but saw a slight change in perception in the 2010s when tastemaker DJs were flirting with the sound in their sets. Head to artists like Paul Elstak, Out Of Cookies and Renae.

    Happy Hardcore

    Probably one of the most joyous yet intense genres to have ever existed, Happy Hardcore is quite an acquired taste. Also born in the 1990s, this time across multiple European countries on the continent and also from the UK’s breakbeat scene, Happy Hardcore is often argued as the most popular of the hardcore sounds. Check out Force & Styles, Toytown and Sy & Demo.

    Hardstyle

    Largely regarded as the most successful out of this scene, Hardstyle has held a loyal following across Europe ever since its inception in the 1990s. As you’re probably noticing a theme emerging, this was also born in the Netherlands and has been a mainstay in the region ever since, with some of the biggest festivals dedicated to the sound. Notable artists include The Prophet, Technoboy and Tweekacore.

    House

    Debatably the most easily recognised and popular of the genres on this list, house music can be traced back to 1980s at pioneering clubs in Chicago. Since then, the genre has taken on many different forms as different nations and cultures interpreted the sound. Like many others on this list, this genre can seemingly have an endless amount of sub genres depending on where you’re from. So let’s take a look.

    House Subgenres

    As we said, this is a subjective question. We could’ve had a house subgenre list twice this size, however, to keep it more succinct, the below are what we’ve agreed are the main ones. Notable absentees from this include; Balearic, Tropical, Tribal, New Jersey, Latin, Jersey, Italo, French, Dutch and Chicago. We could go on, but let’s get into what we see as the main house genres.

    • Acid House
    • Ambient House
    • Classic House
    • Deep House
    • Electro House
    • Funky House
    • Future House
    • Progressive House
    • Tech House

    Acid House

    Starting in the mid-1980s in Chicago, Acid House was quickly adopted in the UK. Connected by what can only be described as a ‘squelching’ sound the Roland TB-303 synthesizer-sequencer helps to create – as well as the accompanying basslines, this type of house completely exploded in the UK into the late 1980s. Listen to DJ Pierre, Phuture and A Guy Called Gerald.

    Ambient House

    Delivering what it says on the tin, Ambient House is credited to being born by The Orb at the nightclub, Heaven. It first emerged a little after Acid House in the late 1980s. Head to artists including The Orb, The KLF and Bull Drummond.

    Classic House

    Essentially the type of house that stays true to the genre’s roots of the clubbing seen in 1980s Chicago, classic house is less of a sub genre and more of a reference point. You want artists like Marshall Jefferson, Todd Terry, Frankie Knuckles and Kerri Chandler.

    Deep House

    Making use of a deeper aesthetic, muted basslines and allowing more room for the percussion to breathe, deep house started in the 1980s as fusion between Chicago House, jazz-funk and elements of soul. Listen to Miguel Migs, Kaskade, Lisa Shaw, Saison and Sebb Junior.

    Electro House

    A far more commercial sound, the electro house style can be very varied (some would argue many we’ve put in “EDM” are in fact electro house artists). It first emerged late 1990s and it arguably reached a peak in popularity in the 2010s. Head to people such as Daft Punk, Bloody Beetroots, Basement Jaxx and Feed Me.

    Funky House

    Blending the worlds of funk, disco and house, with influences from across many decades dating back to the 1970s, funky house is another subgenre that lives up to its name. Record labels such as Defected Records, Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi will give you a good idea of this sound, including artists such as Dave Lee, Dennis Ferrer, Armand Van Helden and Shapeshifters.

    Future House

    Emerging in the 2010s, Future House blends elements of UK Garage and deep house. It’s a bass-driven, as opposed to melodically or funk driven subgenre and very popular in the UK. Lucky Luke, Nu Aspect, The Him and Tchami will give you a good idea of this scene.

    Progressive House

    Emerging in the early 1990s, the progressive style is largely credited with being produced from the developing UK scene. Long, drawn out build ups and plenty of melody can be found within this sound. Made particularly popular by the likes of Martin Garrix, Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5 in the early 2010s. Artists include Tiesto, Hardwell, Deadmau5 and Cid Inc.

    Tech House

    Blending the worlds of techno and progressive house, tech house features more rough basslines and hard hitting beats mixed with melodics and groove to create a pretty unique and hugely popular sound. Kicking off in the mid to late 1990s you want to check out the likes of Jamie Jones, Carl Cox, Hot Since 82 and  Patrick Topping.

    Techno

    Dating back to 1970s Europe, with some of its main influences including Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and C.J. Bolland, techno has spawned many subgenres since then. From the more experimental, ethereal and melodic to the dancefloor-catered, bass-heavy and industrial cuts, techno is a great genre to explore so let’s get into it.

    Techno Subgenres

    The spectrum of techno is one of the most diverse in this list, and many producers from the different genres in this list, such as drum and bass, directly reference techno as an influence on their production approaches. Just as a quick caveat, many think you could include genres such as hardcore, trance and tech house in this list below as the genre directly influenced them, however, we’ve tried to keep to the main subgenres – rather than the other genres this one inspired.

    • Minimal
    • Ambient
    • Industrial
    • IDM
    • Detroit
    • Trance
    • Deep Techno

    Minimal

    It is what it says on the tin. It’s stripped back, it’s repetitive and it’s understated. Originating in Detroit in the early 1990s, key artists here include Richie Hawtin, Robert Hood, Ricardo Villalobos and Jeff Mills.

    Ambient

    Sometimes known as intelligent techno, ambient techno has bundles of atmosphere and rhythm. This genre is seen as being very close to tech house and if you’re looking for a taster you should check out Aphex Twin, Autechre, Orbital, The Black Dog and Laurel Halo.

    Industrial

    Sitting at the heavier and darker end of the techno scale, industrial techno originates from the 1990s and can be the style gets the biggest reaction in the rave. Artists here to go to are Adam X, Orphx, Blawan, Karenn and Ancient Methods.

    IDM

    Intelligent Dance Music dates back to the early 1990s and is less catered to dancefloors and more suited to lounges and home chilling. Many artists that are maybe closer aligned to other sub-genres on this list will also create IDM. However, some key players of this genre include The Future Sound Of London, Luke Vibert, Squarepusher, Ventian Snares and Boards of Canada.

    Detroit

    This is essentially the source. Detroit techno is the original, easy-to-recognise techno from the 1980s, pioneered by the “Belleville Three” – Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunserson and Derrick May. Other artists to head to are Carl Craig, Aril Brikha and Fabrice Lig.

    Deep Techno

    This is a wide sub genre in itself, with many crossover elements from IDM, ambient and minimal techno. The main difference here is deep techno is far more dancefloor orientated than the others mentioned above. Listen to Jamie Jones, Aril Brikha, Joris Voorn, Solomun and Maceo Plex.

    Trance

    Originating in the 1990s as an offshoot from German techno and British hardcore scenes, the trance sound is another that emulates the connotations of its name. Long, drawn out build ups, bags of atmosphere and euphoric builds are a common theme in this genre.

    Trance Subgenres

    There are five key subgenres to the trance sound that we’re going to stick to. Others that you may have expected to see on here would be deep, acid and euro. We’ve deliberately left these out as we see these five as the core ones, with the others having a lot of crossover.

    • Goa
    • Hard
    • Progressive
    • Psychedelic
    • Tech

    Goa

    India, and Goa in particular, have one of the most thriving trance scenes in the world. Their beach parties, all day raves and festivals are becoming something of an iconic centre for the genre for many. Fairly similar sounding to minimal techno in many cases, as well as borrowing many elements from psychedelic trance, head to the likes of Astral Projection, Hallucinogen, Infected Mushroom and Hux Flux.

    Hard

    Originating in Western Europe, the hard trance scene emerged in the early 1990s as a breakaway from the breakbeat and hardcore scenes. Having similarities with the industrial techno sound, artists such as Scot Project, Cosmic Gate, Kai Tracid and, arguably most famously, Scooter.

    Progressive

    This is quite a hard one to define, but it definitely exists in the minds of the people most engaged with the trance scene. Sometimes it can be called uplifting but, seeing as most trance is progressive in nature, it can sometimes be difficult to categorise. By the early 2000s this sound was everywhere and dominated the dancefloors. Artists include Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Faithless and Sasha.

    Psychedelic

    Otherwise known as psytrance or psy, psychedelic trance comes in many different forms but all offer up a high-energy, high-tempo and , as the name suggests, a psychedelic atmosphere. Psychedelic preceded the Goa style and is often the type of trance you immediately think of when you hear the term. There is some crossover here but check out Astrix, Infected Mushroom, Shpongle, 1200 Micrograms and Talamasca for a feel for this genre.

    Tech

    Also known as techno-trance, tech trance draws from, as you might have guessed, the techno scene. Pioneered by Oliver Lieb, along with a few other producers in the European scene, the sound is a little more complex, technical and is driven by impactful kick drums. It’s a real party-catered sound which is led by Marco V, Sander van Doorn, Simon Patterson, W&W and Mark Sherry, to name a few.

    So these – more or less! – are the mainstays in the UK, US and Europe which simply couldn’t be missed. Think you’d call something here by a different name? We’d love to hear it on socials!

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    This page was last updated 12/03/2024.

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    THE BEST HIP HOP MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS

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      Hip hop is a wide-ranging genre that covers the entire spectrum of human emotions, making it perfect for what we like to call ‘roller coaster narratives’ in film.

      From the soundtracks to Romeo Must Die to Space Jam, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the very best hip hop movie soundtracks and hail some of the finest singers, rappers and producers in the game.

      Speaking of hip hop, we’ve got an entire Discover hub dedicated to hip hop and R&B. Here you can enjoy a selection of albums, playlists and artists in the hip hop genre that could be perfect for your project, so check it out once you’ve read our round-up!

      Best Hip Hop Movie Soundtracks

      Space Jam (1996)

      Box Office: $250.2 million

      Music Producers: Rashad Smith, James Newton Howard, R Kelly and others

      Best Songs: ‘That’s The Way I Like It’; ‘All of My Days’; ‘Hit ’Em High (The Monstars’ Anthem)’

      Say what you want about Space Jam (personally, we’re a fan), but some features are undeniably extraordinary – namely, the seamless layering of animation over live action and the super-compelling soundtrack. Naturally, we’re particularly taken with the latter.

      As a film soundtrack it’s a total slam dunk, with all the fierce energy of the mid-90s pre-millennial hip hop scene, featuring classic songs from the likes of Salt-N-Pepa, Seal, Spin Doctors and Busta Rhymes. It gives the soundtrack for the forthcoming sequel a lot to live up to.

      Men in Black (1997)

      Box Office: $589.4 million

      Music Producers: The Ummah, Poke & Tone, De La Soul and others

      Best Songs: ‘Men in Black’; ‘I’m Feeling You’; ‘We Just Wanna Party With You’

      Featuring songs from the likes of Nas, The Roots, Ginuwine, Snoop Dogg and A Tribe Called Quest, the Men in the Black soundtrack is simply magnificent. And we’re not the only ones who think so, as the album went straight to the top of the album charts for two consecutive weeks when it dropped in the late 90s.

      In the spirit of the film, every song is powerful and spirited. Truth be told, some of the songs are so damn catchy (especially Smith’s ‘Men in Black’), we almost wish we had our own neuralyzer (that’s sci-fi speak for a memory eraser).

      He Got Game (1998)

      Box Office: $22.4 million

      Music Producers: Bomb Squad, Abnes Dubose, Jack Dangers and others

      Best Songs: ‘He Got Game’; ‘Resurrection’; ‘Unstoppable’

      The He Got Game soundtrack is not just a collection of great songs from the film – it’s also Public Enemy’s sixth studio album. The American hip hop collective reunited to bring Spike Lee’s film to life, and the album features some of the best Public Enemy songs ever – our favourite being the title track, with its gospel choir backing vocals, unconventional sample (from Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’) and thought-provoking lyrics. What more could you want?

      Romeo Must Die (2000)

      Box Office: $91 million

      Music Producers: Aaliyah, Barry Hankerson, Jomo Hankerson, Timbaland and others

      Best Songs: ‘Try Again’; ‘Perfect Man’; ‘I Don’t Wanna’; ‘Come Back in One Piece’

      Granted, Romeo Must Die might not be your favourite flick ever (it’s certainly not ours), but you’ve got to appreciate its august soundtrack — it’s literally the sound of the new millennium. And it’s impossible to talk about it without paying respects to the late Aaliyah. The R&B star was executive producer as well as performing four of the songs on the soundtrack – the most famous being Try Again – alongside the likes of Ginuwine, Destiny’s Child and The Comrads. We miss you, our queen.

      8 Mile (2002)

      Box Office: $242.9 million

      Music Producers: Eminem and others

      Best Songs: ‘Lose Yourself’; ‘8 Miles And Runnin’; ‘U Wanna Be Me’; ‘Time of My Life’

      What is the hardest-hitting rap song? Some would say it’s Eminem’s Academy Award-winning track Lose Yourself, which, as you probably already know, was created for the 2002 flick 8 Mile, a semi-autobiographical film that follows B-Rabbit – loosely based on Eminem – as he aims to make it big as a rapper. If you love your hip hop this soundtrack is a total treat, with songs from 50 Cent, Nas and Jay-Z.

      Shark Tale (2004)

      Box Office: $367.3 million

      Music Producers: Hans Zimmer, Timbaland, Missy Elliott and others

      Best Songs: ‘Car Wash’; ‘Baby Got Back’; ‘You Can’t Touch This’

      Shark Tale is one of Dreamworks biggest hits, which makes us wonder why they never greenlit a sequel. Perhaps because they knew they could never recreate the original’s tour de force soundtrack, which features everyone from Bob Marley to Sean Paul to Will Smith and Ludacris. And the jewel in the crown, needless to say, is the ‘Car Wash’ cover by Missy Elliott and Christina Aguilera, whichm in our humble opinion, is a total banger.

      Step Up 2: The Streets (2008)

      Box Office: $150.8 million

      Music Producers: T-Pain, Timbaland, Missy Elliott and others

      Best Songs: ‘Low’; ‘Shake Your Pom Pom’; ‘Hypnotized’

      Ah, Step Up 2: The Streets — a film that defines the Naughties. The main characters Andie (Briana Evigan) and Chase (Robert Hoffman) form a dance crew and fall in love, to a blistering soundtrack from the likes of Flo Rida, T-Pain and Missy Elliott. These tracks form a superb playlist in a film that often feels like one long music video – especially during the scene that involves the lovebirds dancing in the rain.

      The Great Gatsby (2013)

      Box Office: $353.6 million

      Music Producers: Jay-Z and Baz Luhrmann

      Best Songs: ‘No Church in the Wild’; ‘Bang Bang’; ‘$100 Bill’

      Who’s the best rapper of all time? We’d argue it’s Shawn Carter (aka Jay-Z). And we’ll never forget how the Jigga man lent his audio wizardry to one of our favourite films of all time, Baz Lurhman’s The Great Gatsby. Jay whipped out his contact book and got a whole host of big-name stars on board, including Q-Tip, Will.I.Am and André 3000. He even got his wife involved. But the standout track from the album came originally from Jay-Z’s album with Kanye West. Entitled ‘No Church in the Wild’, the song, featuring Frank Ocean on vocals, works brilliantly with the film’s 1920s setting.

      Black Panther (2018)

      Box Office: $1.344 billion

      Music Producers: Kendrick Lamar and others

      Best Songs: ‘All the Stars’; ‘Paramedic!’; ‘Pray for Me’

      Marvel Studios’ Black Panther is one of the most groundbreaking superhero motion pictures ever created – aptly, the soundtracks are nothing short of brilliant. We say soundtracks as there are actually not one but two Black Panther soundtracks in existence: Ludwig Göransson’s cinematic score incorporated elements of traditional music from South and West Africa, while Kendrick Lamar curated a star-studded hip hop contribution. FYI, both received Oscar nominations, and Göransson ended up winning.

      Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

      Box Office: $375.5 million

      Music Producers: DJ Khalil, Infamous, Louis Bell and others

      Best Songs: ‘Sunflower’; ‘Familia’; ‘Way Up’; ‘Hide’

      Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was one of the biggest surprises of the 2010s – it offered a fresh animation technique, never-before-seen-on-the-big-screen Spider-Man and a totally infectious score and soundtrack. You already know where we’re going with this.

      The album concept was prompted by the question: What would Miles Morales, a 13-year old mixed-race teenager in Brooklyn, listen to? The question led to the creation of some of the hottest hip hop tracks of the century, some of which are inspired by the young superhero’s Latin-American heritage.

      Audio Network’s Hip Hop Collection

      Now that we’ve covered the best hip hop movie soundtracks, it’s about time we reminded you of our hip hop collection.

      Over in our hip hop music playlist, we’ve got a vast array of catchy beats for you to make the most of in your next production – whether that’s a film, a podcast, a TV series or an advertisement.

      COLLECTION: HIP HOP BEATS

      Need Music for Your Project?

      At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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      TRADITIONAL JAPANESE MUSIC: YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE

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        When you think of Japanese music, your go-to is probably the bubblegum brightness of J-pop, anime scores and the acclaimed Studio Ghibli films, or the huge array of video game soundtracks by talented Japanese composers. Japan’s musical traditions stretch back over centuries, and is a richly diverse tapestry of cultures. Here, we take you through a history of traditional Japanese music and introduce you to a variety of the genres, many of which are still being created and enjoyed today.

        Traditional Japanese music is also known as ‘hōgaku’, which literally means (home) country music, and usually refers to music from the 17th to the mid-19th centuries. Within this there are many subgenres, including Japanese folk music, court music, Japanese theatrical music and Japanese instrumental music.

        Check out our Japanese playlist for tracks using traditional Japanese instruments.

        Traditional Japanese Music

        • Japanese folk music
        • Japanese court music
        • Japanese theatre music
        • Japanese Instrumental music:
          • Koto
          • Shakuhachi
          • Shamisen
          • Hichiriki
          • Komabue
          • Sho
          • Biwa

        Japanese Folk Music

        Like many other ancient countries around the world, Japan was influenced by cultures outside its borders from its earliest days. During the 6th to the 8th centuries it engaged, politically and culturally, mainly with China and the Korean Peninsula, and Chinese court music in particular made a significant impact.

        Up to this point, Shinto rituals and ceremonies were the main arena for folk songs, with music accompanied by dancing and singing. There were many local and regional traditions, and knowledge and performance were passed down through generations.

        Japanese folk music is known as min'yō – a compound word bringing together ‘min’ (folk, or the people) and ‘yō’ (song); it’s a word that’s also found in Chinese sources as far back as the 5th century. Many min'yō are connected to specific trades, whilst some accompanying dances are part of religious rituals. As with a lot of Western folk music, min'yō have a regional flavour, with each area of Japan having its own distinct genre.

        The original work-based folk songs were sung unaccompanied. Later, instruments including the shamisen, shakuhachi, and shinobue, as well as various percussion instruments were used.

        However, as the political system became increasingly centralised, these local music traditions found their way to the capital and were absorbed into court music. Professional musicians and dancers were employed in the Imperial court. These positions were hereditary, ensuring an unbroken line of traditions and repertoire continued for centuries.

        Between the ninth and 12th centuries, nobles began to perform music and dance, and learning these skills became an expected accomplishment of those in society’s upper echelons.

        A significant shift came when the Tang Dynasty fell in the 10th century. Imperial envoys were abolished and as a result, there was a significant drop in contact with foreign cultures. This led to more distinctively indigenous versions of music and the emergence of popular songs.

        To this day interest in folk songs and their history and traditions is strong in Japan, with a number of folk song preservation societies acting as gatekeepers of ‘correct’ performance (many responsible for a single local song), together with regional and international folk-based Japanese
        ensembles. However, during the 20th century, many min'yō songs were altered to become increasingly virtuosic, meaning that today, min'yō is studied almost exclusively under professional teachers.

        For a modern take on min'yō, check out the Minyo Crusaders:

        Japanese Court Music

        The music that became the sound of the Kyoto Imperial court is gagaku (it literally means ‘elegant music’). The oldest form of classical music in Japan, it comprises four categories – kangen (an instrumental ensemble), bugaku (dance music), saibara and rōei (songs) and music for Shinto ceremonies (Kuniburi no utamai). As it was only ever heard by royalty and aristocrats, over time gagaku was imbued with reverential respect among ordinary Japanese people.

        Kangen and bugaku’s longest pieces have three movements – introduction (slow), development (breaking), and conclusion (rushing), but the tempo throughout is generally very slow.

        Saibara literally means ‘pack-horse driver songs’ – these were, as you’d expect, based on folk songs, but modified to make them more palatable to the refined ears of those at court. Rōei (chanting) contains texts taken from two collections of Chinese and Japanese poetry.

        A gagaku ensemble is comprised of sixteen musicians, traditionally all men. They use only classic Japanese instruments; woodwinds, strings and percussion. The woodwind includes the sho (mouth organ), hichiriki (double reed flute) and ryūteki (transverse flute), with the koto (the national instrument of Japan), biwa (a lute) and gakuso (13-string zither) in the string section. Percussion is provided by kakko and taiko drums, together with a shoko (metal percussion) and other instruments such as a shaku (a clapper made from a pair of flat wooden sticks).

        Gagaku peaked in popularity between the ninth and 12th centuries, after which it entered a slow decline. However, in 1868, the Meiji emperor revived the Imperial court’s mystique, and in 2009, UNESCO placed gagaku on the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ list.

        Japanese Theatre Music

        Music is central in a much of Japanese theatre. The two main forms are Noh and Kabuki. Noh can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1192); its otherworldly dance-drama performances, passed down through generations, have remained largely unchanged. It uses masks and fantastical costumes, a small number of actors and minimal, stylised movements.

        The texts are partly sung by a choir, the jiutai, (leading to some dubbing it ‘Japanese opera’), and the music is provided by the hayashi: three drummers and a nohkan flutist. Noh is still regularly performed today – there are estimated to be more than 70 Noh theatres in the country, and each Noh school has its own permanent venue.

        Kabuki is characterised by its highly stylized dancing and singing, elaborate make-up and predominantly all-male cast. It originated in the Edo period (1603-1868), and borrowed elements from existing forms of theatre such as Noh.

        The on-stage orchestra for a Kabuki performance comprises several shamisen players, singers and percussionists, all dressed in a type of ceremonial clothing called kamishimo. In addition to this there’s an off-stage orchestra, consisting mainly of percussion instruments.

        Instrumental Music

        One of the key differences between Japanese and Western instrumental music is the way its players approach performance. Traditional Japanese music is characterised by its meditative nature. Similar to marital arts, or arts such as calligraphy and the tea ceremony, the spiritual character of Japanese music requires players to perfect self-mastery and inner strength, rather than simply providing entertainment.

        Performances are usually highly ritualised. Improvisation has practically no role in any of the major genres of East Asian music, and the way that performers play is more akin to choreography. We spoke with Taiko Drummer Joji Hirota at Abbey Road Studios who unpacked why being a Taiko Drummer is akin to being a performer.

        Koto

        The Koto is a 13-stringed zither with moveable bridges. Sankyoku, or ‘music for three’, is the term for koto chamber music (made up of a koto player, who also sings, accompanied by a three-stringed samisen lute and a shakuhachi flute).

        Shakuhachi

        This end-blown flute is made from bamboo and has traditionally been played almost exclusively by men in Japan, although this is now changing. The traditional genres of shakuhachi music are honkyoku (traditional, solo), sankyoku (ensemble, with a koto and shamisen) and shinkyoku (composed for shakuhachi and koto, a new form influenced by Western music).

        To hear how authentic Japanese instruments can be brought together beautifully with a Western orchestra, check out Jérôme Leroy’s Shifting Perspectives.

        Shamisen

        Derived from the Chinese banjo-like instrument, the sanxian, the shamisen arrived in Japan in the 16th century. It has a fretless neck, hollow body and three strings, and is played with a plectrum called a bachi, either solo or in ensembles – for example to accompany Kabuki.

        Hichiriki

        One of the ‘sacred’ instruments, this double-reed Japanese bamboo flute is often heard at Shinto weddings, and its haunting notes sound like a bit like a cross between a clarinet and the high notes of a harmonica. It’s the most widely-used instrument in gagaku and is related to both Chinese and Korean instruments.

        Komabue

        Similar to the ryūteki, but smaller and with six fingerholes instead of seven, the komabue is a transverse (played sideways) flute. Like the shakuhachi, it’s usually an ensemble instrument.

        Sho

        The beautiful sho is a free reed mouth organ with seventeen pipes arranged in a circle, symbolising the phoenix, a symbol of rebirth. The pipes are its wings; the wind chamber its body, the mouth pipe its beak, and its sound the bird’s voice.

        Biwa

        The pear-shaped biwa lute has four or five strings of twisted silk, stretched over four or more frets on a short neck, and is played with a large wooden plectrum. It’s one of the most important string instruments in a gagaku ensemble.

        Now you’re familiar with the genres and instruments of traditional Japanese music, if you’re looking for Japanese music to license, our Sounds of Japan albums have everything you need, including fantastic taiko drumming by acclaimed artist Joji Hirota.

        Need Music for Your Project?

        At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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        This page was updated 24/05/2024.

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        BEST HARRY POTTER SOUNDTRACKS

        BEST HARRY POTTER SOUNDTRACKS

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          Whether you’re a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw or – heaven forfend – a Slytherin, the magical world of Harry Potter has a huge fandom. From the books to the films – and the spin-off Fantastic Beasts series – the Potterverse is full of adventure, thrills, fabulous imagination, intrigue, romance and friendship.

          One of the main ingredients that made the films such a stand-out was their terrific soundtracks. Music for film and trailers helps to set the scene, power up your emotions and, of course, add to the magic onscreen.

          So, how do the Harry Potter soundtracks rank in terms of the best movie soundtracks? We’ve picked our top Harry Potter songs, and done a deep dive on the soundtracks – showcasing the composers and what their unique contributions were to the franchise.

          For great movie music, check out our trailers and film styles playlists.

          The Top Harry Potter Songs

          Lily’s Theme – Alexandre Desplat

          ‘Lily’s Theme’ appears in Deathly Hallows Part 2 and was written by Alexandre Desplat, who also composed the soundtrack for Deathly Hallows Part 1.

          He said that the theme, ‘kind of ghosts the film all along and [will] be the music thread that will take us from the beginning to the end of the film.’

          The composer revealed that his goal, when writing the theme was ‘to find something as sweet and as kind as a lullaby… it’s a very simple melody that anyone can hum, child or adult, and we found this incredible singer, Mai, who has a very pure voice, almost like liquid gold. So it will haunt the film and Harry all along the last episode.’

          The theme is ethereal, and plays over an opening sequence showing Snape at a window, and then segues to Harry, subtly showing that Lily – whom they both loved – links the two together.

          Leaving Hogwarts – John Williams

          ‘Leaving Hogwarts’ appears at the end of the first film, The Philosopher’s Stone, and is also in the final moments of Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

          The first time the track appears, Harry is at Hogwarts station, leaving for the summer holidays and saying an emotional goodbye to Hagrid. The track brings in various themes from the soundtrack, including ‘Harry’s Theme’ and ‘Hedwig’s Theme’, suggesting that Harry will return to his magical world soon.

          Coming full circle at the end of Deathly Hallows: Part 2, it marks a poignant end to the series, as Harry and his friends send their own children off to Hogwarts…

          Harry’s Wondrous World – John Williams

          Played by a full orchestra, this is the track that opens Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Magical and majestic, it really sets the tone for the audience’s entrance into a world of wonders.

          It features ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ in the first few bars, before diverging into a new theme created just for Harry. The theme is used in the closing credits of both The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets.

          It’s both lyrical and hopeful, and full of excitement, joy and triumph, with a heroic feel.

          Fawkes the Phoenix – John Williams

          Our second-favourite bird in the Harry Potter films has to be the majestic, heroic phoenix, Fawkes.

          Fabulous Fawkes has healing tears and proves his worth in the Chamber of Secrets, when he helps Harry to recover from the basilisk’s poison. It’s another beautiful, soaring piece by maestro John Williams.

          Professor Umbridge – Nicholas Hooper

          Ah, dear Dolores, with her pastel-coloured cardis and fondness for felines. Has there ever been a character in literature who looked so cuddly, but underneath was so viciously spiky?

          Nicholas Hooper’s bouncy theme is introduced early in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and pops up throughout the rest of the film.

          Need funny background music? Check out our expert comedy playlist.

          So, there you have it – all our favourite Harry Potter songs, Hogwarts music and their soundtracks!

          If you’re looking for emotional, action-packed or heroic music for a project, then we have all the tracks you need – plus fantastic trailer music, perfect for creating big screen anticipation.

          Want more in-depth takes on movies? Get a deep dive on the best sports movies, our showcase of brilliant female directors and see what made our list of the definitive Disney songs.

          Need Music for Your Project?

          At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

          SIGN UP

          This page was updated 23/05/2024.

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          BLACK MUSIC HISTORY

          BLACK MUSIC HISTORY: YEARS OF MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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            As part of our celebration of Black History Month US, we wanted to trace the Black music history of some of our favourite music genres.

            From jazz to hip hop, country to R&B, there are points in the evolution of music that may surprise you.

            Names that might not be on your radar and key turning points that date back to the earliest days of history, as different people and cultures combined across the globe.

            These are very much the highlights from hundreds of years’ of music development and intended as an overview, rather than a fully comprehensive guide, of the history of Black music.

            Pre-1600

            From the 10th to the 15th Century, early archaeological representations reference instruments in Yorubaland, Western Africa.

            These mainly consisted of drums, bells and other percussion instruments. Many African musical traditions and influences were then directly transported to Northern America during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade era, which began in the 1400s, driven by the expansion of colonial European countries Portugal, Spain, France, Britain and Holland.

            From the 1500s, African and European musical traditions mixed openly in Cuba in and the wider Spanish and French colonies.

            In parallel with the cultural, religious and musical traditions in Africa, the Islamic Empire was growing, and early Muslims conquered the North African regions and Spain. This united Persian, Islamic and African culture, and this blend gradually expanded into Europe, leading to Andalucia’s cultural rise.

            The Muslims brought key scientific and cultural advancements to Spain, including early instruments such as the ud (lute), viol (a precursor to the violin) and the first reed/double reed instruments (eventually leading to the clarinet and oboe.)

            Plus, vocal and singing practices, percussion, polyrhythmic traditions and dance.

            The Crusades during the 1100s had the consequence of spreading key influences of this cultural melting pot through Europe. The 1480s saw the unification of Spain, which led to the beginnings of colonial ambition, in search of gold.

            Key developments in Cuba included rhythmic forms such as habanera (the foundation of tango) and other key syncopated rhythms which had their origins in African traditions, that ultimately lead to the rhythmic foundations of jazz, blues and much of US popular music.

            In parallel with this, Caribbean and Latin American popular music developed, party led by key Cuban styles such as son, mambo and rhumba.

            Country

            In terms of Black music history, country music is one of the oldest genres we can trace – for example, in 1678, Martinique provided the first mention of banjo-like instruments in the Western Hemisphere, which evolved from similar instruments used in west Africa.

            At that time, there was a government ban specifically on the ‘kalenda’, a gathering where enslaved Africans danced to drums and the ‘banza’.

            Instruments played in Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, such as the Jola ekonting and the Manyago bunchundo, also shared early banjo features.

            The earliest evidence of the banjo is in documents from the Caribbean in 1746, which were discovered by historian Dena Epstein, while in his Notes on Virginia, (1781), Thomas Jefferson describes enslaved Africans at Monticello playing ‘the banjar, which they brought hither from Africa.’

            Through the 19th century, Americanized interpretations of English, Scottish and Scots-Irish traditional music (often from settlers in Appalachia) were shaped by African American rhythms and minstrel songs, creating a further melting pot of cultural influences within country music.

            However, by the late 1830s, white performers had begun to mock Black artists, using blackface (known as minstrelsy), whilst appropriating their style of singing and instruments - most notably, the banjo.

            Minstrelsy was one of the US’s most popular forms of musical entertainment by the middle of the next decade, which was an unfortunate consequence of African-American music and dance gaining a wider audience.

            In 1920, ‘Race Music’ became an official music market sector, with Mamie Smith’s ‘Crazy Blues/It’s Right Here for You’ released. Simultaneously, ‘Hillbilly Music’ effectively erased Black people from country music’s origins.

            In 2019, Lil Nas X brought country music full circle when he released his country hit ‘Old Town Road’, which broke the world record for the longest time at No.1 in the Billboard chart, staying on top for 17 weeks. A true black history music moment!

            The Blues

            The blues’ origins can be traced back to the ways in which Africans from various tribes, countries and cultures would use singing to identify friends and family during the passage crossings, when they had been kidnapped from their homes.

            One of the most important names in the history of the blues is Ma Rainey (the subject of the recent Netflix film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman).

            One evening in 1902, near Clarksdale in the Mississippi Delta, when she was about 16, Ma Rainey heard a young woman singing a sad song, which she quickly learned by heart and used as a closing song for her act. This turned out to be a critical moment for the blues.

            Over the course of the following two decades, 1911 saw the birth of Robert Johnson, one of the best-known blues performers; the next year, WC Handy, the ‘Father of Blues’, released ‘Memphis Blues’, followed two years later by his biggest hit, ‘St. Louis Blues’, which became a million-selling sheet music phenomenon in the era before records.

            Making history in 1924 was Bessie Smith, dubbed the ‘Empress of the Blues’, when she became the highest-paid African-American performer in America after signing a contract with the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA).

            Just a year later, the first recordings of the country blues were made. Performers include Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. In 1930, blues legend - and a rare female guitar player - Memphis Minnie recorded 'Bumble Bee' with her first husband, Kansas Joe.

            The advent of the Chicago blues was sparked by Muddy Waters’ introduction to the electric guitar in 1945.

            Commentators differ in their view of whether the blues or gospel, country and folk had the greater influence in the development of rock ‘n’ roll – and to the degree which it was a re-branding of African-American rhythm and blues for a white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms.

            Chuck Berry was inspired by electric blues, establishing the electric guitar as rock ‘n’ roll’s centrepiece, and adapting his rock band instrumentation from the basic blues band combination of a lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass and drums.

            It is debated which was the very first rock ‘n’ roll song, but the main contenders are all by Black artists.

            Soul

            What are the origins of soul, and how did it lead to disco, funk and R&B?

            At the start of the 18th Century, work songs, developed from African traditions, were commonplace in enslaved communities. Field hollers, chain gang songs and corn ditties were the predecessors to ‘spirituals’, the ‘call-and-response’ singing style forming the blueprint for many strands of Black music that followed.

            Enslaved Africans were legally forbidden from learning to read or write, so they would also pass on stories through the oral tradition of singing.

            This oral tradition later led to the exchange of coded information and directions for those who wanted to escape their horrific lives via the Underground Railroad.

            In 1728, the First Great Awakening sparked a religious revival across America, with huge numbers of both Black and white people being converted.

            A decade later, Dr Isaac Watts published Hymns & Spiritual Songs, favoured by enslavers wanting to convert the enslaved to Christianity. Spirituals were conceived, which carried African DNA in their rhythms and structure.

            The early white settlers’ Gaelic psalm singing is also believed to have influenced the development of spirituals.

            Spirituals were the precursor to gospel, and spread through southern enslaved communities throughout the 1740s, conveying hope and freedom.

            The first book to document spirituals, Slave Songs of the United States, was published by abolitionists William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison, and Charles Pickard Ware in 1867, two years after slavery was abolished in the US.

            Slavery songs were introduced to the world by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, from Fisk University, Nashville, at the start of the 1780s, helping to preserve spirituals.

            Arizona Dranes, the ‘Mother of Gospel’, was born in 1889, and went on to be the first African-American artist to introduce secular styles, like ragtime, to the church.

            She was also an inspiration to Thomas Dorsey, ‘the Father of Gospel’, who organised the first gospel choir in Chicago, in 1931. He also founded the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, and the first label focused solely on Black Gospel composers’ music.

            Then known as the Harlem Hit Parade, the first unofficial Billboard R&B chart appeared in 1942; soul pioneer Ray Charles’ first national hit, ‘Confession Blues’ hit No. 2 in 1949.

            In 1952, BB King achieved his first Billboard R&B No. 1 with ‘3 O’Clock Blues’ – this kicked off his prolific recording and touring career and made him one of R&B’s most important names in the 50s and beyond.

            In 1953, gospel, jazz and crooner pop started evolving into soul, as Black performers altered the content of religious songs into secular compositions. For an example of this, look to Ray Charles’s ‘I’ve got a Woman (Way Across Town)’, which is a secular version of the gospel song, ‘I’ve got a Savior (Way Across Jordan)’.

            Sam Cooke, previously a gospel singer, is credited with creating the first soul release with ‘Loveable’ which is a secular version of gospel song, ‘Wonderful’.

            It’s striking to note how much of what’s thought of as ‘pop’ vocals today came out of this ‘soulful’ way of singing.

            A huge moment in 20th Century music occurred when Berry Gordy launched Motown Records in his native Detroit in 1959 – it was one of the first Black-owned record labels to achieve major commercial success.

            Aretha Franklin was named ‘Queen of Soul’ by Pervis Spann, a host on Chicago station WVON, in 1964; she recorded her version of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ in 1967, and it became her signature song, taking its place at No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100.

            James Brown, dubbed ‘the Godfather of Soul’, was born in 1933. He became hugely influential across a whole range of later genres, including funk and hip hop, and is one of the most sampled artists of all time.

            Soul branched out into the more subversive disco sound, with the opening of New York clubs The Continental Bathhouse and the Sanctuary in 1968.

            The former, located in the basement of the Ansonia hotel on 74th Street and Broadway, became a cultural hub for not only music and clubbing, but also queer culture. A decade later, Studio 54 in the city was established as the absolute epicentre of disco and hedonism.

            Disco continued its sequined rise through the late ’70s, as Chic released their debut, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ and Donna Summer’s classic ‘I Feel Love’ dropped; produced by Giorgio Moroder, it’s regarded as a cornerstone of modern dance music.

            Prince, meanwhile, signed his first record contract, a three-album deal worth $1 million, with Warner Bros. in 1976. Stevie Wonder released his masterpiece, ‘Songs in the Key of Life’, considered by music professionals as the most innovative and inspiring album in the history of recorded music, in 1975.

            As the 80s hit, disco was giving way to funk – Prince released the album and movie ‘Purple Rain’ in 1984 and ‘Queen of Funk’ Chaka Khan released her platinum-selling album ‘I Feel for You’ – in another genre crossover, the single of the same name was the first R&B hit to feature a rapper (Melle Mel.)

            The 90s saw a wave of women becoming global superstars: Whitney Houston breaks records with ‘I Will Always Love You’ from The Bodyguard (she was named the most awarded female artist in history by the Guinness Book of World records in 2006); Mary J Blige’s debut album, ‘What’s the 411’ (produced by Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs’) landed in 1992, while Missy Elliott’s debut, ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ heralded her arrival on the scene in 1997.

            R&B and soul took over the mainstream worldwide at the start of the 21st Century, with Destiny’s Child’s third album ‘Survivor’ unleashing hit singles ‘Independent Women’, ‘Survivor’ and ‘Bootylicious’ on the charts, whilst Alicia Keys bagged 5 Grammys with her album ‘Songs in A Minor’ in 2002.

            Usher’s third studio album, ‘8701’ (2001), produced two No. 1 hits, ‘U Remind Me’ and ‘U Got It Bad,’ and his first two Grammy Awards.

            His fourth album, ‘Confessions’ (2004), sold more than 10 million copies in the US alone and netted Grammy Awards for best contemporary R&B album, best R&B performance by a duo or group and best rap/sung collaboration.

            John Legend ushered in a new era of throwback soul with his double platinum album ‘Get Lifted’ in 2004, and platinum-selling ‘Once Again’ (2006), while Ne-Yo became both a solo superstar, and built an impressive resume of songwriting credits for everyone from Beyonce and Rihanna to Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Celine Dion.

            In 2010, Beyonce was named best-selling artist of the 2000s, with 64 gold and platinum certifications, whilst Rihanna broke the record for the most No. 1s on the Billboard charts, clocking up 11, in 2014.

            Female artists continued to lead the charge when Janet Jackson launched her Rhythm Nation label in 2015, making her the first female African-American recording artist to form her own record label.

            Jazz

            In the history of Black music, New Orleans is viewed as the birthplace of jazz – founded in 1718 by the French, within three years, Black people, although still enslaved, accounted for more of the city’s population than free white people.

            In 1724, the French implemented ‘Code Noir’ in Louisiana, giving enslaved people a Sunday ‘day of rest’; their gatherings included playing drums and other traditional African instruments, singing, dancing and religious ceremonies.

            New Orleans was one of the only places in America where Black people could legally own and play drums at the time.

            New Orleans was the birthplace of Charles ‘Buddy’ Bolden – also known as King Bolden – one of the pioneers of jazz, in 1877. In the 1880s, barbershop quartets emerged as a precursor to jazz.

            They emerged as a form of Black music because, at the time, as one of the few occupations open to African-Americans, virtually all barbers were Black.

            Another jazz precursor, ragtime, was beginning to peak around 1895, spearheaded by Joseph Lamb, James Scott and Scott Joplin, ragtime’s ‘big 3’.

            Ragtime evolved into jazz with one of the very first jazz recordings in 1916 - The Versatile Four’s ‘Down Home Rag’.

            It went mainstream, reaching Europe via US soldiers around 1922 and making stars of Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

            Nat King Cole’s first big hit ‘All for You’, (1943) began a run of hits over the next 7 years which transformed him into one of the US’s biggest stars.

            His romantic allure and smooth, graceful singing style counteracted public images of Black singers depicted by minstrels and other such derogatory caricatures, together with influencing a whole generation of singers.

            In 1959, John Coltrane released his album ‘Giant Steps’, the same year that Miles Davis released the seminal ‘Kind Of Blue’.

            Hip Hop

            Hip hop is now the pre-eminent US music genre, officially surpassing rock as the most popular music genre in 2018. But how did it evolve?

            Hip hop’s foundations were laid in 1966, when DJ Terry Noel became the first DJ to mix records together.

            Building on this, DJ and music producer, New York’s Afrika Bambaataa organised block parties in the Bronx during the late 1970s and became known as ‘the Godfather’.

            Another pioneer of hip hop culture was Kool Herc, a DJ for Bronx block parties. The original form of Djing was done to loop drum breaks using turntables to make the ‘break’ last longer.

            This changed music drastically as it gave B-boys the beats to break to, and for MCs to rap to.

            Rappers may have taken the more front and centre place in hip hop, but the innovators of scratching, cutting, backspins and needle drops provided the foundations for them to build on.

            And DJ Kool Herc got there first, when he hosted a Back to School Jam with his sister in 1973. At the party, Herc unveiled a technique called ‘The Merry Go Round’, playing breaks back to back.

            The Winstons had released ‘Amen Brother’ in 1969, which was used to create the legendary ‘Amen break’, one of history’s most sampled.

            The Amen break was popularised by 80s hip hop producers after it featured on a compilation featuring funk and soul tracks with clean drum breaks intended for DJs.

            Later, jungle and drum‘n’bass artists rediscovered the break and it’s still widely used.

            The most sampled record of all time, is James Brown’s ‘Funky Drummer’, released in 1970. The first international hip hop hit came courtesy of The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ in 1979, which reached the Top 40 in America and went all the way to No.3 in the UK chart.

            1987 saw Eazy-E and Dr Dre form N.W.A, the first ever gangster rap group; Eric B. and Rakim released 'Paid In Full' in the same year.

            A year later, Chicago's Fast Eddie pioneered hip house, a precursor to the connection between modern dance music and hip hop, and in 1989, De La Soul released the seminal hip hop album, ‘3 Feet High and Rising’.

            New York DJs Adrian Bartos (Stretch Armstrong) and Robert 'Bobbito' Garcia launched their legendary hip hop show on 89.9 WKCR-FM in 1990.

            The early 90s featured Tupac’s first solo album ‘2Pacalypse Now’ (1991) and A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘The Low End Theory’, which has been widely credited with laying down the blueprint for alternative hip hop.

            Regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time, and eventually hitting triple platinum status, the Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’, in 1993 was also notable for the album deal the group struck.

            For the first time, it allowed solo members to sign contracts with other labels, separate to the group.

            From the mid-90s on, female artists came to the forefront, with Queen Latifah the first female rapper to win a Grammy award in 1995, winning the Best Rap Solo Performance category for her hit ‘Unity’.

            Missy Elliott’s debut album ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ hit the turntables in 1997, while Lauryn Hill's ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ became the first hip hop LP to win the Best Album Grammy in 1998.

            At the turn of the century, Jay-Z broke out with ‘Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)’, sampling Broadway musical Annie, Dr. Dre released his album ‘2001’, and in 2007, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became the first rap inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

            Also making history? Jay-Z, who in 2008 became the first rapper to headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.

            The following year, Drake released third official mixtape ‘So Far Gone’, which launched his mainstream career, resulting in him becoming the biggest selling male artist in American history by 2018.

            Two huge David Guetta-produced dance music/hip hop/R&B collabs - the Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I Gotta Feeling’ and Kelly Rowland’s ‘When Love Takes Over’ - inspired a slew of superstars to adopt the commercial dance music sound, christened EDM.

            Future made history in 2017, when ‘Future’ and ‘HNDRXX’ became back-to-back No. 1’s, having been released on consecutive weeks.

            A major cultural milestone was achieved by Kendrick Lamar in 2018, when he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, for his album ‘DAMN’. He is the first non-classical/jazz artist to be honoured in that category, with the Pulitzer committee commending the album’s, ‘affecting vignettes, capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.’

            PLAYLIST: BLACK HISTORY MONTH

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            At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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            subliminal advertising

            WHAT IS SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING?

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              A subliminal message is an audio or visual stimuli that’s not perceived by your conscious mind. They’re often put into songs, films or adverts (hidden advertising), as they can be used to enhance the persuasiveness of something – or convey something else entirely.

              Subliminal messages are below the threshold of conscious perception. You can picture your subconscious mind in the same way as an iceberg, with far more of its mass below the surface than above. As the subconscious, or unintentional aspect of your mind represents around 90% of your total brain function, it’s clearly way more powerful than your conscious mind when it comes to processing information.

              subliminal advertising

              The human body sends around 11 million bits per second to the brain for processing; its capacity has been estimated by the researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and by Bell Labs engineer Robert Lucky at 120 bits per second. So that’s the amount of ‘bandwidth’ you have for paying conscious attention to at any given time.  There’s no formal agreement on how fast the subconscious mind is, but scientists posit that it can process up to 500,000 times more than the conscious mind is able to.

              So, a subliminal message is one that’s bypassing your conscious mind, but being picked up by your subconscious.

              What Is Subliminal Advertising?

              Subliminal messaging in ads was first introduced as a concept by James Vickery, and then by Vance Packard in his book from 1952, The Hidden Persuaders, which claimed that Coca-Cola had used subliminal advertising in cinemas to drive sales of drinks and popcorn. (The study the claim was based on was later discredited.)

              Subliminal Advertising: A Definition

              According to Campaign magazine, ‘the definition of subliminal advertising is quite broad. By one definition, it is: "The use by advertisers of images and sounds to influence consumers’ responses without their being consciously aware of it."’

              Potentially convincing people to buy your product or service through subliminal advertising can be done in a number of different ways. Sometimes, it’ll involve words or images being flashed on a screen so briefly that you don’t detect them consciously (try 0.003 seconds). In print advertising or logo design, there may be an image, colour or shape incorporated into it that takes you a while to see – but your subconscious has potentially registered it.

              Subliminal Advertisement Examples:

              1. The Amazon Logo

              It’s a logo you’ve seen a million times, so where’s the subliminal message? Well, have you ever noticed that the arrow points from the ‘a’ to the ‘z’, telling your subconscious mind that you can literally get anything from Amazon? Plus, the arrow looks like a smile, subliminally making you feel good about the brand, so there are actually two messages cleverly hidden in one device.

              2. The FedEx Logo

              Bet you’ve never clocked this one – FedEx make clever use of negative space – look between the ‘E’ and the ‘x’ and what do you spot? Yep, another arrow. Created by Landor Associated design bureau in 1994, it’s received more than 40 design awards, and was mentioned in a run-down of the top 10 best emblems by Rolling Stone magazine.

              3. Toblerone

              The Toblerone logo isn’t really subliminally selling you anything – unlike FedEx’s subtle promise of speedy deliveries and Amazon’s that you’ll be able to buy anything from A-Z. Look closely at the mountain range, which mimics the chocolate’s distinctively-shaped chunks, and you’ll be able to find a bear standing on its hind legs. Bern, the Swiss capital where the Toblerone bar was created, is called the ‘City of Bears’ and the bear features on its coat of arms – the logo thus pays tribute to the bar’s birthplace.

              Does Subliminal Advertising Work?

              In truth, no-one really knows. Most people would likely tell you it doesn’t – in the same way that, despite it being a multi-billion pound global industry dating back to the 15th century, plenty of people tell you they’re never persuaded by ads. That’s more down to people not liking to feel manipulated – and as if they have very little control over their conscious decisions.

              There are, however, several studies that Philip Merikle, who works for the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, points to that show, ‘considerable information capable of informing decisions and guiding actions is perceived even when observers do not experience any awareness of perceiving.’ Hedging all bets, subliminal advertising has officially been illegal in the UK, US and Australia since 1958.

              Looking for background music for advertising? Rest assured, none of our music has any subliminal messages in it!

              The Best Subliminal Messages

              Subliminal Messaging in Movies

              Are they subliminal messages, or are they just things that bored movie-makers have put in to entertain themselves? We’ll let you be the judge.

              1. The Simpsons

              In The Simpsons, for example, eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted that God and Jesus are the only characters drawn with five fingers (all the other denizens of Springfield have four).

              2. The Matrix Reloaded

              Most of the license plates in the Matrix films refer to Bible verses – Trinity and Morpheus’s ‘DA203’ seen in this clip is Daniel 2:03 – ‘I have had a dream that troubles me, and I want to know what it means’.

              3. The Exorcist

              What is it with subliminal messages and religion? Perhaps most of them date back to the iconic horror film of 1973, in which a section of garbled speech is revealed when Father Damien Karras plays it backwards. This clip reveals what the demon is saying.

              4. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

              Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) visits a Mexican restaurant, whose sign reads ‘Escupinos en su Alimento’, which may be a clue that they’re not going to be enjoying much fine dining – the English translation? ‘We spit in your food’.

              5. Fight Club

              Want to rewatch a favourite film to pick up a ton of hidden messages and visual clues you’ve missed? We recommend David Fincher’s cult hit Fight Club as one of the best. When Edward Norton’s Narrator meets charismatic Tyler Durden for the first time, for instance, it’s not actually the first time the audience has seen him: he’s a ‘blip’ in four different frames, including when the Narrator is making photocopies; when he’s leaving the doctor’s; when he sees Marla leaving a therapy session and during a cancer support group. He’s also in the front row of a group of waiters, when the Narrator is watching TV in his hotel room – onscreen, the group say, ‘Welcome’ (Tyler can be seen on the far right.)

              One of the film’s themes is the pervasiveness of non-stop advertising, which Fincher illustrated by having a Starbucks cup in nearly every scene. And as 11points.com points out, there’s a very subtle hint early on that Tyler isn’t real. When the Narrator’s condo blows up, he calls Tyler from a payphone: no answer. When the phone rings seconds later, the camera zooms in on the payphone. There’s text that says, ‘no incoming calls accepted’ – ie, Tyler couldn’t have called him back on it.

              Subliminal Messaging in Songs

              In 1985, two young men were drinking, smoking marijuana and listening to heavy metal records – among them Stained Class, a Judas Priest album. At sunset, one of the men, Raymond Belknap, shot himself and died. His friend, James Vance also attempting to take his own life, but did not die immediately – he died of complications three years later.

              The two men’s families sued Judas Priest’s label, CBS Records, for $6.2 million, arguing that the pair had been driven to shoot themselves by the track ‘Better by You, Better Than Me’ on Stained Class. The plaintiffs claimed that there was a subliminal message – ‘do it’ – urging listeners to take their lives. The suit was eventually thrown out, but there have been rumours of subliminal messages concealed in music for decades.

              Who, for example, would’ve thought that the squeaky-clean purveyors of 60s pop The Beatles would’ve hidden subliminal messages in their music? The Fab Four first came across what’s called ‘backmasking’ – recording a message backwards onto a track – when they were making Rubber Soul in 1965. They put a backmasked line into ‘Rain’, a single from 1966.

              But their use of backmasking led to the group being at the centre of a strange urban legend. In 1969, rumours began spreading that Paul McCartney had died in 1966 and been replaced by a lookalike. One suggestion was that when the White Album’s ‘Revolution 9’ was played backwards, the phrase ‘turn me on, dead man’ could be heard. Plus, if you played the ‘mumbling’ by John Lennon between the songs ‘I’m So Tired’ and ‘Blackbird’ backwards, did it really sound like, ‘Paul is a dead man. Miss him’? It was, of course, all rubbish.

              However, the band had the last laugh when they created a backmasked message for the 1995 recording of John Lennon’s 1977 demo ‘Free as a Bird’. Released as a studio version 15 years after his death, it featured a clip of Lennon saying ‘turned out nice again’ at the end. McCartney told The Observer, ‘We even put one of those spoof backwards recordings on the end of the single for a laugh, to give all those Beatles nuts something to do.’

              Other groups who messed about with backmasking include Pink Floyd, whose ‘Empty Spaces’ from The Wall contains the message, ‘Congratulations. You’ve just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the funny farm, Chalfont…’ ELO, meanwhile, went to the extreme: their 1983 album, Secret Messages, is entirely comprised of reversed vocals.

              To end on a more upbeat note, Franz Ferdinand decided to subvert the trope that backmasked messages are often ‘Satanic’ by adding one of the best subliminal messages, the phrase ‘She’s worried about you, call your mother’ into ‘Michael’ to add something wholesome. Aww.

              For more expert articles and inspiration, explore our articles on using music in advertising, films and on YouTube. Our regularly updated playlists have music for every mood or production genre, enabling you to license tracks globally, and for every use.

              Need Music for Your Project?

              At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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              This page was last updated 07/03/2024 and 28/05/2024.

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              youtube image sizes 2024

              YOUTUBE IMAGES SIZES 2024: A BEGINNERS GUIDE

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                Growing up, we were told to ‘never judge a book by its cover’. But in the digital age, who can resist the temptation of pretty graphics and photos? And it’s essential YouTube vloggers bear this in mind.

                Images are paramount to YouTube ( as important as music for your YouTube videos): they grab potential viewers’ attention, encouraging them to click on your videos and channel.

                Using imagery that looks unprofessional could cost you many viewers, as a competitor’s use of graphics may prompt viewers to stray (In 2024, online loyalty doesn't exist).

                For this reason, your images must always look slick and be able to stand out from the crowd.

                To ensure your images are perfect, we’ve created this guide, letting you in on everything you need to know when switching-up your YouTube graphics – including YouTube image sizes.

                Everything You Need to Know About YouTube Images Sizes

                YouTube Profile Picture Size

                How Big is a YouTube Profile Picture?

                It’s always important to get your measurements right, which is why knowing the YouTube profile picture size is essential. So, what is the right size? At the time of writing, it’s 800 x 800 pixels.

                How to Make a YouTube Profile Picture

                In the video below, Frozen Fractal demonstrates how to create a profile picture/logo for YouTube.

                Aptly, his profile picture logo is both professional and impressive. The vlogger opts for online photo editor Pixlr to design a cosmic-inspired ‘R’ logo.

                If you’re not a big fan of Pixlr and you’ve not got access to Adobe Photoshop, there are other applications you can use to create a YouTube profile picture.

                Snappa is a graphic design software designed to help you create images for all of your social media pages – including YouTube.

                YouTube Banner Size

                What Is the YouTube Banner Size 2024?

                Wondering what size are YouTube banners?

                The YouTube banner dimensions (also referred to as the YouTube channel art size) are currently 2560 x 1440 pixels.

                How to Make a YouTube Banner

                Now we’ve answered the question ‘What size are YouTube banners?’, it’s time to learn how to make one. Here are a couple of ways that you can create a banner for YouTube.

                In this ‘how to’, YouTube channel TheFigCo walks viewers through his favourite online tool for creating YouTube banners – Canva.

                The application allows users to make use of a range of fonts, images and other elements to create their dream YouTube banner.

                If Canva doesn’t quite cut it for you, you can always try out PlaceIt by Envato.

                UK-based YouTuber Alan Spicer has created a step-by-step tutorial to show viewers how to use PlaceIt, which you can check out below.

                Alternatively, you can create a banner in Adobe Photoshop.

                In the video below, US-based vlogger Seso shows viewers how to create a YouTube banner in Photoshop.

                YouTube Thumbnail Image

                What is the YouTube Thumbnail Image Size 2024?

                It’s vital that your thumbnail image has the correct dimensions or else your chosen image may need to be cropped. Please note that the correct YouTube thumbnail image is 1280 x 720 pixels.

                How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail Image

                In the video below, Kelechi Mgbemena informs viewers that there’s a lot more to designing a YouTube thumbnail image than simply picking a picture.

                Watch the vlog to view the Nigerian-based beauty and lifestyle vlogger demonstrate her thumbnail-creating process using the online application Canva.

                YouTube Templates

                There are different online tools and software programmes you can use to create art for your profile picture, thumbnail and banner, some of which we’ve mentioned above.

                Allow us to bring a few of them to your attention once again.

                1. Snappa

                Snappa is an online graphics tool that provides users with the option to use their professionally-designed YouTube channel art templates.

                2. Canva

                Canva is one of the most popular graphic design platforms in the world, thanks to its easy-to-navigate interface and expansive range of templates and features.

                As you can imagine, there are tons of YouTube channel art templates to choose from.

                3. PlaceIt

                PlaceIt is a mock-up and design tool that allows you to create visuals for all sorts of purposes – including branding for your YouTube channel.

                PlaceIt’s YouTube templates are some of the best on the web and are used by vloggers across the globe to entice audiences.

                Music for YouTube

                If you are an aspiring or professional YouTuber, you may want to get acquainted with our music catalogue. Audio Network has over 200,000 tracks from the best artists, musicians and composers in the world. Each of our tracks can be licensed and used in any of your upcoming projects – including your next vlog.

                Check out our dedicated YouTube playlist below to find out more.

                MUSIC FOR YOUTUBE

                Need Music for Your Project?

                At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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                This page was updated 21/05/2024 and 27/06/2024.

                YOUTUBE IMAGES SIZES 2024: A BEGINNERS GUIDE Read More »

                VFX SOFTWARE PROGRAMMES

                A GUIDE TO THE BEST VFX SOFTWARE PROGRAMMES

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                  Want to go out of this world or even… destroy it entirely? Take to the high seas without having to hire a yacht (or feel seasick?), create fur effects or a giant dragon’s scales? You need VFX.

                  But with so many different VFX software programmes on the market, which are best? We’ve gathered together our pick of the bunch – from Cinema 4D to Adobe After Effects – for all you green screen aficionados and for anyone who wants to create the next MCU, for the visuals to go with your epic soundtrack.

                  What Is VFX Software?

                  Before we dive into the best VFX software programmes, if you don’t know, VFX is an abbreviation of ‘visual effects’, which means VFX software is, quite simply, ‘visual effects software’.

                  It’s what makes you believe that all the animals in Disney’s recent ‘live action’ version of The Lion King are real and the software that enabled the Avengers to smash up cities in order to take down their enemies – not to mention Thanos vaporising half the universe with just a click of his fingers… With VFX, you can travel at lightspeed through hyperspace, or transform an actor into a house elf. Create complex graphics for video games, or collapse whole streets in on themselves a la Inception. The only limits to what you can create are your own imagination.

                  Which Is the Best Software for VFX?

                  With so many different VFX software programmes available, the ‘best’ one for you all depends on your preferences. Below we dive into the world of how to make special effects to help you make an informed decision.

                  Best VFX Software – Our Top Picks:

                  • Side FX Houdini
                  • Cinema 4D
                  • Adobe After Effects
                  • Nuke
                  • Blender
                  • Marvelous Designer
                  • Unity Visual Effect Graph
                  • ZBrush
                  • Adobe Premiere Pro
                  • Autodesk Maya
                  • Autodesk Mudbox
                  • Black Magic Fusion
                  • SpeedTree
                  • RealFlow
                  • Unreal Engine

                  1. Side FX Houdini

                  Price: Free – $4,495

                  Benefits:

                  If you’re aiming to create some on-screen magic, we suggest you look to Houdini: the VFX and 3D animation software does just about everything.

                  There are pyro effects, fluid effects, destruction effects and much, much more.

                  Films and TV shows that have used Houdini: Moana, Game of Thrones, Doctor Strange, Blade Runner 2049

                  2. Cinema 4D

                  Price: $59.91 a month/ $719 a year

                  Films that have used Cinema 4D: Tron Legacy, Pacific Rim, Inception

                  Cinema 4D is a powerful software suite, used by professional and amateur content creators, that offers a multitude of tools.

                  With its intuitive interface and procedural workflows, the Maxon-developed programme is a prime choice for any creative looking to blow their audience away.

                  3. Adobe After Effects

                  Price: £19.97 a month/ £238.42 a year

                  Films that have used Adobe After Effects: Avatar, Ender's Game, Iron Man 3

                  When it comes to post-production, it’s always a good idea to put your trust in Adobe.

                  After Effects is Adobe’s VFX software programme adored worldwide for its user-friendly layout, and impressive range of options and affordable price tag.

                  4. Nuke

                  Price: Free trial/ Purchase from £426

                  Films that have used Nuke: The Maze Runner, The Lone Ranger, Twilight: Breaking Dawn

                  Nuke is The Foundry’s node-based VFX application that keeps getting better with age.

                  Our favourite element of the software? It’s got to be the customisable gizmos. Being able to personalise your layout is always a big plus.

                  5. Blender

                  Price: Free

                  Films that have used Blender: Spider-Man 2, Next Gen, Tears of Steel

                  There’s no denying that Blender is one of the best free VFX software programmes around.

                  It literally has the same capabilities as some of the paid applications on this list! So, why not try it out?

                  6. ZBrush

                  Price: From $39.95 a month

                  Films and TV shows that have used ZBrush: Westworld, The Hobbit, Edge of Tomorrow  

                  ZBrush is a leading sculpting software used in countless film and television productions; so the chances are, you’ve seen it in action on more than one occasion.

                  The application comes with an array of brushes and other functions to help you to bring your vision to life – exactly the way you see it in your head.

                  7. Marvelous Designer

                  Price: $1700 a year

                  Films and games that have used Marvelous Designer: The Hobbit, The Adventures of TinTin, Assassin’s Creed Unity

                  Marvelous Designer is the go-to cloth-making VFX programme for creatives worldwide, which includes graphic designers working at Disney, HBO and Playstation.

                  Used in both live-action and animated content, the software puts users in the seat of a fashion designer, as they use the software to create realistic virtual clothes.

                  8. Unity Visual Effect Graph

                  Price: From $200 a year

                  Games that have used Unity Visual Effect Graph: Last Day on Earth, War Robots, Relative Worlds

                  Unity Visual Effect Graph is the VFX software for video game designers that promises to create beautiful, complex graphics.

                  Judging by the case studies that Unity can boast about so far, we reckon they live up to their word.

                  9. Adobe Premiere Pro

                  Price: £19.97 a month/ £238.42 a year

                  Films that have used Adobe Premiere Pro: Deadpool, Gone Girl, Terminator: Dark Fate

                  As you already know, we’re big fans of Adobe post-production software. And Premiere Pro is another Adobe offering that can be used to create sensational visual effects.

                  We suggest that if you’re new to the world of VFX, you make this software your starting point.

                  10. Autodesk Maya

                  Price: Free Trial/ £234 a month/ £238.42 a year

                  Films and TV shows that have used Maya: Transformers Franchise, Stranger Things, Dumbo (2019)

                  What software does Hollywood use for VFX? Autodesk Maya. Chosen by Disney, Netflix, Paramount and more, Maya is a first-rate programme that’s responsible for some of the best visual effects in cinematic history.

                  11. Autodesk Mudbox

                  Price: Free Trial/ £12 a month/ £96 a year

                  Films that have used Fusion: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Tree of Life

                  The second Autodesk VFX software programme to make it to our list is Mudbox.

                  Primarily used to sculpt and paint, Mudbox allows its user to create intricate visuals with its world-renowned precision tools.

                  12. Black Magic Fusion

                  Price: Purchase from £235

                  Films that have used Fusion: Alice in Wonderland (2010), The Martian, Thor, Avengers: Age of Ultron

                  Your options feel limitless when using Black Magic Fusion: one of the best compositing software programmes available.

                  Why? We think it’s got something to do with the immersive interface that makes you feel like a professional (whether you’re already one or aiming to take your creativity up a notch).

                  13. SpeedTree

                  Price: Free – £1000 a year

                  Films that have used SpeedTree: The Lion King (2019), Black Panther, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

                  SpeedTree is a vegetation-focused VFX software that makes you feel pretty God-like.

                  The programme gives you the power to add life-like greenery, of all shapes and sizes, to your content.

                  We think it’s the best in its field…

                  14. RealFlow

                  Price: Starting from €497.50

                  Films and TV shows that have used RealFlow: Once Upon a Time, The Great Gatsby, Vikings

                  Just as SpeedTree is the place to go for vegetation SFX, RealFlow is the destination for fluid SFX creation.

                  The easy-to-use software creates mind-blowing effects that speak for themselves – so, go and take a look.

                  15. Unreal Engine

                  Price: Free

                  Film and TV shows that have used Unreal Engine: The Mandalorian, War of the Planet of the Apes, Ford VS Ferrari, The Batman

                  Video effect freeware Unreal Engine may have initially been developed by Epic Games for video games VFX, but film and television adopted it when they discovered the programme’s impressive capabilities.

                  Now it’s used to create some of the most iconic on-screen visual effects.

                  Add Music to Your Content

                  Once you’ve created VFX for your content, it’s time to start thinking about music. Music can instantly transform any scene, which is why you must choose your tracks wisely.

                  Use our search bar and filter by mood and emotion to find the composition for you.

                  Need Music for Your Project?

                  At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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                  latin music genres

                  DIFFERENT TYPES OF LATIN MUSIC GENRES YOU NEED TO KNOW

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                    What are the three popular music forms of Latin America? Well, you'll be pleased to know that there are far more than just 3! In this article we cover the different types of Latin American music and Hispanic music genres. Keep reading for everything you need to know, and get ready to explore our diverse collection of Latin music.

                    In December of 2019, Billboard reported that Latin music was the fourth most-streamed genre in the US on DSPs such as Spotify – and third for video streaming on YouTube. But if your Latin music go-to is ‘Despacito’ on repeat, then there’s a huge number of different Latin music genres and styles to discover, including exciting Mexican dance music genres, types of music in Latin America and Latin pop.

                    From vibrant salsa to romantic bachata, reggaeton to Regional Mexican, Brazilian samba and chilled out bossa nova to Argentina’s passionate tango, it’s time to explore the history of Latin music, the most popular Mexican music genres – and who are today’s most influential stars.

                    For an introduction to the music, dive in with the Latin America playlist.

                    Latin Music Genres List

                    Latin Music Styles

                    Latin Pop

                    The Miami Super Bowl halftime concert in 2019 featured Colombian superstar Shakira and Jennifer Lopez sporting a Puerto Rican flag, performing a set full of English and Spanish hits and deftly illustrating how thoroughly Latin music has taken centre stage around the world.

                    Latin pop is constantly evolving, and takes in everything from salsa to rock en Español. And as Rolling Stone notes, ‘some of the most famous Latin pop songs have survived military dictatorships, war, famine and natural disasters – and they still hold up in spite of passing trends.’

                    latin pop

                    Salsa

                    Salsa is one of the best known and most popular Latin music genres worldwide.

                    The first salsa bands were predominantly from Cuba and Puerto Rico – the music then spread through Colombia and the rest of the Americas until it became a global phenomenon.

                    New York had been a centre of Cuban-style dance music since the 1940s, when Cuban artists brought Afro-Cuban son music into the USA.

                    Son combined with traditions from African American jazz to create a Caribbean jazz sound, which was embraced by Salsa artists across the Caribbean and the United States, especially among Puerto Ricans in New York.

                    When Cuban musicians could no longer go to New York after Fidel Castro had claimed control in 1959, the city’s Puerto Rican musicians quickly filled the vacuum – taking the Cuban-inspired Latin jazz sound and bringing in their own sounds, together with mambo and Latin boogaloo, to create a new style: salsa.

                    When a song started, apparently the bandleader would shout ‘Salsa!’ to get the crowd going, hence the name.

                    Salsa artists like Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Fania All Stars, Marc Antony and Celia Cruz – known as ‘The Queen of Salsa’ - helped to popularise the genre internationally.

                    The contemporary salsa sound coming out of Cuba is known as timba. It’s a fast-tempo salsa, with a strong Afro-Cuban influence whose songs often follow a more traditional rumba structure, with a slow start, then a core salsa rhythm with a call-and-response vocal.

                    salsa

                    Bachata

                    Bachata originated in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s, with songs produced by José Manuel Calderón – the first was ‘Borracho de Amor’ in 1962.

                    Bachata mixed elements from son with the pan-Latin American style bolero and its troubadour singing tradition.

                    It wasn’t really until the 1990s, however, that this Latin music genre became truly popular, as it changed from using nylon stringed Spanish guitars and maracas to electric steel string and guira used by bands such as Monchy y Alexandra and Aventura.

                    A typical bachata group has seven instruments – the requinto (lead guitar), Segundo (rhythm guitar), electric guitar, guitar, bass guitar, bongos and guiro.

                    Some of today’s most popular bachata artists include Romeo Santos (who was previously in Aventura), who has collaborated with Drake, Usher and Marc Anthony, Prince Royce and Luis Vargas.

                    bachata

                    Another genre to have emerged from the Dominican Republic is merengue, whose origins can be traced back to the 19th century.

                    With African and Spanish influences, it’s based on a repeating five-beat rhythmic pattern called a quintillo. It’s usually performed on a diatonic accordion, a tambura (a two-sided drum) and a güira, a metal scraper – merengue music often includes brass, such as horns and saxophone as well.

                    The merengue is also the Dominican Republic’s national dance, performed in ballroom dance competitions alongside the salsa. It became popular outside of the Dominican Republic following mass migration of Dominicans to New York City in the 1960s, and has inspired musicians such as Carlos Santana.

                    Other famous merengue artists include Sergio Vargas, Mala Fe, Elvis Crespo, Milly Quezada and Los Hermanos Rosario.

                    Tango

                    Tango has become one of the most celebrated Latin music genres in dance, having evolved during the 19th century in Buenos Aires’ immigrant communities.

                    Tango brings together a myriad of other styles, including flamenco, polka, hanabera, and milonga.

                    It typically features guitar, bandoneon, piano, violin, flute and double bass and is marked out with its sudden changes of dynamics and staccato phrases - together, of course, with its usually intense and often melancholic mood.

                    Carlos Gardel, known as ‘the King of Tango’ propelled the genre into the mainstream at the beginning of the last century; other celebrated tango artists include Astor Piazzolla, and Argentine stars on the ‘neo tango’ scene, such as Tanghetto.

                    tango

                    Reggaeton

                    Reggaeton has exploded into the mainstream, with artists such as Bad Bunny and J. Balvin killing it on streaming platforms and ‘Despacito’ becoming the most viewed YouTube video of all time – and the first to hit five billion views.

                    Originating with Panamanian El General (Edgardo A. Franco) in the late 1970s, and catching the imagination of youth in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, reggaeton fuses reggae and Jamaican dancehall with hip hop and Latin music such as salsa and bomba, together with dembow rhythms, rapping and singing, typically in Spanish.

                    reggaeton

                    Reggaeton captured a global audience in 2004, with the release of Daddy Yankee’s album Barrio Fino and breakout single ‘Gasolina’.

                    Daddy Yankee also featured on Luis Fonsi’s ‘Despacito’, which signalled another reggaeton revolution, and it now looks commercially unstoppable (you can even hear its influence in Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’).

                    Colombia’s Karol G’s collaboration with Nicki Minaj, ‘Tusa’, became the first song by two women to top Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, breaking the somewhat all-male stranglehold on reggaeton.

                    Brazilian Music

                    Samba

                    Samba originated in Africa as the music of former slaves and African religions, but has become an icon of Brazilian national identity. It developed in Brazil in the early 1900s, in Rio’s favelas.

                    A samba band consists mainly of percussion instruments playing syncopated rhythms, together with call-and-response.

                    The samba band leader uses an Apito (a whistle) to signal breaks and calls, with metal drums - Repinique (or the Reps) – leading introductions, played with a wooden stick and one hand; Surdo – the large bass drums which hold the beat, snare drums, shakers and agogô (double metal cow bells).

                    samba

                    Bossa Nova

                    Bossa Nova literally means ‘new trend’ or ‘new wave’, and it became the music of choice for an emerging Brazilian middle class.  It emerged in a period of Brazilian democracy between the early 1950s and the mid-60s, as the society left behind its colonial past and looked towards the rest of the world.

                    Bossa nova songs, in contrast with samba songs, focus on personal emotions, such as love, longing and nature. Samba’s themes concentrate more on politics and carnival.

                    Get a rundown on the current Brazilian music scene from Sarah Roston.

                    bossa nova

                    Latin Rock & Alternative Music

                    Latin alternative music, or ‘alterlatino’ refers to Latin rock music that combines genres including alt rock, lo-fi, chillout, metal, electronica, hip hop, new wave, punk, reggae and ska with traditional Ibero-American sounds.

                    It’s a genre that as Billboard.com says, is ‘pushing boundaries in multiple, unexpected directions, with exciting results’.

                    Established alt-female collective LADAMA, whose members hail from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and the US are at the forefornt of the genre.

                    Strong Latin female voices are under-represented in rap, but Mexican Niña Dioz is a name to watch out for.

                    Dioz started rapping on stage at 18 and quickly gained attention for her experimental beats and combination of electronic, Caribbean and Latin elements in her music.

                    Types of Spanish Music: Rock en Español

                    One of the pioneers of Rock en Español was Ritchie Valens, whose ‘La Bamba’ adapted a Mexican folk song, fusing it with rock melodies, in 1958.

                    In the 1970s, the ‘Latin Rock’ genre was coined, while Argentine artists Charly Garcia and Luis Alberto Spinetta became two of the key members of the Rock en Español movement.

                    The genre was booming in the 1980s as Heroes del Silencio from Spain, Los Prisioneros from Chile and Mexico’s Caifanes emerged on the scene.

                    Today’s stars of Rock en Español include Shakira, Y La Bamba and Natalia Lafourcade.

                    rock en espanol

                    Regional Mexican Music

                    Regional Mexican music is an umbrella term covering folk genres from mariachi to cumbia, norteño, banda and ranchera.

                    Explore our Regional Mexican playlist for an introduction to the music.

                    Mexican Music Genres

                    What are the different types of Mexican music? Find out below!

                    Mariachi

                    Joyful, passionate mariachi music is often a feature of important events and celebrations such as birthdays, baptisms and weddings. It's some of the most popular Mexican music.

                    Its stringed instruments and oldest rhythms date back to Mexico’s colonial history (1519-1810), with mariachi emerging from the small towns of western Mexico in the 1850s.

                    Radio stations and movie studios took mariachi to new audiences from the 1930s onwards, and now major annual mariachi festivals, such as the International Mariachi Festival of Guadalajara, staged every September, feature local and internationally renowned groups.

                    A mariachi band can consist of as many as eight violins, two trumpets and at least one guitar – the traditional guitar is the vihuela, a high-pitched, round-backed guitar that provides the rhythm and the guitarrón, a bass guitar. All of the band’s players take turns singing lead and doing backup vocals and wear highly embroidered charro outfits.

                    mariachi

                    Norteño

                    Norteño is named for its birthplace in northern Mexico, and has a rural and traditional sensibility. It’s usually played by an ensemble featuring an accordion, bajo sexto (a baritone-range twelve-string guitar), bass, drums and vocalists.

                    Its roots date back to the late 1800s when the Mexican population was introduced to a variety of European folk dances such as polkas, waltzes, mazurkas and redovas by German and Czech immigrants.

                    The genre exploded in popularity in the 1950s and by the 1970s, it was the most popular style of music amongst the working classes in Texas and northern Mexico.

                    Los Tucanes de Tijuana became the first norteño act at Coachella and think that, ‘with trap and reggaeton, the doors are opening for more styles within the genre of Latin music’. Listen to Los Bravos del Norte and Los Tigres del Norte for a deeper dive into norteño.

                    norteno

                    Los Tigres also perform the corrido – a narrative, poetic ballad illustrating socio-political tensions or historic events that relate to the immigrant or working class experience.

                    Cumbia is another hugely popular style of regional Mexican music which originated in Colombia, whose popularity has spread throughout Latin America, from Argentina to Chile, Peru and Venezuela.

                    Similar to salsa, it also features guitars, accordions, bass guitar and percussion.

                    Colombian singer Luis Carlos Meyer Castandet emigrated to Mexico in the 1940s – his album La Cumbia Cienaguera is considered to be the first cumbia record outside Colombia.

                    One of today’s biggest cumbia bands is Los Ángeles Azules, whose collaboration with Ximena Sarinana, ‘Mis Sentimientos’ became regional Mexican music’s most-watched video of all time and secured them a place in YouTube’s elite Billion View Club.

                    Streaming has also made superstars of regional Mexican music artists such as Banda MS, while the global reach of a Netflix series like Narcos has given Mexican music another boost through its soundtrack.

                    The importance of incorporating traditional elements into contemporary tracks is explained by Chilean singer Mon Laferte, who is now based in Mexico City.

                    She told Rolling Stone that, ‘I’m not a purist, and I don’t make traditional Mexican music, nor traditional salsa, But I try to take cues from it and bring it into the present, ’ as she wants to reflect the richness of the music.

                    Latin artists show no signs of slowing down, so whether you’re into reggaeton or Latin trap, boyband CNCO, acts such as Fuerza Regida bringing their experiences to traditional genres, or Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny collaborating with Cardi B and Balvin, you’re spoiled for choice.

                    Want more Latin music? Explore tracks composed, performed and produced by the world’s leading specialist musicians in our Global Music Series collection.

                    Need Music for Your Project?

                    At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!

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                    This page was updated 10/11/2025.

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                    THE BEST FEMALE DIRECTORS

                    THE BEST FEMALE DIRECTORS RIGHT NOW

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                      "Congratulations to those men – I guess?", said Issa Rae, as she announced the nominees for the Best Director category at the 2020 Oscars. The shortlist followed awards such as the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs in omitting female directors from recognition. In a year of particularly strong female-helmed films, the men-only list caused widespread fury.

                      As the Guardian’s Ellen E. Jones commented, ‘Is it too much to ask that the Oscars acknowledge not just one female story every few years, but a multiplicity, every year?’ The 2021 shortlist marked a long-overdue change, with Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell both in the running – and Zhao making history by taking home the statuette.

                      So, why, historically, have women filmmakers been overlooked in the Best Director category, and who are both the rising stars and the industry greats whose movies you should be seeing?

                      Who Was the First Woman To Direct a Movie?

                      Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) started out as a scriptwriter and film editor on almost 50 films, then moved into directing from 1926-1943.

                      Her body of work includes Clara Bow’s first talkie, The Wild Party, on which Arzner also invented the boom microphone.

                      Plus, her accomplishments included being the first woman to become a member of the Directors Guild of America.

                      Dorothy Arzner

                      Photo Credit: https://lwlies.com/

                      The Oscars and Women Directors

                      Only seven female film directors have ever been nominated for the Best Director Oscar:

                      • Lina Wertmuller for Seven Beauties in 1976
                      • Jane Campion for 1993’s The Piano; Sofia Coppola in 2003 for Lost in Translation
                      •  Kathryn Bigelow – the first female director to win an Oscar – for 2009’s The Hurt Locker
                      • Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird in 2017, and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
                      • Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) in 2021

                      The latter made history on two fronts, being only the second woman to win the award, and the first woman of colour.

                      The Annenberg Foundation, which studies representation and inclusivity in the entertainment industry, found that across 13 years, the Golden Globe Awards, Directors Guild of America, Academy Awards and Critics’ Choice Awards has, out of a total of 273 directing nominations, awarded only 5.1% of them to female directors.

                      Why Are Women Being Excluded From the Best Director Shortlists?

                      Time magazine has identified a number of structural reasons why women directors might not be gaining nominations at the Oscars – not least that ‘the Academy doesn’t choose the Best Director nominees. The directors’ branch does.’ And the rules for joining this particular branch are structured in a way that might limit women’s ability to enter. Members must have at least two directorial credits, at least one of which had to premiere in theatres in the last 10 years. Women, however, receive far fewer opportunities to direct a second film than men do.

                      According to the in-depth look at the industry by the Annenberg Foundation, women directed 5% of the top 1,300 films from 2007 to 2019. Of those female directors, only 17.4% directed another film beyond their debut feature (13% directed a second, 2.2% a third, and 2.2% a fourth). By contrast 45.7% of men who made a top film in the last decade directed more.

                      This lack of opportunity is most clear with regard to big budget blockbusters. Penny Marshall was the first woman to direct a movie that made more than $100 million with Big in 1988 (it actually grossed over $150 million). But it took director Patty Jenkins the better part of a decade and a half to get Wonder Woman to the big screen after her critical success with her debut Monster – studios just weren’t receptive to a female superhero film. Whereas Gareth Edwards, Marc Webb and Colin Treverrow – all of whom had made one indie film each – were given the reins to massive franchises for their second outings (Godzilla, Spider-Man and Jurassic World, respectively.)

                      Jenkins did, however, direct sequel Wonder Woman 1984, released in 2020. Other female directors of notable box-office successes haven’t been so fortunate – both Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) were replaced by men for the franchises’ second instalments.

                      Director Mimi Leder (On the Basis of Sex, Deep Impact) accuses the industry of double standards – noting that a female director is more likely to land in ‘movie jail’ if they make any mistakes. After her film Pay it Forward was a critical and commercial flop, two years after Deep Impact had been a huge hit (grossing over $350 million at the box office), she revealed to The Ringer that, ‘the experience of going to Movie Jail was deafening and painful. I didn’t get a movie until seven years later. I was offered lousy movies, but the point is, I know men who have made $250 million failures and they get three more films.’

                      Her take? ‘Maybe it’s as simple as, “Hey, you look like me! You’re a white guy, you wear a baseball hat, come on in. Come join the club.” I think there’s a safety [to that]. It’s insanity, but it still exists. Look at the numbers, still… It’s certainly not because we [women] are less talented, or don’t have the ability to make big films, small films - all sizes. It’s obviously not true that we don’t work as hard.’

                      How Can the Industry Improve?

                      Some of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s strategic suggestions to foster systemic change in favour of both women and people of colour are:

                      • Setting target inclusion goals
                      • Inclusion riders
                      • Shareholder activism
                      • Transparent interviewing/hiring practises
                      • Supporting non-profit organisations training new filmmakers

                      According to Celluloid Ceiling’s study, released in January 2021, women made up 18% of the filmmakers calling the shots behind the top 250 domestic (US) feature films (up from 13% in 2019). If you’re just looking at the top 100 films, then women filmmakers comprised 16%, up from 12% in 2019.

                      Who is giving female filmmakers more prominence? Netflix. The Annenberg Foundation’s Dr Stacy L. Smith revealed that, ‘In contrast to our findings on top-grossing films, 20.7% of Netflix directors of US-based films in 2019 were women. The legacy studios may want to take a note out of the streaming giant’s playbook on how to hire more inclusively behind the camera.’

                      One of the streamer’s biggest recent hits was The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood:

                      The Best Female Directors

                      There are, however, still reasons to feel positive about the inclusion and recognition of women in film. Goteborg Film Festival succeeded in its 50/50 Vision initiative of featuring an equal number of films directed by women and men at the 2020 festival.

                      Plus, the 2021 Oscars nominees for Best Director included two women directors: Chloé Zhao, for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell, for Promising Young Woman, righting what many felt was a wrong with the all-male line-up from 2020, when Greta Gerwig was overlooked for Little Women.

                      Here’s our pick of the female directors who should feature on future awards lists.

                      1. Chloé Zhao

                      Chinese-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao become only the second woman to win the Best Director awards at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, Directors Guild of America Awards and the Golden Globe Awards (after Kathryn Bigelow) in 2020 with Nomadland.

                      Zhao’s debut feature film was Songs My Brothers Taught Me in 2015, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to much critical acclaim. She received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for both Best Film and Best Director for her follow up, The Rider, in 2017.

                      The Oscar-winner, along with Cathy Yan, has definitely bucked the trend of women not being offered huge blockbusters off the back of indie success. In 2018, Marvel Studios hired her to direct Eternals, which follows the events of Avengers: Endgame and features a new team of superheroes. Released in November 2021, it made just shy of $162 million on its opening weekend, going straight to No. 1 at the box office, and this year, she’s appeared on Time magazine’s Time 100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

                      It’s reported that Zhao now has her eye on Dracula – and wants to turn the story into a sci-fi western, tapping into the director’s fascination with characters who ‘live on society’s fringes’. Zhao has a singular vision, so it’ll be fascinating to see what she does with such familiar source material.

                      2. Lulu Wang

                      Writer-director Lulu Wang took inspiration from her own life in telling the story of Chinese American Billi, whose family decide not to tell her grandmother that she’s dying, in The Farewell. A hastily pulled-together wedding provides a cover story to bring the family together to say farewell to ‘Nai Nai’.

                      The film is heartfelt and joyful in equal measure, with the Guardian’s Wendy Ide praising Wang for being ‘as gifted a writer as she is at creating playful, visually layered frames, [she] is constantly juggling clashes – of cultures, of tragedy and joy... Ultimately, it’s all about balance, a yin and yang of roots and identities, humour and pathos that comes together into a satisfying, bittersweet wedding banquet of a movie.’

                      Awkwafina’s performance as Billi made history when she became the first Asian-American woman to win a leading actress award at the Golden Globes.

                      Remaining with subject matter that ‘centres on questions of family’, Wang’s next project is a film adaptation of Alexander Weinstein’s collection of short stories, Children of the New World.

                      3. Céline Sciamma

                      In a recent Guardian profile, Xan Brooks posited that French director Céline Sciamma ‘makes small films about stolen moments, secret selves, and outsiders who have crafted a vital life in the shadows’. Portrait of a Lady on Fire was a hit at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay award, and was shortlisted for the Palme d’Or; Sciamma also took home the Queer Palm award for the festival’s best LGBTQ-related film – the first woman to receive it.

                      Portrait of a Lady on Fire is set in late 18th century France and features an aristocrat and an artist falling in love. The ‘smart and sensuous film’ was hailed by the New York Times as, ‘less a chronicle of forbidden desire than an examination of how desire works. Like a lost work of 18th-century literature, it is at once ardent and rigorous, passionate and philosophical.’

                      Sciamma focuses mainly on female characters – from arthouse hits Water Lilies and Tomboy to the cult hit Girlhood. And despite the critical acclaim and commercial success of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, her latest film, Petite Maman, is, true to her signature style, ‘a gorgeous miniature, a fairytale of sorts’.

                      With compatriots Julia Ducournau and Audrey Diwan winning the Palme d’Or and the top prize at Venice respectively, and Sciamma picking up the audience award at the San Sebastian film festival, the director thinks that things are finally changing. She told the Guardian, ‘French female film-makers are becoming more of a presence, because they are becoming more global, with more international funding and recognition.’

                      4. Cathy Yan

                      It’s fair to say that Chinese-American director Cathy Yan’s first film, Dead Pigs, is… kind of a hard sell. Taking five years to make, and inspired by an odd story about thousands of dead pigs floating down China’s Huangpu River, it’s a Chinese-language drama inspired by Magnolia, about the interconnected lives of a waiter, a beauty salon owner, an American architect, a pig farmer and a bored rich girl. Plus, it’s got a replica of the Eiffel Tower in the Chinese countryside, and musical numbers. It’s a wild ride.

                      Having studied business and film at NYU, Yan then turned to video journalism, making films in her free time before applying to film school aged 27. While Dead Pigs was a hit on the festival circuit, it’s the huge studio hit Birds of Prey that you’ll probably be more familiar with, as a showcase for Yan’s directorial skills. Starring Suicide Squad’s Harley Quinn, Yan told the NME about her approach: ‘I did not just want to make a superhero movie, I was interested in making a movie about female rage in a way to hit back at the patriarchy, ironically, within a patriarchal system.’

                      And when it comes to that system, Yan is forthright on the need for further progress. ‘The change has to be much more institutionalised. It can’t just be a bunch of dudes patting themselves on the back because they hired a woman. There has to be women at all levers of power who can enact real change.’

                      What’s next? Well, Yan has directed an episode of the all-consuming TV hit Succession (season 3’s ‘The Disruption’) and is writing and directing an adaptation of a bestselling story collection, Sour Heart, for indie studio A24.

                      5. Regina King

                      Regina King has been working in the industry for over 35 years. As an actor, she’s appeared in everything from Boyz n the Hood to If Beale Street Could Talk, and from sitcoms to animations, cult films and long-running series such as 24 and Southland. Plus, most fans agreed that she was the best thing in the superlative TV adaptation of Watchmen, and she was a kick-ass heroine in the recent Black Western The Harder They Fall. In the past five years, King’s won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk) and four Emmys, the most recent for Watchmen.

                      Having cut her teeth directing TV including episodes of Insecure, This is Us, Southland and Scandal, plus a documentary and a TV movie, King made her movie directing debut with One Night in Miami. The first film directed by an African American woman to screen at the Venice Film Festival was inspired by a real-life encounter between four African American legends: Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown in 1964.

                      The film’s rich, lush colour palette was inspired by Wong Kar-Wei’s In the Mood for Love and the paintings of Jacob Lawrence. Ellen E. Jones’s five-star review in Empire, lauded both the film and its director. ‘This feels like history-in-the-making, as both a fresh insight into the interior lives of historical figures and a snapshot of a future filmmaking great just getting started.’

                      As for the differences King is making in the industry, she vowed that 50% of her team would be women on future projects when she accepted her Golden Globe for Beale Street in 2019.

                      Watch Regina King discussing her career, for a fascinating deep dive into her work and her process:

                      6. Greta Gerwig

                      Greta Gerwig was originally an indie darling, writing and acting in films such as Hannah Takes the Stairs and Nights and Weekends. She then co-wrote and starred in Frances Ha (2013) and Mistress America (2015). Her big breakthrough, though, was 2017’s Lady Bird, which earned a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director – she was the fifth woman in Oscar history to have been nominated for Best Director.

                      Loved and lauded by both critics and audiences, Gerwig’s most recent film, a gorgeous adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Little Women, expertly explored themes of gender, ambition and class – whilst still making you sob your heart out.

                      Shortlisted for both Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture at the 2020 Oscars, (with additional nominations for Costume Design, Original Score and Best Actress/Supporting Actress for Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh), Gerwig’s omission from the best director shortlist was all the more extraordinary. As the Guardian remarked, ‘after decades of being mischaracterised as a cosy tale about sweet-natured sisters and their domestic trifles, Alcott’s sardonically-titled Little Women finally has a faithful adaptation. Under Greta Gerwig’s passionate direction, it rages righteously about the patriarchy’s narrow definition of artistic merit… and how it works to crush female creativity. How apt.’

                      iNews put it more bluntly: ‘Perhaps the worst part [of Gerwig’s omission] is that the film is literally about the refusal to take stories about and told by women seriously.’

                      It was reported in July this year that Gerwig’s next co-writing and directing project is a live-action Barbie film for Warner Bros, starring Margot Robbie, due for release in 2023. She’s also starring in the upcoming White Noise, alongside her Frances Ha co-star Adam Driver.

                      7. Lorene Scafaria

                      Lorene Scafaria is an absolute tour-de-force - covering not only directing and screenwriting, she’s also a playwright, actress, singer, musician and songwriter. By the age of 17, she’d written and staged her first play, and after moving to LA was commissioned by Focus Features to adapt Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist into a film – taking inspiration from Before Sunrise for its structure.

                      Scafaria also wrote the script for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), which became her directorial debut, followed by The Meddler in 2015. However, it was Hustlers in 2019 that really put her on the map as a director.

                      With a tour-de-force performance by Jennifer Lopez as exotic dancer/con artist Ramona, and based on an article in New York magazine, Hustlers is a brilliantly entertaining look at friendship, revenge and female power, pitched by Empire magazine as ‘a con movie with all the slickness of a Steven Soderbergh thriller.’ And as to what makes this female-centred Robin Hood tale a standout, Empire’s view was that, ‘in giving her heist movie a heart without sacrificing the high-tension tropes of the genre, Scafaria chooses to celebrate what makes women different over dwelling on what holds them back.’

                      Most recently, Scafaria, a devoted TV fan, has helmed the infamous ‘Kendall’s 40th Birthday Party’ seventh episode of HBO’s Succession season three.

                      8. Mati Diop

                      French/Senegalese actress and filmmaker Mati Diop studied at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, where, as a part of the institute’s Film Study Centre Fellowship Programme, she wrote the script for her first feature film, Fire, Next Time – the title of which she later changed to Atlantics, her directorial debut.

                      Spearheading the charge for black female filmmakers, Diop became the first black female director to be in contention for the Palme D’Or, and Atlantics won the Grand Prix.

                      The film focuses on the Senegalese women left behind when their men leave the country for Spain in search of work. Diop worked with non-professional actors who grew up in Dakar and helped to translate their own lines.

                      Atlantics’ Netflix release connected with a global audience, with audiences thrilled to see themselves represented – Diop noted that, ‘I got a lot of enthusiastic messages on the social networks, especially from the Senegalese diaspora who were so happy to see a film in Wolof [the predominant native language of Senegal] which resembled them, on the platform. It created a sort of event.’

                      9. Marielle Heller

                      Another multi-hyphenate, you might have seen Marielle Heller acting in The Queen’s Gambit, as Beth’s adoptive, alcoholic, mother, Alma (she studied theatre at UCLA and then at RADA) – plus, she’s also a screenwriter as well as a director.

                      Heller both wrote and directed her debut film, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, based on a graphic novel, which received critical acclaim at Sundance and was named best first feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.

                      Her follow-up, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, about literary forger and writer Lee Israel, cast Melissa McCarthy against type and Richard E. Grant as her fellow grifter and friend. Both were nominated for Oscars – for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively.

                      Marielle and Richard E. Grant discuss misfits, platonic love stories and what it was like working on a female set in this Hollywood Reporter interview:

                      Heller’s most recent film was the emotional A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, starring Tom Hanks as iconic children’s TV presenter Fred Rogers – another in Heller’s series of, as the Independent said, ‘smart, empathetic portraits of humanity.’

                      10. Jane Campion

                      The first female filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or, Jane Campion was also the second woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, for The Piano in 1993. Hailing from New Zealand, she grew up in the world of the theatre, when her parents founded the New Zealand Players. She studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, where she made several short films; her first short, Peel, won the Short Film Palme d’Or in 1986.

                      Her feature debut, Sweetie, won awards internationally, and her breakthrough came with a biopic of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, An Angel at My Table (1990). Since the global success of The Piano in 1993, Campion’s eclectic career has covered everything from a Henry James adaptation (The Portrait of a Lady) to an erotic thriller (In the Cut), a biographical drama about poet John Keats (Bright Star) to TV mini-series, Top of the Lake, starring Elizabeth Moss. The latter saw Campion nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries.

                      Premiering at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where Campion was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Direction, her first film in twelve years is an adaptation of Thomas Savage’s novel, The Power of the Dog. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee, the sexually-charged Western set in 1920s Montana is already leading the charge at the Golden Globes, with seven nominations (including one for Jonny Greenwood’s score); Campion is in the frame for Best Director. It’s a pretty radical departure for a director whose previous films, as the Guardian noted, ‘have [almost] exclusively explored female experience, desire and self-expression’. Not that the Guardian mind – lead film critic Peter Bradshaw just named The Power of the Dog the best film of 2021.

                      In an interview with Sean O’Hagan, Campion revealed that, ‘the #MeToo movement probably had some bearing on my decision. ‘It was such a powerful force that I think it opened up a whole different space to explore this kind of subject matter. It was like those women, young women mostly, had peeled away so many layers of the onion as regards masculinity, that it created a space for old warriors like myself to explore a very male story like this one.’

                      Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves

                      As we’ve shown, there are a host of women who are bringing their singular vision to the big screen.

                      Want more inspiration? Check out our kick-ass women playlist for a selection of brilliant tracks by female artists.

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