- Megatrax Production Music
-
Established in 1991, Megatrax Production Music is an independently owned and operated production music and custom scoring company based in North Hollywood, CA. The company was founded by composers JC Dwyer and Ron Mendelsohn, friends who met at USC and have retained control of the company since inception.
Originally notable for their innovation with promo music[1] cues in the early 1990s, Megatrax now offers a broad selection of music styles and additional services, including custom scoring and broadcast news/ID packages through their Aircast division.
The company's tagline is "The Sound of Entertainment."[citation needed]
Contents
Catalogs
The company’s production music offerings are composed of nine music catalogs including:
Megatrax
The company’s flagship library, Megatrax has cuts in every genre and style.
The Scene
The Scene collection features underscores in a range of styles.
Sensación
Sensación[2] includes salsa, club beats, Reggaeton and romantic ballads, as well as regional styles like Norteño, Banda and traditional folk genres.
Marquee Music
Marquee Music features radio-length songs with full lyrics and vocals in current styles, including modern pop, alternative rock and world pop, plus vintage styles such as big band crooner and holiday songs.
L.A. Riot
From the creators of Chronic Tracks and Killer Edge, Chris Lang and Eric Cunningham, L.A. Riot features rock, techno, hip-hop and retro styles.
Beat Bites
From producer Christian Salyer, Beat Bites includes hip-hop, slamming rock, dance pop, electronic club and cross-genre blends. The Song Bites series features full vocals and lyrics by urban songwriters, artists and producers.
Amusicom
Founded by Emmy Award-winning composer Danny Pelfrey, Amusicom is suited to television, film, radio, promo and underscore projects. A stable of composers create news, drama, sports and entertainment themes and rock and pop styles.
Intervox
Designed for film, television, radio and new media, Intervox features atmospheric underscores, the latest trends in European electronica and vivid world beats.
Tonal Injection
Robert Etoll is the creator of this library designed for film trailers and promos editors with a variety of cues for action, adventure, horror, thriller, percussion, rises and sound design.
Custom Scoring
Aircast Production, Megatrax’s custom scoring division, produces music to achieve specific needs for clients in radio, film, television and digital media. Drawing from a network of composers, musicians and recording engineers, Aircast has served diverse clients including FedEx, cable networks such as Nickelodeon and History Channel, local television affiliates such as WSMV (NBC) in Nashville, WFLA (NBC) in Tampa and KRTH-101 in Los Angeles.
Based in Nashville, Aircast is overseen by Creative Services Director Randy Hart, an industry stalwart whose career has included playing with artists such as Iggy Pop, Garth Brooks, Larry Carlton and Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Roger Miller and Steve Wariner. Hart also played on the soundtrack for work on the David Lynch classic movie, “Eraserhead.” Previous to his work with Aircast, he served as Vice President for both Famous Music and BMG Music Publishing.
Broadcast industry veteran Joe Falkner signed with Megatrax in 2010[3] to serve as Division Manager for Aircast Production. Falkner, who is based in Dallas, has brought his expertise in helping television stations and cable networks find the right music to express their brands to Megatrax and Aircast.
Founders
Ron Mendelsohn, CEO and Executive Producer
As CEO, Ron Mendelsohn has built and oversees a full production slate at Megatrax. Mendelsohn is an accomplished pianist and composer who has written hundreds of cues for the Megatrax library. Along with co-composer J.C. Dwyer, Mendelsohn has scored numerous film/TV projects ranging from feature films to television themes and promos.A graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Mendelsohn attended film-scoring programs at USC and UCLA. He also studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liege, Belgium, on a grant from the Rotary Foundation. Mendelsohn is an active member of numerous professional organizations including the Production Music Association, the Society of Composers and Lyricists, Vistage and ASCAP.
JC Dwyer, CCO and Executive Producer
JC Dwyer has composed and produced many of Megatrax’s most popular titles, resulting in thousands of film and television music placements. He continues to shape the company with his creative contributions to music and in supporting departments including research and development and marketing and sales.
After earning a BA in music from Berklee School of Music and an MM at USC[citation needed], Dwyer began his professional music career in NBC’s music department. Creating on-air promos, custom scoring, themes and network news productions, Dwyer helped develop some of the most recognizable and longest-running TV campaigns, including NBC’s “Must See TV” and FOX TV’s “30 Seconds to Fame.” He has been a member of Promax since 1993, a member of The Society of Composers and Lyricists since 1997 and is a long-standing member of many other organizations including PMS, NARIP, AIMP and ASCAP.
Company Timeline
1991 Megatrax is founded & releases its first CD, The Promo Collection.
1992 Megatrax releases its second CD, Drama Plus.
1993 Megatrax makes debut appearance at PROMAX; hires first employees.
1994 Megatrax reaches milestone of 10 CDs.
1995 Megatrax moves to current studio facility in North Hollywood[4]; establishes searchable website[5].
1996 Megatrax scores "Must See TV" campaign for NBC's popular Thursday night line-up.
1997 Megatrax launches Producer Catalogs (PCATS), portable binder for CD collection.
1998 Megatrax expands studios, builds new room for editing, overdubs and voiceover.
1999 Megatrax founders Mendelsohn & Dwyer score feature film "Carlo's Wake," starring Martin Landau and Rita Moreno.
2000 Megatrax launches MusicSouce Desktop, CD-Rom search system.
2001 Megatrax records Movie Showcase 5-CD set with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.
2002 Mendelsohn & Dwyer compose the opening theme for “30 Seconds to Fame” on Fox[6].
2003 Megatrax introduces Radio Barter; adds 3rd party catalogs, Amusicom and Intervox, to product line-up.
2004 Megatrax launches authentic Latin catalog, Sensación[7]!
2005 Megatrax launches The Scene.
2006 Megatrax launches Beat Bites urban catalog.
2007 Megatrax installs studio-wide Pro Tools network.
2008 Megatrax launches LA RIOT collection; establishes custom scoring division through acquisition of Aircast Production[8].
2009 Megatrax launches indie song label Marquee Music.
2010 Megatrax introduces TV Barter[9]; launches premium trailer catalog, Tonal Injection .
2011 Megatrax celebrates 20th anniversary
References
- ^ "Artist Spotlight: Eddie King & Megatrax Productions," by Randy Alberts for The Cakewalk Blog
- ^ "Megatrax Releases New Latin Music Library Sensación," ProSound News
- ^ "BIZ BUZZ for the week of Oct. 22, 2010," The LA Daily News
- ^ "Artist Spotlight: Eddie King & Megatrax Productions," by Randy Alberts for The Cakewalk Blog
- ^ "Music sites wait for Net-savvy filmmakers," by Adena Halpern for Variety
- ^ "Megatrax Scores '30 Seconds to Fame,'" Mix Magazine
- ^ "Megatrax Releases New Latin Music Library Sensación," ProSound News
- ^ "Megatrax Acquires Aircast Production," Post Magazine
- ^ "Megatrax launches TV barter," RBR.com
External links
Categories:- Music production companies
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
