#*adds to epic the musical animatic playlist*

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

*bangs pots and pans together incessantly*

GET YOUR BUTTS OVER TO YT PEOPLE

DUVETBOX JUST DROPPED THEIR "SIX HUNDRED STRIKE" ANIMATIC

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

you all better go watch this right now! ୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭

Guys, did I mention that I did my first animatic for Not Sorry For Loving you? Anyway, here you go, enjoy<3

[ineffectualdemon]

Hey if you want to try Epic the Musical here is a playlist that has animatics through the Wisdom Saga and later I will add the Vengeance Saga to it

Also obligatory link to Jorge's site where you can stream the music officially and see the livestreams

It's also on Spotify and apple music and just about everywhere else

[mishietishie]

So um I was doomscrolling one day on yt shorts and I came across this animatic of someone's ocs and the song 'Just a man' from EPIC the musical was used in it and I thought: "Oh, this is a nice song. It fits in my oc playlist, I'll add it" so I did

Ofc I automatically add a bunch of other EPIC songs because I listened to those little previews and I thought they were nice and fit in my oc playlist

Now I can't listen to anything else and I'm obsessed with these songs (no I haven't seen the musical, maybe I will)

ALSO WHY DOES MONSTER AND MY GOODBYE HIT SO HARD??

LIKE ESPECIALLY IN MY GOODBYE WHERE ATHENA IS LIKE "Because you're just a man" AND THEN THOSE OTHER MEN COME IN TO SING ALONG?!??!?!?! SJEKWJWSKDK

Those songs keep giving me goosebumps, and I'm ADDICTED (also the man who sings for Odysseus has such a nice voice like wth??)

[celticwolf55]

Do you have any songs that, when you listen to them, you think of wenclair? Like when I listen to miss you by Josh Makazo, I automatically think about wednesday being sad about Enid temporarily leaving her. And idk if you speak Spanish, but Tanto by Jesse & Joy is them. I mean, the lyrics literally are

"I love you so much I feel stupid

Stupid that it hurts when you aren't here

And so you can imagine how much

Count all the stars and add one more"

Also, have you heard of Epic the Musical? If you haven't, you should give it a listen. It's amazing and the song Little Wolf reminds me of Enid's fight with tyler. The fight in Little Wolf starts in the song Legendary right before it in defense of someone

I actually tend to make playlists depending on what story I am writing.

The first one I made was just things that gave me Wenclair vibes or was cello covers, and it has hundreds of songs in it. But then I started to make playlists that were specific to the story I was working on.

When I was writing Fake it till you make it, I literally listened to Reckless Diving on repeat for months. I also religiously listened to Mercy by Shawn Mendes to get the vibes as well as a lovely cello cover by GnuS Cello (which made it into the fic itself).

I am not familiar with the song you are specifically talking about or the artist, but I will look it up for sure. I do not speak Spanish, but I am learning Danish which is an absolute bitch of a language to learn as a native English speaker.

And YES I am obsessed with Epic! I often listen to the sagas when I go to the gym. I can totally see the whole Little Wolf being their fight, but I think there was a whole animatic I had in my head around one of the first sagas' songs. I think it was from Just a man with these lyrics:

But when does comet become a meteor?

When does a candle become a blaze?

When does a man become a monster?

When does a ripple become a tidal wave?

When does the reason become the blame?

When does a man become a monster?

(When does comet become a meteor?)

(When does a candle become a blaze?) forgive me

(When does a man become a monster?) forgive me

(When does a man become a monster?) forgive me

I'm certain I had a whole ass thing in my head about Enid struggling with her wolf side, but I will probably never make it.

For anyone that wants my playlists, here are several:

Specifically the songs Morticia and Wednesday play together in this story:

And this is just a general one for when I need background noise without lyrics:

And the Wenclair one I was talking about:

[bookwyrminspiration]

quil if i were to get into epic where would be the best place to start 👀

!!!! Well if you mean to get into the musical at large, I'd highly recommend starting from the beginning to get the full story and see how all the songs play off each other. here's a link to the entire playlist of songs in order on YouTube

If you're just looking for a few songs, some highlights are: Ruthlessness, Scylla, and Monster. I have a few more I'd personally add, but those are generally the most loved (though fair warning you may not understand their context)

If you're more of an animatics person, here's a few playlists of them: one, two. I haven't watched all of them personally, but you'll see a few recurring names--WolfyTheWitch, gigi, mirscy, AnniFlamma, gigi, etc. So you can check out what each of them has done individually if you like.

So a few different ways you could take it! But generally what I'd say is just listen to the songs in order from the beginning :)

[branches-and-thorns]

Listening to Epic on shuffle P2

Because there’s a second power cut!

This time I’m listening to a playlist of mine that has some covers included.

11:44am: Open Arms! My light just came on for 2 seconds and scared the shit outta me (it’s off again now). I’m vibing why is Polites’s part so good—

11:47am: MUTINY GODDAMNIT. IMMEDIATELY GETTING WHIPLASH. God this song is amazing tho. Armando Julián’s singing is top tier. AND JORGE IS GREAT AS ALWAYS. THE SINGING THE MUSIC I. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

11:54am: RUTHLESSNESS! It’s the Annapantsu cover but god it’s good and I am VIBING so much rn. I also think I should draw one of my OCs (Vivienne) with this song. Or Kore, actually. Idk I’ll decide when I can actually do animatics.

11:59am: JUST A MAN! Gonna zone out and think about OCs (Lucius) for a second. Okay now I have a non OC art idea.

12:02pm: SCYLLA! Pretty voices for the win! Gonna ignore the insane whiplash I’m getting today and just vibe with the voice. Actually listening to it the second half of this song would be great to draw Lacey to.

12:05pm: DONE FOR! 12pm is just murder girl hour I guess. God I love this song tho. Honestly the Circe saga is probably my favourite overall. Like I like Monster the most but if I had to add all their scores up the Circe Saga would win.

12:05pm: Warrior of the Mind, Caleb Hyles singing Athena and Annapantsu singing Odysseus. I haven’t heard this cover in a while so I’m just gonna vibe. Okay I forgot how much range Caleb has this is great.

12:07pm: No Longer You, Lydia the Bard. This cover sounds kind of…tragic? To me? Idk if you get it you get it I guess.

12:14pm: There are Other Ways! This really is girl’s hour wow— last time I talked about the tapping beat reminding me of a dance scene so I can’t talk about that so I will talk about the characters I mentioned then until the songs end. Nobles in a fantasy autocracy, sirens, friends to enemies, shared crush, severe violence issues, hypocrisy, and frankly I should draw them with the ‘no I’m not a player I’m a puppeteer’ line. AND TIME.

12:17pm: SURVIVE! Girls hour is over sadly. So funny story when the new versions got released I switched the versions over in my playlists planning to check them out after listening to the thunder saga and then had to leave home due to noise and forgot about it. So the first time I heard this song it was on shuffle on the Millia playlist and the squelch made me JUMP.

12:23pm: Warrior of the Mind, Annapantsu singing Athena, Caleb Hyles singing Odysseus. The girls are back and I’m gonna vibe again!

12:26pm: The Horse and the Infant. Okay I’m gonna vibe for the first half and cry for the second. ZEUS PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GODS. FUCK. OFF.

12:39pm: (took a break to get water and check on the electrics. Still nothing!) Full Speed Ahead! No thoughts just vibes.

12:42pm: The Underworld! I am preparing tissues. However I am also just. Vibing to the music. God the music in this whole musical is AMAZING. OKAY I CAN DO THIS. OKAY I DID IT BACK TO VIBEY MUSIC.

12:46pm: No Longer You, Caleb Hyles covering. I have listened to this one a lot and the ending goes off the rails so looking forward to that. Beginning to wonder what Epic would look like as an stage production. OKAY THIS IS THE BEST BIT!!

12:49pm: RUTHLESSNESS! See I think this version would be good for a Cain animatic because that bastard gets PISSED. Blind fury isn’t a Vivienne thing, but Cain? YES.

12:53pm: MONSTER! God. Favourite song. Hands down. Part of this is for sentimental reasons I mentioned last time but a lot is just that I feel like it really suits one of my blorbos and I really think I should draw him with this song. Especially considering the different reactions from the rest of the leadership…hm. Thoughts.

12:57pm: DIFFERENT BEAST OH MY. Okay so last time I was beginning to have oc thoughts about this song and it relates to the same oc I associate Monster with. It’s not even the revolution routes that triggered this it’s the siren route. Aka the one time Lucius went too far for THORN. I should draw it.

13:07pm: THUNDER BRINGER! God I swear I have the first minute of this song committed to memory. I think that’s slightly concerning. I might have slightly hyperfixated on the song while doing a very difficult art piece shortly after it came out. Okay gonna cry now.

13:12pm: MY GOODBYE! God this also carries a lot of OC associations, and it was really early in these characters development, so it stuck. Neither of them are gods so there’s that, but just…the I’m left to deal with the strain bit. THEM. AND ALSO OUCH. I am absolutely going to draw them to this song when I can draw things to songs.

13:16pm: WOULDNT YOU LIKE! I should draw this to SOMEONE in my catalogue but like. Who. I’m not getting any immediate ideas. I should think about this a bit. TBD!

Gonna wrap up there before my data runs out!

[teshadraws]

As my brain goes through obsession cycles, sometimes oddly fitting mash ups happen. Most recently brain has latched onto the music of Epic: The Musical, and since I've been browsing your art and asks about Seekers of Soul, the song "No Longer You" has decided to form a potential animatic for Seekers, feeling lots could line up. It does make me more paranoid for what will happen to Nia and Tobias going forward though. The potential pain for them is quite a lot

Oh, this is perfect timing. I literally just listened to this musical for the first time last week! It's so good. 😭

Haven't heard the "No Longer You" snippet yet, though. Let me see what the lyrics are here--

...Oh. Huh.

*Quietly adds this to the Seekers playlists.*

[kandicon]

Pspsps Magnus Archives fans :33<

I am currently in the process of making a playlist of every song* that has ever been paired with a tma animatic out of a curiosity to see the range of songs that this fandom thinks have the right Vibes. As of making this post, the playlist has 266 songs and is 15 hours and 46 minutes long.

*Songs that have appeared in multiple animatics with only be listed once (For example: 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton and The Killing Kind by Mariana's Tench both have two animatics that I am aware of, but they both are only in the playlist once), unless the versions of the song in the animatic are different.

But!!! I know I am far from finding every animatic and animation that this fandom has made because we all know how fucking huge of a fandom it is. So this is me begging y'all to please send me or reblog this post with links to the most obscure Magnus Archives (or Magnus Protocol) animatics/animation memes/animations/pmvs/etc. <3 <3 <3

Under the cut is a list of animatics and songs I have found that I am currently having difficulty with adding to the playlist for some reason or another. If y'all have any advice with that, it would also be appreciated <3

see the day- brian david gilbert (TMA animatic by 3sides1eye - A cover of The Altogether's "See The Day" by Brian David Gilbert. Although Brian David Gilbert does have an extensive Spotify, this does not appear to be any of the songs on it.

Nerdy Prudes Must Die - TMA Animatic by Ghost Artist - This animatic features the song "Nerdy Prudes Must Die" from the musical with the same title. I fear I may be missing something obvious here, as this musical seems to be incredibly popular and a few other songs from the musical are on Spotify already.

God Games (TMA AU Animatic) by CircusComics - Same situation to the other musical animatic above. Features the Ares & Aphrodite song from the God Games section of EPIC: The Musical.

𝙰 𝙽𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑 [The Magnus Archives MV] ⚠️flashing + S4 spoilers⚠️ by Akidachi - For reasons I am not currently aware, Overslept's Spotify has gone down and all attempt to access their website fail (I have tried on multiple devices and gotten the link to it from multiple sources). The only reason I am aware their Spotify ever existed is that their Facebook page still contains a link to it. This animatic contains the acoustic version of their song "A Nervous Stomach" which appears to still be available on their active bandcamp.

The Magnus Archives || OBEY meme || FLASH WARNING 13+ by Fizzyrot - Not sure what the music from this is. It's the exact same audio as the original OBEY meme, and the dialogue is taken from the 1995 movie Batman Forever.

What Is Love || The Magnus Archives Animatic by Spyruce - This one is partially unadded and partially added. "What Is Love" by Haddaway appears briefly at the end of this animatic and is thereofore added to the playlist (though it does not play long enough to get a distinctive version, the 7" Mix is added because its popularity makes it the most likely to have been the one playing); however, "What Is Love?" by Bill Wurtz does not appear to be located anywhere on Spotify. Since Bill Wurtz already has two songs on the playlist ("I'm Best Friends With My Own Front Door" and "Just Did A Bad Thing"), I don't particularly feel like this artist is being left out.

And When I Die || The Magnus Archives (Animatic) by Pencil Splinters - "And When I Die" by The Heavy doesn't appear to be placed on The Heavy's Spotify, even though the rest of the album it belongs to fully is. The version of "And When I Die" by Blood, Sweat & Tears was added in its place, but if there is a way to add The Heavy version instead, I will swap them.

AD BREAK | The Magnus Archives Animatic by kuppatan - The background music for this is familiar, but I can't place it for the life of me. The audio is official and the music exists within the existing audio too, so I think it may be just some fairly popular stock music.

[solfinite]

epic here is the shadow vibes song !

ok so like heads up im like really bad at forming opinions into words on song especially character stuff but i can try

ooooh ok!! i can see what you mean by shadow vibes! i listened to it again for the lyrics and like yeah shadow vibes!!

liiike in the way that you can take the lyrics and make an animatic and they kinda like uhh go with his story ykyk(?). if i were better at it i would def go more into it! (but alas i feel im better at breaking down other aspects of music)

wish i was able to add more to this but hopefully it somewhat makes sense and is a decently (helpful?) opinion

and a little bonus: talking abt the song itself. i really like it!! especially the kinda funky-ness it has at some parts. a definite adding to my playlist :D

[jellymellydraws]

On Repeat Playlist Tag Game

Rules: Shuffle your repeat playlist 10 times and tag 10 people.

Listen, I can't just put my list on here. You have to know WHY this thing was probably on repeat over and over again.

LISTEN-- I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS GONNA JUST CALL ME OUT IMMEDIATELY.

Not only is this on loop because it's great, but ALSO because I want to draw a half/half drawing of Emily and Charlie as they unite and sing their part. I will likely play this on loop again while I do that very thing.

I just loved the vibe of this song. It kept me going on slow days at work. But also the more I listened to it, the more I want to apply it to an OC. Not sure if an existing one or if one will be made for this. But it's there. It's growing. It will be done.

I never listened to this whole album. This popped up randomly one day and I just.....couldn't stop listening to it. Then I stopped listening to it for a while. Then it popped up again and suddenly BOOM, it's on the Rose playlist. It's Durgetash angst. It's *chef's kiss* I love it.

The show came out like, two weeks ago. I was just binging the album over and over again-- this one being on the list shouldn't count but I'm playing by the rules here.

Heard the snippet on tiktok a while ago. Was hyped when the full song released. I love trying to add harmonizing vocals to it. It makes me feel like I'm floating.

This was great, okay? I definitely looped this one on purpose. That line about Hell rising to war, losing the ones she was killing for? FUCK YES.

THIS SONG IS JUST, IT'S A VIBE, OKAY? I HEAR IT AND I GO "YES, THIS IS GOOD. i WILL LISTEN, ALWAYS."

My middle/high school musical taste called and said I would like this. They were right. The more I see on this list the more I realize I just really like angry angsty songs. Like...Idk, I'm a generally peppy and bubbly person but the songs I listen to are so ANGERY

Epic the musical my other love. Yes I also want to make an animatic for this. That's a big reason this gets on loop -- imagining the scenes I may never make cuz TIME IS NOT MY FRIEND HERE.

WHAT A BANGER TO END THIS LIST ON-- THIS SONG IT JUST-- UGH-- THE PIANO!? THE VOICE!? YES. YES PLEASE. UGHHHHH (this might end up in my Rosestarion playlist...)

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

that you to my yt suggestions for showing me this amazing 'dangerous' animatic (more like full animation (˶°ㅁ°)!! )

go check it out asap, it's brilliant

[rin-solo]

May I humbly add to this the animatic playlist that I made and have been/will keep maintaining 🥺💕

Hey I saw your post abt wanting to connect and saw you listed epic the musical.

I'm obsessed with greek myths and tsoa and and really want to get into the epic fandom but it seems confusing where to start, do you have any recs? 😊😊

OMG HI!!!

AGH YAY ANOTHER TSOA FAN EEEEEEEEE

Here’s a link to the entirety of Epic! There’s 8 sagas so far and the last one will drop this Christmas! 🎄 I’m super happy you wanna get into it, it’s really fun and has a great fandom in my opinion 💙

ENJOY!!

[batsandbugs]

Damian Wayne x Marinette Dupain-Cheng Playlist - Part 1

(As always the pictures aren’t mine!)

So I love music playlists, I have one for almost every OTP, holiday, or mood. When I found out we didn’t have a Daminette playlist post, I had to put one together. Starting out at pre established playlists for the two did little to help, because their universes are very different and they’re personalities do not lend to overlap within a song only about one or the other. But after some searching I found several that I thought fit well. These are only my opinions though. 😊

I would love if you left recommendations for a Part 2!

Can You Feel the Love Tonight - Pentatonix

I utterly fell in love with this song the second I heard it. I love most of their songs and covers because they’re such a creative group. I got into Daminette and this song just clicked for those two. This was actually the first song for the playlist!

Drama Club - Melanie Martinez

Okay so this is less a Daminette song and more of a salt song against The Class from Marinette’s perspective. But like since half of the Daminette stuff is salt in one form or another I feel justified putting it on here. Recommended to me by @tiny-goddess-of-chaos

Angel - Jack Johnson

I love Jack Johnson and could listen to his stuff for hours. This song is sweet, short, and I figure is a sappy inner monologue of Damian’s in the morning or something. It mentions angels, heroes, and soulmates - literally the perfect Daminette song.

Falling - Trevor Daniel

Another recommendation by @tiny-goddess-of-chaos this could be perfect from either Damian or Marinette’s perspective if either of them had been in a relationship before.

How Do You Talk To An Angel - The Heights

I think any song with angel in the lyrics or title is self explanatory for this pairing 😅 But I love the mood of this song; it fits Damian’s cluelessness at how to deal with a girl who’s not quite intimidated by him and at the same time totally able to keep up with him - how to talk to a angel indeed.

Taking Chances - Celine Dione (Glee Cover)

Okay so I found this song and I didn’t like the Céline Dion version, but I loved the Glee version. I know, Glee? Really? But hear me out, the song is perfect for Damian and Marinette; “don’t know much about your life, don’t know much about your world” and “what do you say to jumping off the edge, never knowing if there’s solid ground below, a hand to hold, or he’ll to pay” trust me it’s perfect! And Lea Michele does a great job singing and the chorus towards the end is too pretty for words! 🥰

I Choose - Alessia Cara

Okay this is another one from @tiny-goddess-of-chaos and oh my gosh it’s soooo PERFECT! You could just imagine Marinette singing it to Damian. It fits them so well!

Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding

This is just a good song from Marinette’s perspective and it’s a little darker than your average love song which just fits better.

Lucky Ones - Lana Del Rey

Oh my gosh this song is too perfect for these two. I saw the lyrics and was immediately sold and then I saw it was by Lana Del Rey which means that it had that beautiful haunting sound her songs have which is the perfect aesthetic for these two. The best line is “every now and then the stars align, boy and girl meet by the great design” and it just sends shivers down my spine.

Superheroes - The Script

I mean, pretty self explanatory, but still such a good song and the imagery really fits with Damian and Marinette. They really have to be stronger in order to be heroes and I feel like this song synthesizes that for these two.

When the Day Met the Night - Panic at the Disco

Everything about this song is perfect for Damian and Marinette; the lyrics, the imagery, the tune, the mood - just perfect. “Just hanging around and he fell in love, and he didn’t know how to get out.” Uh, if that’s not our poor assassin boy right there I don’t know what is. 😁

Angels or Devils - Dishwalla

Such a great song from Damian’s perspective. Perfect for imagining both of them going through a hard time and supporting each other through it. Plus the language is perfect imagery for them.

Lucky - Jason Mraz

One of the few duet songs I found for this pairing (I’ll need some more part two) Two lovers pining for each other across the sea? Daminette for sure 😊

Luck Be a Lady Tonight - Frank Sinatra

Classy and fancy, with such a perfect Marinette vibe. It makes me think of all the galas/balls/fundraisers in all the fics that I had to include it.

Can’t Help Falling In Love - Pentatonix Version

Have I mentioned that I love Pentatonix, because I really do. Their version of this song is so epic, and it just really fits these two.

Heroes (we could be) - Alesso

I think this song rally hits the superhero/vigilante side of their personalities even better than Superheroes by the Script. It really hits on the difficulties of being a hero and the call to be a hero - which is so big for both of them.

Lucky Strike - Maroon 5

Such a fun song to listen to and absolutely perfect for Marinette!

Angel - Aerosmith

Any good playlist should have some old fashioned rock and roll! 🎸 This song is beyond perfect lyrics wise for these two! I’m imagining all the Damian perspective songs are being passionately sung in his head while he only scoffs aloud. Any telepath in the room is going to hear a never ending stream of gush! 🥰

As Long As Your Mine - Wicked

The one other duet song on here, and the only one from musical theatre which is insane, so I’ll be combing for more for part two. This one was recommended to me by @salty-fang so thanks for that! It’s Wicked, so what more than I could say than its perfect!

Lovebug - Jonas Brothers

Oh my gosh I’m jumping all over the past several decades for material 😅 I actually really like some of the old Jonas brothers stuff and this song was too perfect not too add. It’s so sweet.

Safe and Sound - Capital Cities

Another recommendation from @tiny-goddess-of-chaos a really fun sing with a total Daminette vibe.

Stand by You - Rachel Platten

I love this song and as soon as I was putting together a playlist for these two it was inevitable that it ended up on there. It’s such a great song about standing together and get through hard times and the imagery is perfect for this couple.

Fools - Lauren Aquilina

I have the animatic in my head for this song because it’s just that perfect for Daminette. It’s haunting in that same way Lana Del Rey’s stuff is. Absolutely stunning!

Angel in Blue Jeans - Train

Okay, I love the beat and rythm in this song. And the lyrics are so perfect! I could also see this as a Jasonette song, but either way great fit for this fandom!

Alright I’d love to hear what y’all think! Please leave any recommendations you think would fit for these two!!

😇♥️😈

[bapakharyoso]

Mixtapes. YouTube videos. Dedicated playlists. Ancillary products. Viral marketing. Epic chart stays. These are things you expect to hear from a record label discussing Cardi B or Beyoncé. Instead, this is the new world of a very old staple, the Broadway original cast recording.

Robust stats tell the tale: Atlantic’s “ Hamilton [1] ” album beat the record held by Adele’s “21” for longest stay in the sales top 40, with an awareness assist from auxiliary releases like “The Hamilton [2] Mixtape” (starring the Roots and Chance the Rapper) and monthly online “Hamildrops.” The same label’s “ Dear Evan Hansen

Mixtapes. YouTube videos. Dedicated playlists. Ancillary products. Viral marketing. Epic chart stays. These are things you expect to hear from a record label discussing Cardi B or Beyoncé. Instead, this is the new world of a very old staple, the Broadway original cast recording.

Robust stats tell the tale: Atlantic’s “Hamilton[1]” album beat the record held by Adele’s “21” for longest stay in the sales top 40, with an awareness assist from auxiliary releases like “The Hamilton[2] Mixtape” (starring the Roots and Chance the Rapper) and monthly online “Hamildrops.” The same label’s “Dear Evan Hansen[3]” had the highest chart debut for a cast album since “Camelot” in 1961 and proved popular among young people who still only aspire to see a Broadway show someday.

The indie Ghostlight label issued an album of Joe Iconis’ “Be More Chill[4]” score when it was still launching in New Jersey and racked up 200 million streams, a number so powerful that off-Broadway and eventually Broadway producers took notice — with those bigger productions helping add another 100 million-plus streams to its total. With stories like these, it’s no wonder Decca Broadway, the label behind the first-ever cast album, 1943’s “Oklahoma!,” has just been relaunched.

Related

Variety spoke with Atlantic A&R president Pete Ganbarg, responsible for bringing “Hamilton” and the upcoming “Jagged Little Pill” to the label; Dickon Stainer, Universal Classics’ president/CEO; and Ghostlight label co-founder Kurt Deutsch about rethinking the original Broadway cast recording as pop.

Variety: There seems to be a hunger for Broadway albums among younger audiences in particular. Why now?  Pete Ganbarg: I am a big believer that everything is cyclical. When I was growing up, I remember my family listening to the original cast album of “A Chorus Line” on long car trips, singing “One Singular Sensation.” For me, that was as much a part of the pop fabric as anything on the radio. Everybody knew “Dance 10, Looks 1.” Five years before that, there was “Jesus Christ Superstar.” It’s the right show coming around and connecting with an audience that doesn’t even know they’ve been waiting for it. We got lucky as a label when we decided to jump in on “Hamilton” head first. What Lin was doing was so unique and special and the songs were so amazing and different … it was unlike anything we had ever done before, whether Broadway was hot or not. Kurt Deutsch: Now, you can reach audiences around the world with the way streaming works. It’s changed the dynamic so significantly. Musically, there have always been fans like me who grew up in St. Louis who didn’t have the opportunity to be in New York when an amazing show opened, who lived that through cast albums. Now there are communities and tribes for any inclusivity and sound, like a Comic-Con. That’s what happened with “Be More Chill[5].” That tribe found itself — a tribe that exists all over the world. The same with “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen[6]” and “Heathers.” If the story moves them emotionally, those people, generally young and high school music students, will watch the YouTube videos and listen to the music over and over again, just like I did with  “Hair” the movie or the DVD of “Pippin” — especially now because the music is so readily available. If had known there were a million people out there that had the same interests as me, the community where I hung in St. Louis would’ve have felt much larger. Ganbarg: We now take it for granted that “Hamilton” is “Hamilton.” But having to pitch it to people inside the company before it existed — only workshopped, not even at the Public Theatre as yet — was a wacky pitch. Imagine me telling the deal committee that whenever you record a Broadway cast album, it is super-expensive due to all the union fees, actors, musicians, everything literally on the clock — stopwatch even. Depending on the number of songs you are recording, it can get even more expensive: “Dear Evan Hansen” is 14 songs; “Hamilton” has 46 songs. Then there is the further pitch: not just that it’s 46 songs, but a new musical about the founding fathers, the American Revolution and its after-effects. And, by the way, all of the fathers are played by actors of color, and it’s all hip-hop, and some of the raps are about states’ origins and the Federal Reserve … You can feel the window opening and you being prepared to be thrown out the window. But it’s art and it’s not supposed to be always logical.

Kurt, when you first saw “Be More Chill” exploding, what went through your mind? Deutsch: When I first saw the show in New Jersey, I think I said to (composer) Joe Iconis that “Michael in the Bathroom” was destined to be sung by kids forever, as it touches on the angst of being an outsider; that’s what a lot of musical theater fans feel like. Joe’s music speaks to that in a way no songwriter right now writing today speaks to it. I think “The Last Five Years” was like that; this totally intimate musical that died after 9/11 has become something virally. Going back to “Be More Chill”: We sold a few albums at first, then noticed that people were watching the YouTube videos such as “Michael in the Bathroom” that we made. We saw Tumblr and Animatics things that the fans created, and it all started to snowball in a very homemade, organic way. It was beyond our control. Once we saw that, we began feeding the fire with more content. But we couldn’t force-feed or go over the top; kids know what’s real and not real.

Is it fair to say that the success of streaming capabilities in regard to the success of “Hamilton,” “Evan Hansen” or “Mean Girls” is similar? Ganbarg: Yes. People hear their music this way, now. When we working on “Hamilton,” we worked first on “Hamilton”-related playlists that were highlighting the new sound of Broadway. If you were a fan of Lin’s first show, “In the Heights,” we capitalized on that success. We used the digital streaming platforms as a marketing tool with playlisting, making sure that you could find our music wherever you were looking. Word got out that the show was something special. We made sure people knew that they could consume them however they liked. Deutsch: I should say, though, where Ghostlight is concerned, shows such as “Tina,” “Beautiful” and “The Cher Show” —those are album-buying audiences. They like physicals. They’re not into streaming so much. If “Be More Chill” is 90% streaming, “Beautiful” is 70% physical hard copies. “In the Heights” and “Book of Mormon” have both gone gold. “Beautiful” and “Newsies” are up there. “Legally Blonde” and “The Last Five Years” have sold well. Our “Hair” and “Pippin” revivals were big for us via our physical versions.

Famously, Decca Broadway released the first-ever cast album with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” Now, here you are, Dickon, with the newly-relaunched Decca Broadway, reconnecting with that classic American musical in 2019. Is it fair to say you timed the relaunch to your re-connecting with that musical? Dickon Stainer: Decca Broadway has such a storied legacy, having released the first ever cast album in 1943 of “Oklahoma!,” so when we knew we were going to release the cast album for the revival, we of course wanted to emphasize the connection. We are also releasing the cast album for “Tootsie,” so to be releasing the cast albums for two Tony-nominated shows to relaunch our label is an honor. … Decca Broadway now is part of Verve Label Group, among other storied and iconic imprints such as Verve, Impulse!, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and more. We have a renewed sense of purpose with Decca Broadway — the team believes in the artform and there are many exciting shows that we are looking forward to aligning ourselves with to continue the legacy of the label. “Wicked” and “Phantom” made huge cultural waves at the time; we hope to be a part of that again.

  “Hamilton” had its ancillary associated projects such as Hamilldrops and its remix album. “Be More Chill” had its viral YouTube videos. How do you see these marketing ideas affecting other shows you’re associated with?  Ganbarg: You always want to be able to lean into consumer demand. Once we knew that we had something special, the idea was to give the consumer more about what they were excited to hear. Lin did not want to release a cast album first. He wanted to release a mixtape first. Remember, “Jesus Christ Superstar” was a concept album before it was a stage musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted people to fall in love with the music and the songs first. By the time the show was staged, everyone knew all the songs. As “Hamilton” was written by Lin in a hip-hop place, he could get rappers together to do these songs. Eventually he changed his mind and went the traditional route, but it was in the back of all of our minds to do a mixtape. We just did it when the audience was ready for it. Once it became a phenomenon after the Tonys, we got calls from artists asking us about doing covers of the songs. So Chance the Rapper, Busta Rhymes and John Legend became part of the Mixtape. Now, because you don’t want to go to the well too many times and do “Hamilton mixtape Volume 17,” the idea of the Hamildrops came from Lin himself — something new every month in 2018, finishing up with the “44” remix of “One Last Time” with Barack Obama. Deutsch: I have been heavily involved with “Alice by Heart,” a show by Duncan Shiek and Steven Sater. We’ve been on it a number of years … a beautiful production. When people hear the score they will respond in a way that is akin to “Be More Chill.” It has that “Spring Awakening” feel, but it is a tragic love story between these two people. In thinking about the marketing of “Alice by Heart,” and how the audience grew from its first performance and the Twitter fans who followed it by the end of its 10-week run, there were a hundred kids waiting for the cast outside, similar to the “Be More Chill” crowds. The kids know what they love. I think of “Beetlejuice” and the character of Lydia as the gateway to a similar audience. Songs like “Dead Mom” have a similar sense of sticky humor. “Heathers” too, very much, too.

Broadway has a handsome track record for making its biggest stars into pop stars, from Streisand to Idina Menzel. What can a label do for a burgeoning star beyond Broadway? Do you try to build composers as stars, too? Ganbarg: Broadway music is popular music. As an A&R exec, I know that there are no new ideas, just new ways of applying them and new voices to apply them with. When we were at the opening of “Dear Evan Hansen,” my boss turned to me at intermission and asked me to run backstage and sign Ben Platt to a solo deal immediately. Which we did. If Lin wanted to do a solo album, we’d jump at the chance. The problem is if you do too many, you dilute the market and the special nature of the Broadway star coming off of the stage and into the arms of contemporary music fans. Deutsch: If we hadn’t made a recording of Joe’s show in NJ, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. When Joe does his next work, I’ll be there. … We did “Dogfight” with Pasek & Paul right before “Dear Evan Hansen,” but people have been revisiting “Dogfight” because they want to hear the body of work. The same with Jason Robert Brown with “Last Five Years,” “13,” “Bridges of Madison County” and all of his solo records that I have released. That’s a tremendous responsibility, maintaining all that.

What do you want to hear from a soundtrack that you believe makes it a hit? Is it one anthemic song? Or an overall vibe? Ganbarg: When you see a show and you want to hear its soundtrack, it’s because the entire show moved you. You want to recapture that emotion after you leave the theater. The best, most pure way to do that is with a cast soundtrack of the show you just saw. We knew from day one that we had 14 great Pasek & Paul songs on “Dear Even Hansen,” but in “Waiting for a Window,” we had a song that was instantly recognizable, something we could attach to something more. Not only did Ben Platt’s “Window” anchor all of the advertising online and on television, ultimately we, like with “Hamilton,” had other artists covering that song. We had Owl City cover it, which was perfect: if Evan Hansen was a pop star, he’d be Owl City: they’re both neurotic and insular. Katy Perry covered it to because she was so moved when she saw the show. Sometimes it’s us; sometimes it’s the artists who fall in love with the show. Deutsch: Cast albums are one of the only things now that people listen from beginning to end — and In order — because they wish to have the full experience. We don’t see a lot of single tracks sold. It’s about the score as a whole, and a few songs that will reach beyond the show and will live forever and become the new standards. A show such as “Alice by Heart” and a song such as “Afternoon” — we just did the video — that song will resonate so much, I think that people will want to see more. Stainer:  A good cast album comes from a good show. Does the show move you? Does the music move you? Those are the questions we ask.

References

^Hamilton (variety.com)

^Hamilton (variety.com)

^Dear Evan Hansen (variety.com)

^Be More Chill (variety.com)

^Be More Chill (variety.com)

^Dear Evan Hansen (variety.com)

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[annymation]

Here’s a playlist with them all in order, The Underworld saga just hasn’t been added yet

Here’s some of my favorite animatics too:

I’ll add more on a second reblog

Hey, anyone who is in the "EPIC Musical" fandom, where do you start with it? Like, which Saga in order? Cause I didn't know there was more than one until a few days ago.