The Chilean Pavillion at the World Expo in Shanghai has music and sounds by Uptempo artists

Uptempo musicians Jose M. Miranda y Jose M. Tobar recently finished the music for the Chilean Pavilion located at the World Expo in Shanghai, China.

This pavilion is being reviewed as one of the top 25 in the Expo because of its architecture and great interactivity with the visitor.

It took about 3 months to create the music and a voice over that leads you in three languages (English, Chinese and Spanish) through all the 6 different rooms in the Pavilion.

All this tour ends in what is considered one of the largest interactive screen ever built for an event like this.

We had the opportunity to visit this pavilion and created a behind the scenes video with a short tour and segments of the beautiful music created for this incredible place.

Beto Cuevas talks to Uptempo On Air

After a great recording session with the talented chilean singer and actor Beto Cuevas, we had the chance to sit down for five minutes with him and talk about marketing, social media, music, his recent project for Chile and more. Listen to this interview for our podcast Uptempo On Air.

Burn Notice's actor Jeffrey Donovan records at Uptempo

Music Should Challenge, Not Compliment

Just imagine for a second that we changed the musical anthem of Jaws-a movie where we watch about 90% of the action without it’s biggest star. All we get is a fin and a whole bunch of water. What if we gave it something more like a car chase scene type of music or a full symphony building drama with every string? Wouldn’t that be expected? Wouldn't you anticipate such a music for people running feverishly for their lives from a giant killer shark? Instead, we go a much simpler and stronger piece, one that still makes us all think twice every time we decide to put a toe in the ocean. And that’s the emotional power of music that dares to challenge our senses rather than complimenting what we anticipate it to be. And for commercial production, the senses need to be challenged the same way.

You see, music is the bond that connects visuals to audiences. But the right music, the music that is remembered by audiences shouldn’t always be what is expected. If we cue up 100 chase scenes in commercials or even movies, we can quickly identify the same theme among each and every spot. However, in a spot for Windows (click to see the spot) , we see a chase scene that uses a more dramatic and emotional musical tone-escaping the traditional chase scene music. With this piece, our character is so emotionally distraught with what she’s loosing, she will do whatever it takes to get it back. And we only get this understanding though the music. Remove it and replace with a high-energy chase scene score, and we get what we expect, a chase scene. Boring because we know what's coming-there's no need to pay attention. And in doing so, we loose the emotional tie and audience investment as to why she is chasing after the apps and why she is so compelled to do so.

If we replace the current music in the Windows commercial with a chase scene score we are left wondering and constructing the story on our own. Did the apps rob her? Perhaps, she was a crazy glue-sniffing app stalker and they were trying to get away? Or just maybe, the apps were trying out to be the new Yankee’s mascot and shot a t-shirt cannon into the stands which caused the woman to spill her jumbo coke and hot dog all down her shirt and she was trying to get them to pay for dry cleaning? We could construct a hundred scenarios, but the music as it stands does a great job of conveying the feeling it wants us to, more so than if they would have used music typically expected by the audience in this type of scene.

The goal, a lot of times for music is to do what’s the audience will expect-to compliment the visuals. And when we get what we expect, it tends to blend in and not be remembered. But as we dive in closer to the purpose of music in commercials, we can see that music which challenges what the audience expects has a greater opportunity to build stronger emotional bonds. To do this, we must get out of our comfort zones when it comes to selecting music and pick or create music to relate the emotion or reason for the action rather than the action itself. When music is used to compliment what is expected, the visuals becomes what is expected. There is a familiarity but no breakthrough. But when music challenges the visuals, it has a way of transforming the visuals and creating a more powerful experience than either piece could do alone.

WWE's Paul "The Big Show" Wight records for USA Network at Uptempo

Five time wrestling's World Champion Paul "The Big Show" Wight visited Uptempo to record an ADR session for USA Network's "Royal Pains".

The episode named "Keeping the Faith" aired last week and can be seen on USA's website.

British actor Idris Elba records at Uptempo

Idris Elba the british actor known for his work in movies like "RocknRolla", "Obsessed", "28 weeks later and TV Series like "The Office" visited Uptempo to record a couple of commercials for the United Kingdom.

The Importance of Music Selection

So it appears music has come out from just lining the shells of corporate jingles to being the driver of commercial recognition and why shouldn’t it be? In Uptempo Music & Audio Post (our recording studio in Miami) , we have recently seen a trend in commercial production where song selection is becoming the instrumental elements of great brand commercials. One, reason for this shift in the industry could be attributed to Apple’s initial iPod campaign-simple in graphics but bold in music. It was their calling card, and as Apple’s success grew, so did other national advertisers attention to how it was creating its messages.

To date, Apple continues to travel down the same creative lines that thrust its brand back into national prominence-simple graphics driven by catchy melodies. Often times kick starting the career of the musical artists chosen by Apple, as iTunes sales go through the stratosphere when a new campaign is released. Now just because we’re music people it doesn’t mean we don’t love great special effects, humor and big visual productions in commercials as the next person. But you can’t deny the use and importance of song creation and selection in commercials these days. Often times, artists are sough out and held exclusively as their sound becomes synonymous with the brand. It’s the battle of brands finding the next big musical star before anyone else can. It even means scavenging artists who’s sound align themselves with your brand and making them a hit along with your brand, and not as much as, choosing songs from highly over-priced rights held by the top Billboard artists. So, to recap: big brands find unknown artists, little money is spent to obtain rights, music becomes definition of brand=huge success.

In fact, the formula has been so successful, international brands are seeking to such musical connections made for exclusively for them. Take a look at the new Gatorade Commercial http://bit.ly/dmG0ba in which, you think you are listening to a retro track that you’re grandpappy once listened to, transformed for and refurbished for a new commercial. Well actually, it was made just months ago as Gatorade sought out a company to produce the song from scratch for them. And it goes both ways, AT&T sought out Gene Wilder’s, “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in it’s newest Imagination campaign http://bit.ly/clGmlf . Now, while both commercials dazzle with a carousel of visual images and effects it is the songs that resonate with consumers and really separate the commercials from the daily noise. What’s great is that all genres are using music as the universal connection to audiences. Even the hack em’ and shoot em’ Xbox title, Gears of War has built it’s brand on commercials that feature riveting and emotionally binding music titles. The first game trailer featured the song, “Mad World.” The newest trailer, “Ashes to Ashes” for Gears of War 3, http://bit.ly/8X8pqN features the weary and worn sound of "Heron Blue" by folk group Sun Kil Moon led by Mark Kozelek.

So, what does this mean for brands? It means that music selection is as important as ever. It means more time developing a sincere sound for your campaigns that evolve beyond the top 100. It means searching the internet for that next big star waiting to be discovered but currently under the radar. Or it means hiring a production company to start fresh. Give them the parameters of the campaign and allowing them to build an emotional musical connection for your audiences. It means building an integrated approach to your campaigns by releasing commercials then giving consumers the tools to access the details, find the song and even buy it. You can take it a step further; make it your on-hold or elevator music. Make it part of your culture and in return, it will turn audiences into advocates as they resonate at a deeper level with your brand then just being targeted with a message. Because music is one medium we can all relate to and escape with and we will. We will take it and run so fast you’ll never get it back. We’ll share it with friends and family, we’ll even make it our ringtone for strangers to hear. So, when that opportunity presents itself, make sure it is something we would willingly escape with.

Roselyn Sanchez recording with Uptempo

Puerto Rican actress and singer Roselyn Sanchez is seen in the picture after recording a personal project with Uptempo's Executive Producer Roger Dominguez.

The End of the One-Hit Wonder

You remember them right? The 80’s created them and the 90’s practically lived off of them. They lived for 2-4 weeks at a time and blew up the phone request lines. Every T-top Firebird blasted them from the comfort of their cassette player and non-one could resist their memorizing melodies. They were “One Hit Wonders.”

Of course, we can all recall our own personal favorites: “Whip It,” “Whoomp…There It Is,” or my personal favorite; Deee-Lite, “Grove is in the Heart.” Just saying. This is what defined musical generations, going out and buying an entire album for one hit song. And this is why one-hit-wonders became so definitive and emotionally reflective-that and mostly because the rest of the album was at best, tolerable. No one remembers the artists with 10 great songs to the same tune (no pun intended) of when they recall their fondest one-hitter. These are the songs we cringe when played at weddings, which ultimately gave the DJ the often recited, “quite possibly the worst DJ in the World” rep. But these are also the songs we look forward to when attending an 80’s throw back party or when cueing up the VHS to watch a Jean Claude Van Dam movie. I mean, who doesn’t love the VH1 remember when 80’s and 90’s shows?

However, have we seen the end of the one-hit wonder? With today’s technological innovations in music, it appears all artists are becoming one-hit wonders, one hit at a time. No longer are consumers forced to purchase an entire record for their one favorite song. They can easily long onto iTunes or Amazon and get that one song and then integrate it throughout their lives on every listening device they have. In fact, the music culture has shifted so greatly that artists are now being forced to create that one hit. Music companies and strategists pine over which song to release first, its order on the album and how to market it. Because they know, that one song, will make or break the artist and their entire album. You see, the music industry is becoming a lot like the movie industry. You have to have a strong opening weekend, or in our case, strong first single in order to have success. Because the path to millions lies in a strong opening in sales and high media buzz.

And with digital players and song purchasing networks, consumers are in control. They can build a custom library of one-hit after one-hit by an entourage of musical artists. And that’s perfectly ok. Consumers are no longer bound to record companies telling them which songs they can or cannot listen to. And in some cases, even artist don’t need record companies to tell them what to write and hwo to perform. Look at Justin Bieber, a Youtube star who built a following on his own terms and then had the record company coming to him to sign, like a star college quarterback with every pro team vying for his unique talent.

The music age, as we knew it in the 80’s 90’s, would be proud. Where at one time, one-hitters we considered cliché, they are now seen as a coveted and desired. And what’s funny is, the one-hit-wonder as we knew them will never has the same nostalgia they once held. Because one internet hit could turn into millions of downloads and sales on iTunes. It’s no longer a cliché way to listen to and like music but the normal way. So, as we say goodbye to the classic and fond “one-hit-wonders,” we welcome a new age to music as powered by the consumer. I wonder where we’ll take it next?

The making of Concha Toro's Frontera

British singer Simon Webbe supports Think! campaign broadcasting live to the UK from Uptempo

Simon Webbe famous for being part of the band Blue as well as singing themes for "Batman The Dark Night" and "The Fantastic Four" visited Uptempo for a live broadcast via ISDN with radio stations all across the United Kingdom in support of the THINK! campaign which aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries amongst motorcyclists by humanising them in the eyes of car drivers.

A TV spot for the campaign has been recently launched in the UK Media.

To listen to one of those interviews with the BBC radio, click here.

Saatchi France creates the campaign for Manor and Uptempo records the lyrics of the jingle via ISDN

Manor is the biggest department store in Switzerland and Saatchi France has created a new campaign driven by a love story where the model Gaelle sings and acts in the spot.

Because Gaelle was in Miami working, the jingle needed to be done and an ISDN session was a good choice to finish it.

In connection with a French studio, Gaelle sang her lines and voilà.

The full making of the spot is available on the store's site.

Uptempo wins big at Miami and Fort Lauderdale Addys

Uptempo recently took the Best of Show for radio plus 5 Golds and 1 Silver in the recent Addy awards for Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

The spots were created for Peak 7 Advertising, Zubi, Alma DDB and their clients The Promenade, Ford and State Farm.

Nascar's Juan Pablo Montoya records at Uptempo

The race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions and currently competing in NASCAR was recording a voice over for one of his sponsors.