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The Editor's Links
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Filmtracks once maintained an extensive section of links to other soundtrack
sites, but given the constantly changing landscape of the online film music
community, it's difficult to keep an accurate list of links maintained. Thus,
provided below is the small handful of sites that Filmtracks' editor regularly
visits for opinions, information, and purchasing options related to film scores.
They are, in effect, his personal recommendations:
For Reviews:
Two of the oldest and best soundtrack review sites were
founded in the U.K. in 1996 and 1997, and they have been privately operated for
over a dozen years since. Movie Music
U.K. (by Jonathan Broxton) and Movie
Wave (by James Southall) are both comprehensive in their coverage and
well informed in their opinions. Instead of flash and pomp, you get solid content at
these invaluable sites.
For Purchasing:
When the editor purchases regular commercial albums for
Filmtracks, Amazon.com and eBay are the usual destinations. But for soundtrack
specialties, none has been more reliable that Craig Spaulding's Screen Archives Entertainment.
Not only is SAE the official distributor for Film Score Monthly since the
mid-2000's, but it stocks a wide range of collectibles by all specialty labels. For
Varèse Sarabande
products specifically (and especially their Club titles), it's good to keep an
eye on their site.
For Album Information:
While database sites tend to be clunky and lacking
in personality, the collection of cover art and track listings at Ton Werkman's
SoundtrackCollector (founded
in 2001 in the Netherlands and with content contributed by fans) stands apart as a good
resource when investigating multiple album pressings for the same soundtrack,
including international releases and rare items.
There exist many other sites, and archived is Filmtracks' 2001
Links Section for a glimpse at arguably the height of published film music
activity online. Until 2009, there were additional review sites worth frequent
visits that have experienced a significant decrease in content or total downtime
(SoundtrackNet and Music from the Movies). But the above sites on the shortlist
have proven the most reliable over the long term and come highly recommended.
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F.A.Q.'s Gone Wrong
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• How do I contact my favorite composer or obtain the rights for the re-use
of music?
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These, the most frequent questions sent to Filmtracks, will not be answered. This
site has very little contact with composers and the rights agencies (unless they
are legally threatening Filmtracks for some asinine reason) and therefore cannot
assist you. If you ramble on about how you want to "take the seed" of your
favorite composer, however, Filmtracks reserves the right to mock you publicly.
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• What careers or jobs does Filmtracks offer?
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Since Filmtracks is mostly a one-man operation, the site offers no paying positions to
other individuals. However, there are non-paying positions available in all Missoula
departments, including waste removal specialist, laundry operations manager, floor
polishing associate, and executive food preparation engineer. We're also looking to
expand our harem, if possible. Send cover letter, references, portfolio sample, resume,
and nude photograph to the address listed on the contact page. Filmtracks is sometimes an
equal opportunity employer.
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• I'm swear I'm not a fanboy! Can I contribute?
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To streamline Filmtracks' reviews during the 2005 to 2009 re-write process, all
existing donated reviews were removed and new ones refused. Most of what was being sent
to the site for consideration was simply unpublishable anyway.
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• How long will Filmtracks be around?
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Until its editor dies. Or possibly until he loses his battle with blindness. Given how much
work has gone into this place thus far, there is little reason to prematurely pull the plug.
That is unless, of course, the planet gets bombarded by one of those king-sized meteors and
we experience a magnetic reversal of the poles and the second coming of you-know-who.
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• What happened to the site's official slogan from 1997 to 2009?
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In tech-talk, the slogan was deprecated. It's still relevant, but the time was right in 2009 for
something new. For those who don't remember, here it was: "There are soundtracks. Then there are
scores. Executive record producers of the '90s feed consumers with 'soundtracks' that consist of
irrelevant song compilations. You won't find those marketing scams here. At Filmtracks, you
get the score... the true, orchestral magic of film music." Note that Filmtracks' original
slogan from 1996, "If assholes had wings, this place would be an airport (validity of this
still in question)" still disgraces the home page in its familiar, secondary role.
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• What aspects of Filmtracks are guaranteed never to change?
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The background will always be black. The retro style of the site's format eliminates
the possibility of an abundance of flashy scripting that slows browsers. You'll never be
forced to have an advanced media device in order to access the site. Filmtracks will
never become a shrine for elite taste. Some of the reviews will induce feelings of ill
temper.
You'll never see excessively shameless plugs for Filmtracks on e-mail lists or
other film music forums. The opinions will always be given with a good sense of humor,
which is absolutely necessary when listening to some scores. The site will never look
like a lifeless database. And in its dark corners, there will always be a few pages that
seem legitimate but are in fact completely false, a fraudulent creation of the editor's
twisted mind.
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• The writing seems clumsy and amateurish at times. Why is this allowed?
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The editor is easily distracted by exploding buildings, automobile mishaps, naked humans,
and fine rhetoric. Therefore, reviews sometimes contain borderline grammatical errors
and even an occasional spelling blunder. If this offends you, remember that nobody's
charging you to read these reviews. Because most readers aren't music majors, technical
terminology is kept to a minimum.
On the other hand, a University of Montana professor and regular New Yorker
contributor blasted Clemmensen's writings in 1997 and told him, "I doubt you could ever
have a serious writing career with your limited abilities." Since the date of that comment,
Clemmensen's soundtrack reviews have been read hundreds of millions of times.
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• Why isn't the site updated as often as I'd like?
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Not only is the editor distracted by the phenomena mentioned in the above answer, but
also by regular daytime work, his family, household chores, sports programs, and any
television show in which a crazed madman steals a large construction vehicle and barrels
through rush hour traffic while police helplessly pursue. There is no regular schedule
for coverage, though there are minor daily updates and acts of subterfuge which most
people would not notice. Realistic expectations will do wonders for your blood pressure.
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• When do the stats on the home page, ratings summaries, and indices update?
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The numbers seen in these sections of the site are updated once per day (in the middle of the
night) or upon the addition of new review content. The "Number of Messages Posted" figure seen
on the home page does not include Scoreboard messages from 1998 to 2000 that were not
archived.
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• Why are you biased against Hans Zimmer and Media Ventures/Remote Control?
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While Zimmer fanboys enjoy ridiculing Filmtracks for its poor opinion about the
methods of operation in the composing industry that were spawned by the composer's
activities, any thorough investigation of the editor's reviews will reveal no
such overarching bias against Zimmer for his resulting music. The fact that many
of Zimmer's minions can't write effective music worth a damn is a separate issue.
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• What strange feedback do you receive?
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Ah, the joys of a deranged world society. From 1996 to 2002, Filmtracks collected the
most bizarre feedback and published it on the Filmtracks
Faux Pas Page. Most of the strangest material since then has moved away from
e-mail and to the comment areas at the site, where gems of insanity and perversion are to
be found regularly.
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• What software and equipment do you use?
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Filmtracks is a Microsoft-free zone. The site was created on and is maintained
using the Apple and Linux platforms. It was originally hosted at Best.com in the 1990's,
which was bought out by DigitalNation in 2000, which was bought out by Verio the
following year, which was bought out by NTT America later in the decade. All code is
written by hand, all graphics are created in Photoshop, and the unix software is a
combination of Perl and PHP.
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• Why do I see Filmtracks reviews at other sites?
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Because immoral buffoons with no ability to formulate an original thought steal them and
claim them as their own. Filmtracks usually detects these uses, though sometimes the
army of loyal Filmtracks visitors is the first to find them. In the end, these frauds
are busted with haste, and bounty hunters are unleashed in the most extreme
circumstances.
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• What companies owe Filmtracks unpaid compensation?
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Several untrustworthy business partners have existed through the years, though the
following four were the most irritating: CDnow ($300 in unpaid commission fees),
SonicNet ClickCash ($200 in unpaid advertisement fees), Studio Distribution
($200 in unpaid sponsorship dues upon Chapter 11), and Arzoo.com (an unknown amount
of content licensing fees). At least Filmtracks outlived these bastards on the market.
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• What are the ten strangest things people have typed into a search engine to get to
Filmtracks?
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Based on the early days of a virgin world wide web (1997-2001):
| 1. | "John Williams
picture nude" |
| 2. | "gladiator steroid march" |
| 3. | "music for erectile
dysfunction" |
| 4. | "antique doorknob
obsession" |
| 5. | "Darth Vader
glowing underware" |
| 6. | "female welders" |
| 7. | "horoscope for the
devine airport" |
| 8. | "Lord Jesus beverage
choice" |
| 9. | "how to prepare a squirrel
for mealtime" |
| 10. | "religious feast day
death ceremony" |
The editor's favorite:
"hobbit homosexual
cluster fornication"
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• I suffer from full body hair loss, bloated eyeball syndrome, and
projectile vomiting. Can Filmtracks help me?
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Filmtracks takes no responsibility for any mental or physical trauma that this site
causes you or your family. If you suffer from some kind of horrific ailment, such as
those listed above, then consult with a competent doctor approved by your restrictive
health insurance carrier. If you experience symptoms of physical or mental illness while
viewing Filmtracks' pages, then your troubles are more likely due to something nasty that
you ate or inhaled rather than Filmtracks' content.
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• I am a Gungan warrior searching for a specimen mate. Does your site
cultivate them?
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Totally nonsensical questions like this are frequent in Filmtracks' inbox. The
site retains the right to publish any such ridiculous comments and questions for
the entertainment of the site's readership. And no, Filmtracks is not a Gungan
dating service. The ears on our women aren't big enough.
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• Does Filmtracks test on animals?
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Contrary to published reports, Filmtracks does not test on animals. That is, unless the
animal participates voluntarily. We do not strap vermin and other small creatures into
loud "surround sound cages" to gauge their reaction to film scores. We do, however, test
film scores on brown bears which pass by our Missoula office. In 2000, when a bear
was feasting on crabapples from a tree only ten feet outside our office window, we turned
all seven of our speakers out the windows and blasted the opening monologue and "Riders
of Doom" tracks from Conan the Barbarian in order to test the bear's reaction. It
fled.
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ATTENTION WIKIPEDIA EDITORS:
If you seek to qualify your citations to Filmtracks reviews, remember that what you are now
viewing is mostly a "spoof" page, a parody of corporate and writer "about" sections. It was
last substantially edited in 2009. For official background information about Filmtracks,
consult its Media Kit and, for current updates
about
the site, view the Site Updates section.
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From the snowy woods of Montana, Christian Clemmensen operates Filmtracks.com, haven for
the lunatic fringe of the online soundtrack community. Known mostly for its extremely
diverse and large mainstream readership, the site was among the first to promote film
music on the web (founded in 1995 but officially debuting in 1996). Clemmensen, a piano
performer from youth, claims no connection to the industry, formal training in cinema, or
even sanity, but through time and stubborn will he has endured to maintain what some
consider the community's darkest, most controversial corner of villainy. Because of his
1.3 million words of soundtrack commentary at Filmtracks, Clemmensen has received 17
death threats, four of which reported to authorities as credible. As a result, the site
endeavors to obtain a patent on the revolutionary invention of a solar-powered fanboy
repulsion device. Faux pas are not only encouraged, but published with enthusiasm.
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More About the Editor: |
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Filmtracks pages are all designed and written by Christian Clemmensen, the site's
arguably deranged editor. Born in 1975 in the San Francisco Bay Area and now a resident of
Missoula, Montana, Clemmensen
obtained a B.A. in Organizational Communication (with a minor in English) from the
University of Montana in 1998 and an M.A. in Speech Communication (with an
emphasis on Technical Communication) from the University of Washington, Seattle
in 2000. While maintaining Filmtracks as a part time occupation, he has also
taught courses in public speaking and business presentations to petrified
amateurs of all ages. From 2003 to 2012, he was a lead information technology specialist
for a group of General Motors auto dealers in Montana and Idaho. Other
areas of his expertise include politics, baseball, journalism, digital arts, and extreme
Lego creations (10,000 brick minimum). His musical background includes a decade of formal
piano training and performance, as well as another decade of study in motion picture
scores. On the lighter side, he
once admitted to a Pepsi addiction and can often be found with raw carrots
and little ketchup packages on his person. It has been rumored that he
destroyed over 70,000 kilotons of enemy shipping in zero gravity environments
during his past life, which would be impressive considering his slight mental
handicap at the time, but these reports are unconfirmed. Clemmensen lives with
his wife (Filmtracks' official theologian) and two sons (Filmtracks' official
annihilators of furniture) in an undisclosed location not equal to the mailing
address for Filmtracks.
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Guidelines for Coverage: |
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Most of the albums reviewed at Filmtracks are graciously provided by agents or representatives
of the composers or performers, independent promotion companies, or record labels. Among the
labels supplying Filmtracks are such fine organizations as Varèse Sarabande, Sony,
Universal/Decca, Walt Disney, Silva Screen, Milan, Hollywood Records, Lakeshore, La-La Land,
Reprise/Warner Brothers, MCA, New Line, Prometheus, RCA Victor, Citadel, Virgin, Atlantic/BMG,
Arista, and Film Score Monthly (and, in the past, Intrada Records, Sonic Images, GNP
Crescendo, Chapter III, SuperTracks, and Pacific Time). Some promotional materials come from
the composers themselves or their families; roughly 5% of music covered at the site is based
upon legitimately pressed promotional albums. For major commercial products not supplied to
Filmtracks, the site (upon waiting four weeks after street date) purchases and then
auctions off (or trades) such items at a small monetary loss.
Because of the site's longevity and high traffic levels, Filmtracks receives far more music
than it can possibly cover (a ratio of 20 promo albums for every one reviewed), so please
consult with the following guidelines before sending promotional materials without prior
notice:
• Items that have a good chance of being covered:
- Re-issues of any score already featured at Filmtracks (a top priority)
- Score albums for feature films that reach the top 10 at the box office
- Score albums by major composers for popular television shows or films
- Re-issues of scores by major composers (or for popular films in general)
- Compilations of film music performed by highly acclaimed ensembles
• Items that may possibly be covered:
- Score albums for independent films (depending on box office and awards)
- Score albums by major composers for obscure television shows or films
- Score albums by major composers for documentaries and IMAX films
- Re-issues of scores by relatively obscure composers for popular films
- Compilations of film music that do not contain post-1975 material
• Items that are very rarely covered:
- Score albums by relatively unknown composers for obscure films
- Albums with less than 20 minutes or 50% of original score material
- Score albums featuring music written before 1975
- Intermixed score and song albums for independent or obscure films
• Items that are never covered:
- Song compilation soundtracks with no (or minimal) score material
- Score albums for films in the adult entertainment industry
- Score albums available only through streaming promotional services
Most importantly, if you would like to know the odds of receiving coverage at Filmtracks for your
product, contact the editor and you will receive a very
realistic assessment about your chances. Confirmation e-mails can be sent when coverage goes
live. Press kits are always helpful, but not necessary. On major film score releases for top
box office blockbusters, coverage can be published within 24 hours of the receipt of a promotional
album. It's not uncommon for such albums to achieve 10,000 views per day during the film's
first week of theatrical release. The sooner before street date the album is provided, the
better readership (through search engine and review database cross listings) and performance
(through Amazon.com and other linked retailers) will be.
In 2008, Filmtracks began accepting promotional products through online tools such as Play MPE,
iPool, and file-sharing sites. Due to the site's use of audio samples to supplement the
coverage, however, these tools must offer a download option to be of use (as opposed to simply
a streaming option). Digital promos must contain lossless files unless no lossless
commercial purchasing option exists. Likewise, digital promos must contain a PDF of the
booklet unless none is distributed with the product commercially. In all cases, CDs will
receive a higher probability of coverage than digital promos.
Items received digitally or by CD in the mail are not redistributed. In fact,
99% of promotional material received (and/or covered) goes into storage at the site's
offices. Filmtracks does not support illegal downloading, and only once a film and its
score are roughly ten years old will a small minority of coverage mention the existence of
bootlegged variations (with the exception of prominent rejected scores).
Ultimately, the key to coverage is communication. As detailed on the contact page, however, be patient in receiving a response from the
editor. Once a working relationship is established, your e-mails will be automatically sent to
the forefront of the editor's inbox for quick response. After a working relationship of five
years, regular phone contact becomes preferred. If you are not satisfied with only review
coverage, an advertising contract is always an option. Bribes from
record producers have been attempted in the past, but they are not always effective!
Please send all promotional materials to:
Filmtracks Publications
Attn: Christian Clemmensen
541 McLeod Ave
Missoula, MT 59801
USA
Also Note: Because of his distance from Los Angeles, Filmtracks' editor does not mingle
with or interview composers or any other entity involved in the industry. Therefore, you (and the readers) can
be assured that all of Filmtracks' reviews are completely unbiased.
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Filmtracks Terms of Service: |
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• Description of Service and Acceptance of Terms: Welcome to Filmtracks Publications. We
provide this website Service to you out of the goodness of our hearts and you are free to
leave at any time. Filmtracks' primary service is the publication of music reviews. This
textual content is provided "as is" and Filmtracks assumes no responsibility for any
regional conflict, ill feelings, or failed marriages due to that content. In order to use
this Service, you must have access to the world wide web, and Filmtracks is not
responsible for the costs of the computer and internet access service which you use to
view this site. In addition, there are certain sections of this site which contain foul
language and inflammatory opinions that may not be suitable for young children or
oversensitive industry insiders.
• Your obligation and conduct: You have no serious obligations at Filmtracks.
We would hope that you provide accurate and decent information when you post at the
Scoreboard or comment areas, but even if you don't, Filmtracks retains the right to
summarily eliminate your presence here. By posting information at Filmtracks, you certify
that you speak at least marginal English. You understand that by using the Service, you
may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent, objectionable, or past its
expiration date. You agree to not use the Service to: forge, spam, falsify, stalk,
threaten, flash, abuse, harass, torture, defame, set afire, invade, spontaneously
combust, or set up a pyramid scheme. You may, under occasional circumstances, refer to a
fellow Scoreboard participant as a "Gomer."
• Limitation of Liability: You expressly understand and agree that Filmtracks
shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, accidental, special,
consequential or emotional damages, including but not limited to damages for loss of
profits, goodwill, happiness, or intimate relationships. Filmtracks shall also not be
liable in the event that a visitor forgets to take his or her medication.
• Violation and termination: Violations of the terms of this Service shall be
dealt with quickly and without remorse. Any and all violations shall be reported to the
Government of the United States, the perpetrator's parents, and the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. If you witness someone else violating Filmtracks' Terms of Service, push the
nearest red button to you and your contribution will be noted. You agree that Filmtracks,
in its sole discretion, may terminate your access to any part of this site should it be
deemed necessary to do so. You also agree, under punishment of termination, that
the Seattle Mariners deserve to eventually win a World Series.
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Filmtracks
Privacy Policy: |
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• What our Privacy Policy covers: This Privacy Policy covers Filmtracks'
treatment of personally identifiable information that Filmtracks (sometimes accidentally)
collects when you are on the Filmtracks site and when you use Filmtracks' services. This
policy does not apply to the practices of companies that Filmtracks does not own or
control, or to people that Filmtracks does not employ or manage. In addition, this policy
does not apply to any other film music site, governmental entity, or invading alien
superpower.
• The information we collect and how we use it: Filmtracks does not collect
personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, birthdays, gender,
occupation, traffic violations, choice of mate, favorite size of mattress, or preference
of meat preparation. Therefore, we cannot and do not sell personal information about
Filmtracks visitors to companies who will call you during dinner hour and urge you to
purchase a revolutionary new light bulb. Filmtracks does, however, automatically receive
and record information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address.
We use this information solely for security reasons so that we may send bounty hunters
after persistent troublemakers.
• Cookies, security, and your ability to change your information: The only
personal information collected via cookies at Filmtracks is through the Scoreboard Forum.
Establishment of a "profile" at the Scoreboard is strictly voluntary, and a profile is
not necessary to participate (in fact, gutless swine use pseudonyms to blast the site all
the time). Filmtracks allows other companies that are presenting advertisements on some
of our pages to set and access their cookies on your computer. Other companies' use of
their cookies is subject to their own obtuse privacy policies, not this one. Advertisers,
other companies, and the governments of Montana and the United States of America do not
have access to the Filmtracks Scoreboard's cookies. You may delete the Scoreboard cookies
in your browser at any time. All Scoreboard passwords are encrypted and are not visible
to Filmtracks, though we can change the passwords if necessary or if the editor gets a
spontaneous urge to engage in deviant behavior.
• Changes to our Privacy Policy: Filmtracks may amend this policy at any
time, for reasons including 1) a directive from God, 2) a directive from an angry mob of
Filmtracks visitors, or 3) the whim of Filmtracks. If we make any substantial changes in
the way we don't use your personal information, we will notify you by posting a prominent
announcement on our pages and purchasing a half-hour slot of informative public access
television time in Missoula, Montana.
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The History of
Filmtracks: |
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• 1995:
From Mountain View, California, a single-page tribute to James Horner was established in
November as part of (then 19-year-old) Clemmensen's first website, a sparse collection of
pages devoted to movie poster art, George Carlin quotes, and the well-deserved flaming of
his former high school sweetheart. With only ten visitors a day, the page was initially
limited to reviews of recent albums for Apollo 13, Braveheart, and
Casper. Harsh criticism of the juvenile and poorly written reviews was immediate
and for good reason. The site was, interestingly, the first to ever scan soundtrack cover
art for online publication.
• 1996:
Still as part of his personal website of dubious merit, Clemmensen started "Christian's
Modern Soundtrack Reviews" in February, gaining six pages in size (mostly as part of the
Collector's Corner) and first averaged 150 visitors a day. It eventually obtained 300
visitors a day reading 30 capsule reviews of scores from 1994 and 1995, but temporarily
dropped while Clemmensen recovered from the surgical removal and rebolting of his jaw.
Operations were moved to Missoula, Montana. Growing too popular to remain a personal
little corner of his site, Clemmensen acquired the domain of "filmtracks.com" in October
and began "Filmtracks Modern Soundtrack Reviews," version 1.0. Featuring capsule reviews
for 72 scores, the initially covered albums were The Spitfire Grill and The
Ghost and the Darkness. As the first top-level domain devoted to single-album score
reviews, the site gained popularity immediately, soon sending the visitors per day to
1,200, with 100 MB of material accessed daily. An endorsement of Bill Clinton for
president in the '96 election irked a few readers.
• 1997:
After nearly going blind in the first of many severe retinal problems through the years,
Clemmensen recovered to expand Filmtracks (version 2.0 in April) to include composer
tributes, dedicated auctions, references for sheet music and publications, and "Theme of
the Month" articles. Visitors per day passed 2,000, with about 150MB of information
accessed daily. Commission-based partnerships provided Filmtracks with its first profits.
The original movie poster gallery closed its doors for good. Version 3.0 of the site,
debuting in December, added the search engine, Faux Pas Page, and an elaborate new layout
for the home page that would include the popular film strip. Beginning with Tomorrow
Never Dies, capsule reviews were replaced by a longer review format for each title.
Visitors/day exploded to 6,000, with about 350MB of material accessed daily. The review
for Titanic, which was featured on CNN, caused a popularity boom that led to "busy
signal" problems that would plague the site for two years. Even with the first revenue
from sponsorships, the site began closing from midnight to 5 a.m. each morning due to
bandwidth limitations.
• 1998:
Filmtracks moved to Seattle, Washington in September, beginning a fruitful two-year span
of development there for the site. Along with the establishment of the Scoreboard Forum,
version 4.0 of the site restructured it for faster loading and basic optimization.
Visitors per day grew to 12,000 by the end of the year and the 10 millionth page was
served. With reviews for 350 individual CD titles, Filmtracks began a six-year, specially
negotiated partnership with Amazon.com. Constant sponsorship and an overwhelming support
from record labels with promotional items added to the site's thorough coverage of
current soundtrack releases. Donated reviews began to premier and Filmtracks held one of
the largest online auctions of soundtrack collectibles ever during the summer. Samples
from reviewed scores (in Real Audio format) became a standard feature.
• 1999:
Despite a rash of death threats against Clemmensen and endless attacks on the Filmtracks
server, the site continued to grow. The 20 millionth page was served in July and over
11,000 review pages were served daily (with 450 reviews total). The Scoreboard Forum was
viewed 2,000 times daily and about 500MB of data accessed each day. Clemmensen began the
task of re-writing the 200+ original capsule reviews from 1995-1997, a process that would
be repeated six years later. The viewer ratings feature on major review pages debuted in
July. Filmtracks' first full year as a profiting enterprise and the debut of its fifth
major design version was tempered by another potentially blinding, emergency retinal
surgery for Clemmensen and the rigors of graduate school. Filmtracks began its short run
in licensing its content to other sites for commercial use and expands its relationships
with Amazon.com and soundtrack label sponsors. Profits from these collaborations were
being saved to eventually solve the "busy signal" bandwidth issues which continued to
pain Filmtracks users. With the other original film music sites of 1996 falling out of
service or being assimilated by larger companies, Filmtracks became the oldest soundtrack
site under original ownership.
• 2000:
Filmtracks finally outgrew its old virtual hosting company and moved to its own dedicated
server in March. With consistently increasing success each month, Filmtracks became
nearly a full time occupation for Clemmensen. Serving over 15,000 review pages a day, the
site reached a total of 50 million pages served (since 1995). Reviews for 625 albums
accompanied a newly updated Scoreboard Forum. Nearly 800MB of data was served daily.
Operations moved once again to Missoula, Montana in October. Filmtracks' new server
allowed for a boom of popularity at the site, and total visitors per day surpassed 25,000
by the end of the year, at which a sum of 1.4GB of reviews, images, and a new database of
200+ audio clips was served daily. Version 6.0 of the site was finalized, including the
maturation of the "On Cue" home page feature, the profile-enabled Scoreboard, and "user
comment" capabilities on individual review pages. Filmtracks became Yahoo!'s top listed
soundtrack website for the first time since 1996 (as featured in their magazine), and was
included in the 10/27/00 "Power Issue" of the print magazine Entertainment Weekly,
receiving an "A" grade. The 80 millionth page was downloaded by the end of the year, and
a dedicated office was finally constructed in Missoula to house the site.
• 2001:
Both traffic and profitability at Filmtracks reached unsurpassed heights in 2001, when
total visitors started to be measured in the hundreds of millions and daily bandwidth
surpassed 3GB. An abnormally strong year for film scores led to massive traffic at the
end of that year. The auxiliary sections of the site (Collector's Corner, Publications,
etc) were refreshed and many years of Cue Clue Contests debuted. Several additional
composer tributes were added to the small handful that had existed since the site's
opening. The famous "Marxist Oboe" thread on the Scoreboard, the most enduring single
topic in the site's history, began to flourish. The reviews began to regularly surpass
1,000 words, a length that would become the site's standard in future variations of the
review format. Individual days were noted for the milestone of 30,000 unique visitors. In
April, the site was named Amazon.com's "Affiliate of the Month." It's not uncommon for
2001 to be referred to as the "heyday" of the site's early years.
• 2002:
Hardship struck the site in the opening months of 2002, beginning the second era of the
site with the technical difficulties of extreme bandwidth demands and legal threats from
multiple entities in the industry (over the coverage of promotional albums and audio
samples). Handling the legal posturing from 20th Century Fox and the composers' rights
agencies led to the elimination of the "Theme of the Month" articles due to time
limitations. The licensing of content to other sites and the acceptance of donated
reviews dramatically decreased. Traffic remained steady and the most popular reviews
maintained 10,000 views per day. The last three months of the year represented great
advances, however, including the debut of Filmtracks' current logo, the layout standard
from 2003 to 2009, an updated search engine, a better server to handle bandwidth and
processing requirements, and Clemmensen's marriage to his longtime best friend and avid
Filmtracks supporter since the very beginning.
• 2003:
The most significant structural change to Filmtracks came in early 2003, when the static
review pages featured at the site since its debut were replaced with dynamic templates
that allowed for greater revenue possibilities. Clemmensen spent the majority of the year
adding 200 reviews of popular scores of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, as well as many
expanded composer tributes. It was the most productive year ever in terms of new review
coverage. Despite this fact, traffic and revenue began to decline as the year progressed,
partly due to a new wave of soundtrack sites, dissatisfaction over the reviews
themselves, and a shift in the music industry towards illegal downloading. Filmtracks
passed the 350 million mark in total pages viewed, and the layout of the site, as well as
the stagnation of many of its auxiliary areas, would continue for five years.
• 2004:
A relatively quiet year for Filmtracks concluded with the construction of another, bigger
dedicated office for Filmtracks in Missoula. As traffic slowly declined (though at 21,000
visitors per day, it still remained high compared to other soundtrack sites), the site
replaced Amazon.com with eBay and Google as its primary, commission-based advertising
partners. With the hype surrounding The Passion of the Christ came a resurrection
of the evangelical religious attacks that had plagued the site from 1997 to 2001.
Clemmensen had taken a job at the end of 2003 with a group of Montana's largest General
Motors auto dealerships (a job that would endure through GM's bankruptcy in 2009),
decreasing the amount of time available for development at Filmtracks. No significant
structural or content changes (aside from additional reviews) were made to the site this
year.
• 2005:
Filmtracks' most controversial year included two events that led to extreme reader
discontent and a significant flurry of death threats against Clemmensen. The dreaded
"re-write process" of completely replacing or revising all of Filmtracks' reviews (up to
2003) began, starting with the few hundred 1997 legacy reviews not yet included in the
template system. These re-writes typically added anywhere from 400 to 4,000 words to the
length of the reviews, including the "Filmtracks Recommends" section now seen atop each
one. The other controversy involved the shutdown of new review coverage for four months
during the summer of that year, the longest period without new reviews in the history of
the site. The biggest hit to Filmtracks' traffic came during this time, as some veteran
visitors sought greener pastures. Still, the amount of bandwidth consumed by Filmtracks
readers exceeded 4GB per day and total daily visitors hovered around 17,000, bringing the
site's overall visitor total above 500 million. A server upgrade at the end of the year
would ensure snappy response times at the site for years to come.
• 2006:
As the last of the legacy reviews were expanded and entered into the new template formats
as part of the on-going re-write process, Filmtracks made several important software
enhancements to the administration side of the site in 2006. Aside from these tracking
and automation programs, a completely rewritten version of the famous old WebBBS message
board software was applied to the Scoreboard, comment areas, and site update section (the
last of which replaced the low activity news section of a prior generation). Along with
these technological enhancements came better targeted advertising that concentrated more
on sponsorships rather than the previously reliable commission-based formulas. The
Varèse Sarabande label joined long-time Filmtracks supporter C.A.M. Original
Soundtracks of Italy (which had run ads on the site since 1998) as a perpetual sponsor.
Traffic continued to decline despite increased profitability, though a new generation of
Filmtracks regulars formed a cohesive group at the Scoreboard.
• 2007:
As Filmtracks remained fondly referred to as "the most widely visited, oldest (under
original ownership), most profitable, least respected (in the industry), and strangely
humored film score site on the web," the re-write process of replacing old review content
continued to dominate all production. While only about 40 new reviews were published
during that year, over 230 were revised, blasting through a good portion of the 940
reviews targeted for expansion. No major changes were made to other areas of Filmtracks
in 2007, though profits through sponsorships remained high and costs continued to remain
low. The re-write process did continue to take a toll on readership, however, now down to
16,000 daily visitors. Most importantly, however, Filmtracks welcomed a new staff member
in August with the birth of Clemmensen's son.
• 2008:
Another year of inactivity in all areas of Filmtracks not related to the reviews caused
continued erosion to readership; with only 15,000 visitors per day on weekends, the site
had now suffered a 50% decrease in traffic since its height in 2001. Still, Filmtracks
remained profitable despite a sudden downturn in all of its advertisement revenue streams
in September (corresponding immediately and predictably with the larger economic downturn
of the time). The re-write process reached its crescendo in 2008, supplementing only 40
new reviews with 320 revised ones, most of which completely re-written. This production
came despite a lull caused by continuing retinal problems in May for Clemmensen, who this
time was not spared some loss of vision in one eye. The replacement of the older reviews
did, however, begin to earn the site respect from representatives, agents, and labels
that looked with optimism upon the long promised major overhaul to Filmtracks scheduled
for 2009.
• 2009:
The completion of the five-year re-write process in April was cause for significant
celebration, for all 940 reviews written prior to April of 2004 were replaced with better
commentary. This included the final removal of all donated reviews that had once existed
throughout the listings. Following the reviews came a long-anticipated restructuring and
re-design of the entire site, fundamentally changing the rendering of all the major
sections at Filmtracks by completely automating them. The remaining static sections
(Collector's Corner, Audio Library, Publications, Themes of the Month, etc.) were all
archived, allowing the site to focus on fewer core sections. These major alterations were
the first since early 2003, marking a conclusive step on the road to Filmtracks' third
definitive era.
|
A Final Note from the Editor: |
|
One thing that you've probably noticed is that Filmtracks doesn't take itself too
seriously. Hell, it's hard to take anything seriously when I keep referring to myself
in the third person. I guess the most important thing to keep in mind when visiting a
film music site is the fact that nothing we do or say has any long-lasting political
or socio-economic effects on a planetary scale. After all, we're talking about film
music here, a small, relatively unknown corner of the massive entertainment scene.
I've witnessed too many fans, composers, musicians, websites, and industry
representatives taking the world of film music far too seriously. Filmtracks obviously
demands a substantial amount of my free time to operate. But when the sun starts setting
over the pine-covered, Montana hills surrounding my home, it's so much more
important to get up from the computer, turn off the music, and walk outside to the
sights, sounds, and smells of something vastly better than a website.
Film music is undeniably a passion of a small minority, but it ultimately is
insignificant on the larger canvas. So before you lose your temper over something you
read at Filmtracks and behave like a spoiled juvenile, try to keep some perspective in
mind. Besides, if you do get so pissed off that you throw a childish tantrum on (or
directed to) the site, you're only soliciting the laughter of others. Sites in niche
artistic markets like this one are a luxury, not a right. That's why so many have
come and gone since 1995. Enjoy this one while it lasts.
-- Christian Clemmensen, Filmtracks' owner, editor, and putrid philosopher
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The Tortured Writer (2012)
Clemmensen in the Filmtracks office, 2006
