🎬️ Get your music into movie trailers.

"Trailer Music 101" from Trailer Park Group, a sync agency.

Author

LA Music
February 15, 2025

This week, we spoke with Lava Hong, a music supervisor at Trailer Park Group, about how artists can get their music into movie trailers.

Trailer Park Group is one of the largest “trailer houses” in LA.

They discover, create, and place music into trailers for TV shows and films (Wicked, Stranger Things, Oppenheimer, and more).

Read the full interview → Trailer Music 101—Sync Music for Trailers.

Here are some highlights:

  • 🎥 Trailer houses craft teasers for films and TV. Studios hire trailer houses early in the editing process. Music plays a major role in setting the trailer's tone. Often, editors cut trailers to the music once they find the right song.

  • 📈 Trailer music has a unique structure. It builds dramatically in three acts: heavy percussion, orchestration, and custom sound design to match visuals and the project’s style or tone.

  • ⏳️ Turnarounds are extremely fast. Music supervisors often need tracks within hours. Having pre-made, polished music increases placement chances.

  • ✂️ Successful trailer music constantly evolves. Unlike pop songs, trailer tracks shouldn’t repeat sections. They should always build tension. You should also create multiple lengths and versions of the same song for flexibility.

- Nick (LA Music)

PS We’re considering hosting a free “sync listening session” with music supervisor Lava Hong (Trailer Park Group) in March. She wants to provide feedback and meet music producers interested in movie trailer placements. Reply to this email if that sounds interesting!

In case you missed them, these are our top guides: