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September 2015

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www.postmagazine.com 8 POST SEPTEMBER 2015 BITS & PIECES FIRSTCOM TURNS 35 DALLAS — FirstCom Music (www.firstcom.com), which offers a full range of creative music solutions, including music supervision and bespoke music, is now celebrating its 35 th year anniversary. The company, which recently won in Best Jazz and Best World Music categories in the 2014 International Library Music Awards held in London, first opened with a tiny office in North Dallas in 1980 with a staff of four. They began offering production music libraries, advertising sales libraries and ID packages to enhance radio stations' and their advertisers' images. Back then, music was pressed and distributed on vinyl record. "It's hard to believe that I began my production music career selling albums from the trunk of my car," recalls Carol Riffert, VP/GM for FirstCom Music. "From vinyl to CD to digital downloads and streaming, FirstCom Music has evolved to meet the needs of changing technology. This evolution was vital to our clients, who used our music to build brand loyalty and create unforgettable television and movie moments." In 1985, the company made a bold move by introducing broadcast producers to a new era of innovation with the release of one of the world's first production music libraries on CD. At the time, many studios did not have compact disc players. To close the technology gap, FirstCom Music offered their clients CD players as part of their music service. By the 1990s, FirstCom Music embraced Internet technology and was among the first in the industry to make it possible for users to download production music from the Web. The introduction of the Master Series was yet another benchmark and blurred the lines of stock music with the star power of the pop music industry, incorporating and promoting the contributions of Grammy-winning artists like Nine Inch Nails' Charlie Clouser and Bush guitarist Nigel Pulsford within their libraries. The company has marked its 35 years of success with a number of milestones. Today, its music can be heard in commercials for Audi, Nissan, Nike, Pepsi, Intel, Visa, McDon- ald's and other top brands. Popular TV placements include: Good Morning America, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black, Jus- tified, Breaking Bad, and Saturday Night Live. And blockbuster film credits include Iron Man 2, Silver Linings Playbook, Foxcatcher, Rango, Still Alice, and Captain America. Most recently, FirstCom launched the FCAnimated series in response to the music content and format needs of digital media and game producers. The series features music heard in Madefire Motion Books' app and Website. FirstCom is also keeping step with some of the top audio mixing and mastering studios with a long-term studio and creative space investment. Post recently dropped by Light Iron in Hollywood to check out some of the studio's upcoming projects and visit the team, including company president Michael Cioni (left), supervising DI colorist Ian Vertovec (center) and director of marketing Laura Pursley (photo right, on left side with Post's Linda Romanello, right). (L-R) Manny Kallins, Gotham Music; Cecilia Garr (former FirstCom Music CEO/founder); and Ken Nelson, FirstCom SVP/executive producer. (L-R) Jose Luis Rodriguez, Castaño, Mexican Music Library; Carol Riffert, FirstCom VP/GM; Cristy Coffey, FirstCom marketing director; and Antonio Garcia Issac, Mexican Music Library.

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