Tag: how to do production music

PMC 2026

October 6, 2026 | 9:30 am – October 8, 2026 | 6:00 pm

The PMA’s Production Music Conference is scheduled for October 6-8, 2026 at the Hilton in Universal City, Los Angeles, CA.

This event will be a FULLY IN-PERSON event, with panel programming streamed live both within the virtual conference platform and within the conference app.

Attendees represent 70+ countries, ranging from publishers to composers, technology partners and financial partners, and everything in between. The PMC provides networking and educational opportunities to further advance the value of production music and the industry’s community.

More information to follow, but the Hilton is available to be booked now!

Group Link: https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/buruchf-pma26-0834b98f-5d45-469e-8c38-1259000644e9/

Guests can also call the In-House Reservations Dept. at 818-623-1434 from 7am-7pm, Monday-Sunday. Attendees must refer to group code PMA26 when booking via phone.

The deadline to book your discounted room rate is Wednesday, September 2, 2026.

Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City

555 Universal Hollywood Dr
Universal City, California 91608 United States + Google Map

PMA Academy Series – Finding Your Voice: Sound Design with Tom Holkenborg [AKA Junkie XL]

Posted on by Morgan McKnight

This very special tutorial is led by one of the most in-demand film composers in Hollywood: Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL).

If you’ve ever seen films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool or Alita: Battle Angel (just to name a few), you’ve no doubt felt the impact of Tom’s mastery of sound design. Known within the industry as a “full-contact composer”, one of Tom’s biggest calling cards is that he does so many things himself—including creating vast sound libraries all his own for nearly every project he works on.

This webinar covers Tom’s unique process of sound design; a process that’s helped craft one of the most recognizable and signature sounds in modern day film scoring. The goal? Getting you informed and inspired to craft your own unique voice as you grow as composer and producer.

Topics include sampling, sound exploration, building your own libraries, modular synthesis and much more.

PMA Academy Series – Taking a Closer Look at Production Music in Advertising

Posted on by Morgan McKnight

All media has been impacted with the expansion of digital services, and the advertising industry is no exception. This panel will dive into how these changes relate to production music usage, what’s changed in this sector of the industry and what the future looks like for production music in advertising.

PMA Academy Series – Avoiding Legal & Reputation Problems From Sampled Loops, Beats, Tracks & Hooks

Posted on by pixeljar

“Does this work include samples, yes or no?“

Have you ever seen this question in a contract or submission form? Has it ever given you pause? Most production music composers realize that they can’t sample unlicensed music from other recordings. And, they know that they’re usually safe using sampled instruments from their favorite piano and orchestral libraries. However, many don’t know about the serious problems from using even LICENSED pre-composed loops, beats, tracks and sample packs which have recognizable hooks and phrases, for example vocals, instrument phrases and complete grooves. Not only do some sample library End User License Agreements (EULAs) outright prevent many sync uses, but even where there are no legal restrictions automatic tune recognition software is triggering copyright claim clashes between different publishers, causing infringement accusations and reputation damage for composers and publishers. They are also unpopular with publishers and clients because they lack the originality that they expect. In response, production music publishers are increasingly banning these type of sample uses, so it’s important to know the facts.