The word “Oticons” is the combination of two ancient Greek words: ota (ears) and ikon (image). Our intention was to think of a brand name that would be our very own simple and straightforward synonym to “film music”, since for the founders of Oticons talent agency Film Music is a unique form of art, hard to put in words and equally hard to describe its universal importance and nature. However, due to the fact that Film Music is directly linked to the art of the Cinema, there is a specific variety of symptoms and effects that have a great influence on it, simply because it is obligatory even for film music to follow the modern norms of the Film Industry. There are currently certain facts within this industry that really concern us and that we couldn't ignore anymore; these facts became our motive to organize the Oticons Faculty International Film Music Competition.
It is indeed a sad reality that certain musical styles now dominate almost every single film of the thousands that are produced globally every year, from the biggest blockbuster to the smallest indie film. This is why more and more filmmakers, or content producers as the industry prefers to think of them, are complaining about how much almost everything they listen to ends up with the same kind of "sound". At the same time more and more film composers are complaining about how often they encounter less visionary filmmakers with no capacity to risk and efficiently share their vision with a film composer. What is the most worrying reality of all though is that film composers today are actually forced to eventually become entrapped in playing the role of a music content producer, who have to efficiently use their digital toolbox, getting thus almost zero chances to prove their own talent as Artists, in the film-making process, who are still serving a great and unique art.
As a matter of fact, the world is definitely not in need of more content producers that end up sounding the same but is in need of Quality Film Music and this is an aspect that we feel no other contest had brought awareness to before. We feel that what our world is missing now is timeless music that can equally be identified with a specific context, and yet at the same time stand on its own.
The Oticons Faculty Competition has been created in order to find the people with that unique vision who will nurture and cultivate it. We want to motivate the existing working composers and upcoming film composers to participate in this competition and try to prove that what is considered in today’s film music landscape an “impossible” task to achieve or encounter within a film or a soundtrack album, is in fact still possible and not a lost art long transformed into a simple-minded craft. Undoubtedly, there are numerous talented artists in every corner of the world waiting for the spark that will stimulate them and make them want to prove that they can really stand out from all the rest!
In brief, Oticons Faculty Competition is expected to act as an awakening. It aims at enabling talented film composers to implement their highest composing skills, make them navigate in musical depths away from mainstream conveniences and above all inspire them to achieve the highest aesthetics of music for films.
We would like to welcome you to the Oticons Faculty Competition and to thank you in advance for your valuable support. We really hope through this initiative to shape up together with all of you the future of Film Music! And we would also like to wish good luck to anyone who will see this as a calling and participate.
Good luck!
the Oticons Faculty Team