Bill, I don't work in these type of film circles but have a ton of curiosity about how they work.
From what I've gathered by reading your posts, there seems to be a desire for songs which aren't TOO unique but just enough. I don't mean that as a slight, so please don't take it that way, and feel free to educate me on the subtleties.
How do you go about, and what is expected, in your line of work, as far as song creation is concerned?
Quint - some random thoughts as they come to mind....
These days, most songs are "licensed" and not created for the film. Of course, there are exceptions. Especially with huge artists who "write a song for the movie" where both record company and film company can multi-market alongside each other. But for normal source cues, on the car radio cues, band playing in a bar cues, film montage cues, wedding band cues, TV montage songs, etc., the songs are sought out and licensed by a music super rather than "created for" the film by a composer.
Of course, the score is a different topic altogether.
Unique is OK. Of course, the more abstract, the less options you will have for licensing, but unique
IS OK. If you write a song about Aliens, don't expect a lot of placements other than apocalyptic, end of world, Aliens are eating humans type films. heh heh You've painted yourself into a corner.
I do not generally aspire or desire to write in typical top 40 or super current musical styles. Why? Because often, those trends come and go and are dated almost before you can get them placed. Evergreen songs can last decades. For instance - a great bluegrass song could be placed in a 1940's film, or 2019 film. The genre is "kind of" timeless. Kind of. Of course there are differences, but often EQ or some analog processing can put the song in either 1940 or 2019. A great Hip Hop song is fairly timeless as well - hip hop has spanned a wide timespan - and the production esthetic is not RADICALLY different for most listeners. Genre's that are not constantly changing in and out of style are a good place to aim. On the flip side of the coin - Dubstep or Bro Country or radically auto-tuned vocal songs are going to time stamp the song / music for eternity and it will be almost unusable once the genre becomes passe. (And none of us can control that)
The HUGE exception of course is classic songs that have become known and loved worldwide - of which most of us here other than DonR cannot accomplish.
Don's (Don't Fear) The Reaper is a great example. IMO, that's a pretty unique song. But it's a classic, and as such, paints a picture that hundreds of thousands of fans (and even non fans) can relate to. Classic songs bring back memories for the listener, and
that is where the gold lies. Huge sums of money are happily spent for a Frank Sinatra or Zeppelin or Beatles song. HUGE. Unfortunately, if the world doesn't know your song and lyric from memory, you are in a different licensing world altogether. <sigh>
For music with lyrics, getting too specific or too detailed can be a detriment to placing it many times. If the lyric is all about "Mary Anne", and the lead character in the film is "Jennifer"....well...sorry, no sale. However, if your lead character is Mary Anne.... SCHWING!!!!! If your song has specific and intimate beach lyrics and the film is shot in the desert.... No Sale.
There are constant human emotions though that are undeniably transcendent no matter if you're 15 or 50. That's where the money is. Make everyone FEEL something, and you're in the zone. Don't be too specific. Hit a wide variety of people.