MassiveMusic Brings 'The Grand Waltz' to Enchanting DFS Christmas Spot

DFS launched a magical campaign ahead of their best ever winter sale, in a campaign created by Krow Communications. The enchanting soundtrack for the 40 second spot was selected by MassiveMusic’s London team.

All the fun of the fair is to be had in the latest work from the sofa brand, in which DFS showcase their upcoming sale in a customised Ferris wheel.  The Ferris Wheel’s seats have been replaced with luxury sofas featured in the sale and marks a change in creative direction for the brand, who have previously featured in-store films. 

MassiveMusic London were selected to choose a soundtrack for the film before it had been shot, settling on ‘The Grand Waltz’ from The Sound of Music. 

Paul Reynolds, MassiveMusic London’s Managing Director, explains ‘The benefits of working this way is that the chosen track can then be used in the edit, helping to create a much better marriage between the music and the visuals. We struck gold when we listened to ‘The Grand Waltz’ because the track really brought the film to life, capturing a magical dreamlike feeling. We listened to many recordings and eventually we settled on the superb live recording by the London Palladium Cast.’

Paul adds ‘We worked with a mood film which helped inspire us to find the right track for the film. We wanted to try and encapsulate a mood of warmth and happiness on a magical winter’s night, but we also needed to have some playfulness in the music to represent the fun of the fairground. Initially we looked at more contemporary tracks that had a lyrical match but the more we worked with the mood film it became apparent that the vintage sound was working better.’ 

MassiveMusic offer a secondary round of research when undertaking a music supervision job, which focuses in on a specific direction within the original brief. Paul explains ‘Even though we’d found a great track, we still needed to answer ‘Is there anything else like this, but even better?’ We often find this is the most important stage in music supervision and it provides the best results.’

He adds ‘In this case we stuck with the original track and worked with Krow Communications, the label and publisher to negotiate usage terms. This stage can be very tricky, so it’s always good to have experts on hand to sort the negotiation and contracting out, especially when it’s often done in a very short space of time’.