Trailer Hits
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The popular, playlist-defining end of trailer music — the handful of production-house tracks that broke out of anonymous library use into hundreds of millions of streams, concert setlists and fan culture. Sonically these are the most anthemic epic-hybrid pieces: huge orchestra, choir, driving percussion and a memorable, singable main theme built for maximum uplift. What sets them apart is reach: they are the tracks a general listener actually recognises, powering workout, gaming and 'epic music' playlists far beyond the trailers that birthed the form.
History
When Two Steps from Hell opened its catalogue to the public with Invincible (2010) and its tracks flooded YouTube and Spotify, a subset — 'Heart of Courage,' 'Protectors of the Earth,' later 'Star Sky' — became genuine hits, and the model spread to Audiomachine, Globus, Thomas Bergersen and E.S. Posthumus. Fan compilations, gaming montages and streaming curation turned once-hidden promo cues into a self-sustaining genre with its own stars and touring shows. 'Trailer hits' now describes this crossover canon, the most-streamed cinematic instrumental music of the era.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Heart of Courage(2010) — Two Steps from HellSpotifyYouTube
- Star Sky(2013) — Two Steps from HellSpotifyYouTube
- Protectors of the Earth(2010) — Two Steps from HellSpotifyYouTube
- Nara(2001) — E.S. PosthumusSpotifyYouTube
- Preliator(2006) — GlobusSpotifyYouTube
- Guardians at the Gate(2012) — AudiomachineSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Billboard and Vulture profiles of Two Steps from Hell
- Mervyn Cooke, A History of Film Music (2008)
- The Cambridge Companion to Film Music (2016)