Why is music recycled so often in figure skating?

[Amei]

I read an article about how to improve Russian Test skates and 1 of the items they mentioned was that multiple skaters using the same music. I thought that was interesting because I can't remember in the past ever seeing the media reference that repetitive music needing to be fixed.

Obviously a Federation being able to control their skaters music is much more feasible than across the whole of the ISU and an article isn't an indication the Fed will actually do anything about it...but I thought it was interesting that the media actually brought this up.

 

[synesthesia]

Oh... I didn't realize Eye was by a Japanese musician. That means Daisuke was the first Japanese man to win a figure skating Olympic medal and a World title with a program with Japanese music by a Japanese musician that is also choreographed by a Japanese choreographer.

I guess so (or actually the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic medal/a World title with the help of an all Japanese team, including his coaches, physical trainer, choreographer, nutritionist, manager etc. while using music by a Japanese songwriter). The music itself is probably best described as “cross-cultural” as Coba incorporates non-Japanese influences into his songwriting, having lived and studied in Europe and worked with artists like Björk. The accordion itself is an instrument that originated in Austria. “Eye” was definitely an original choice by figure skating standards though!

Didn't Daisuke get into trouble for his 2014 Olympic SP too? That was apparently composed by a Japanese composer but turned out wasn't.

"Sonatina for violin in C-sharp minor" was still written by a Japanese composer (Takashi Niigaki), just not the one it was originally associated with (Mamoru Samuragochi).

Niigaki used the attention the piece received thanks to being skated to at the Olympics to reveal that he had been ghostwriting for Samuragochi for 18 years. Daisuke found himself in the middle of the fuss and had to speak out about it, even though the matter had nothing to do with him.

For his comeback in 2018 he also skated to "The sheltering sky" by Ryuichi Sakamoto. (I didn’t include it, because it’s the score for a British-Italian movie set in North Africa.)

Some more that I remember:

"Baby, God Bless You" is composed by Shinya Kiyozuka and is a soundtrack to Japanese TV series "Dr. Stork" which was skated by Rika Kihira and now skated by Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai... do I see a burgeoning warhorse?

Tomoe Kawabata skated to "In the Mood for Love" by Shigeru Umabayashi for her FS at the JGP during the 2019-2020 season, paired with "Sikuriadas."

Mana Kawabe skated to Yoshiki's MIRACLE during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 season and brought it to the 2022 Olympics.

I know "Byakuyako" by Shin Kono has been used as EX programs by Tatsuki Machida and Wakaba Higuchi, and pretty sure some skaters are using it to compete, just maybe not internationally.

This is a great list! Let me add Yuhana Yokoi's 'Ten Dark Women', Amine Kataise's 'Yoshitsune' and that Japanese folk(?) song gala from long ago that Kawaguti/Smirnov skated to (its name eludes me). I remember all of these programs, and would love to see more coming.

Thanks to both of you for pointing these programs out – I think there are several more, probably even quite a few from before the 2000s. It’s not easy to find them, because program lists from that time are hard to come by. Maybe people who watched figure skating before the 2000s remember some of them.

Two more:

• In 2011/12 Takahiko Kozuka skated to “Fantasia for Nausicaa“ by Joe Hisaishi.
• And thanks to the mention of Tatsuki Machida, I realized he also skated to “Zatoichi” – even before Nobu did!

If we include exhibitions the list gets veeery long. I focused on competitive programs, because it has been theorised that skaters from non-Western countries don't choose music from their own culture because they fear that it might negatively impact their scores.

On the other hand, there seems to be an opposite case like Hana Yoshida this season whose program is "Japanese" in theme as she represents the Japanese crane in the program, but her music is by Armand Amar.

The same applies to “Memoirs of a geisha” programs – Japanese theme, but the music was written by an American composer for an American production.

To be liked... I really like Muse and Billie Eilish, but obviously many people don't. Still they get picked a lot. But then skaters have made the experience that even if some people don't like it they are not getting "punished" for it, so it's okay to pick it.

I used to love Muse (mainly from "Showbiz" to “Black holes and revelations”) and saw them live many times. For me the problem is that in skating they are nearly reduced to “Exogenesis part 3”, which has been skated to to death to the point I can’t stand listening to it anymore – it has become a modern warhorse (still love part 1 "Overture" though). Unfortunately few of their other songs have ever been selected. Off the top of my head I recall “Butterflies and Hurricanes” (great choice by Sergei Voronov!), “Supermassive black hole”, “Uprising” and “The Void/Madness” (and I think Bekker/Hernandez are doing a Muse medley this season).

If skaters want to be truly original they should skate to "Micro Cuts" or "Execution commentary". On a serious note: I would love to see programs to "Knights of Cydonia" or "Map of the problematique"!

 

[denise3lz]

3 more Japanese skater skated to Japanese music.

Nobunari Oda 2004-05 SP "Super Mario Bros. theme"(Koji Kondo)

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It might be too popular to treat as "Japanese".

"Fate"(Akira Senju)
Sei Kawahara 2015-16 FS,

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Yuma Kagiyama 2019-20 SP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFlkA8JCXSg

The piece come from 2004 Drama "Castle of Sand".
Original novel was adapted multiple times and 1974 film is recognized as masterpiece.

Tomoe Kawabata 2019-20 SP "Twilight Waltz" (Takashi Kako)

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Her coach Yukina Ota skated for same piece as 2002-03 Ex.

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[Weathergal]

I guess so (or actually the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic medal/a World title with the help of an all Japanese team, including his coaches, physical tainer, choreographer, nutritionist, manager etc. while using music by a Japanese songwriter). The music itself is probably best described as “cross-cultural” as Coba incorporates non-Japanese influences into his songwriting, having lived and studied in Europe and worked with artists like Björk. The accordion itself is an instrument that originated in Austria. “Eye” was definitely an original choice by figure skating standards though!






"Sonatina for violin in C-sharp minor" was still written by a Japanese composer (Takashi Niigaki), just not the one it was originally associated with (Mamoru Samuragochi).

Niigaki used the attention the piece received thanks to being skated to at the Olympics to reveal that he had been ghostwriting for Samuragochi for 18 years. Daisuke got caught in the middle of the fuss and had to speak out about it, even if the matter had nothing to do with him.

For his comeback in 2018 he also skated to "The sheltering sky" by Ryuichi Sakamoto. (I didn’t include it, because it’s the score for a British-Italian movie set in North Africa.)








Thanks to both of you for pointing these programs out – I think there are several more, probably even quite a few from before the 2000s. It’s not easy to find them, because program lists from that time are hard to come by. Maybe people who watched figure skating before the 2000s remember some of them.

Two more:

• In 2011/12 Takahiko Kozuka skated to “Fantasia for Nausicaa“ by Joe Hisaishi.
• And thanks to the mention of Tatsuki Machida, I realized he also skated to “Zatoichi” – even before Nobu did!

If we include exhibitions the list gets veeery long. I focused on competitive programs, because it has been theorised that skaters from non-Western countries don't choose music from their own culture because they fear that it might negatively impact their scores.






The same applies to “Memoirs of a geisha” programs – Japanese theme, but the music was written by an American composer for an American production.






I used to love Muse (mainly from "Showbiz" to “Black holes and revelations”) and saw them live many times. For me the problem is that in skating they are nearly reduced to “Exogenesis part 3”, which has been skated to to death to the point I can’t stand listening to it anymore – it has become a modern warhorse (still love part 1 "Overture" though). Unfortunately few of their other songs have ever been selected. Off the top of my head I recall “Butterflies and Hurricanes” (great choice by Sergei Voronov!), “Supermassive black hole”, “Uprising” and “The Void/Madness” (and I think Bekker/Hernandez are doing a Muse medley this season).

If skaters want to be truly original they should skate to "Micro Cuts" or "Execution commentary". On a serious note: I would love to see programs to "Knights of Cydonia" or "Map of the problematique"!

I think Penny Coomes choreographed Bekker / Hernandez's "Muse" program, and Coomes / Buckland skated to "Butterflies and Hurricanes." I remember liking that program - and Voronov's program to it as well. And also Penny had a beautiful dress to it.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Genuinely, is it that hard to find a waltz with very similar rhythm and atmosphere to Masquerade that isnt Masquerade? Like, for the sake of originality? I actually don't understand the reason they keep recycling like this.

Sometimes it sort makes sense; for instance, Bolero is unique and fits the choreographic mold of figure skating perfectly.

But like, most songs are just recycled for seemingly zero reason? Like super basic pop songs, algorithmic classical... Je Suis Malade... I wont even begin to list names because there's so many, but we all know...

Anyways, it seems so genuinely easy to find unique music fitting for programs that it leads me to believe there's a universal reason they don't do it. Anyone know? Or is there only a certain amount of songs that are approved by some committee? Copyright? Royalties? I just don't understand.

People hear music.. they like it. They use it.


You might as well just ask why a particular pop song gets to number one on the charts. Or why Moonlight Sonata has been popular for hundreds of years.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

I just watched Alexia paganini at nebelhorn, and yeah, this same-music-as-everyone-else problem needs to be discussed. Alexia uses swan lake as her long program. Swan Lake, a 3 hour ballet, 3 hours of beautiful music. Yet Alexia used the exact same cuts as everyone else. 90% of all swan lake programs from the past 20 years have the exact same edits! It's maddening! I like Alexia, so when she first stepped on the ice in costume, I was thinking, oh no.... it's swan lake. And I knew there was a 90% chance of it being a replica of everyone else's.

 

[el henry]

I don't think this has been posted before: Longtime figure skating journalist Phil Hersh talks with Adam Rippon and Ashley Wagner about skating music, what he rolls his eyes when he hears, and ideas for improvement.

I'm not a huge fan of this podcast because it rambles even more than many rambling podcasts, but Phil knows how to take charge and stay on subject. Lord knows I've disagreed with Phil before, but he has great ideas here.

Like the Largo from Xerxes for Jason.

The Runthrough - Episode 12: Stop the Music with Phil Hersh | RSS.com

Ashley and Adam bring on their favorite frenemy, journalist Phil Hersh, to talk about the best/worst program music in figure skating and some of his favorite interviews over the years. This episode also includes a moment to honor Alex Paul, who passed away suddenly last week. If you'd like to...

rss.com

 

[DancingCactus]

Speaking of Japanese music, what absolutely blew me away last season was Kazuki Tomono's Miyavi exhibition skate. There have been so many fantastic Japanese rock acts since the 70s, also with very distinct looks. I would love to see some yankee rock or visual kei, it doesn't always have to be shakuhachi or classical. Some of the world's greatest video game soundtracks are also from Japanese games.

Regarding German skaters dating to typical German music...uhhh. So that would be Helene Fischer, Deutschrap or Rammstein? No thanks to all three....I dare some ice dancers or pair skaters to skate to "Männer sind Schweine" by Die Ärzte, though.

 

[NaVi]

I'm a big supporter of the idea of having a 1-3 themed events in a year just as a means of forcing people to do something new and out of their comfort zone.

Not a fan of theme(oh well), but the US is doing some kind of Taylor Swift themed competition this year.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I'm a big proponent of the idea of having a 1-3 themed events in a year just as a means of forcing people to do something new and out of their comfort zone.

Not a fan of theme(oh well), but the US is doing some kind of Taylor Swift themed competition this year.

But presumably these would be optional competitions that had no bearing on the skaters' standings? Just-for-fun events? When I was competing, my partner and I, both of us doing other sports as well, saw our skating as an athletic activity with some performance overtones. (I don't mean that's how I think every skater should view it, just that we did.) We would have faked matching broken legs before we would have endured the embarrassment of having to do, say, slapstick comedy, or something sultry and steamy, or....anything else that just didn't fit our personalities. Great idea, though, for skaters who hope to make a performing career post-retirement, or go into coaching and choreography, and can learn how to come up with a wide variety of styles.