Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music On DVD/BD from RLJ

Athena, an RLJ Entertainment, Inc.brand that specializes in high quality, informative, non-fiction Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music from Higher Ground LLC. Produced in association with the late legendary music producer Sir George Martin, and the filmmakers Show of Force, LLC, the highly-anticipated eight-part series took over five years to make and features more than 150 exclusive and original interviews with some of the most celebrated recording artists, producers, and music industry pioneers of all time sharing behind-the-scenes stories celebrating the art of recording. Artists include Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Roger Waters, Joni Mitchell, Roger Daltrey, Linda Perry, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Rosanne Cash, Steven Van Zandt, Billy Idol, Beck, RZA, and more.

Coming off its critically-acclaimed premiere at SXSW in March 2016, SOUNDBREAKING’s North American broadcast premiere begins on PBS member stations on Monday, November 14 with next-day availability to buy digitally via multiple platforms including iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. Athena will release SOUNDBREAKING on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, November 29.

Mark Stevens, President of Acorn Brands at RLJ Entertainment, said, “With more than 150 exclusive interviews and rarely seen footage, Higher Ground, Sir George Martin, and Show of Force have created a remarkable, one-of-kind music documentary series sure to become iconic. SOUNDBREAKING is exactly the kind of high caliber, non-fiction programming we seek out to offer consumers through our Athena brand.”
programming, has acquired the and home video rights in North America to the new, groundbreaking music documentary

In eight captivating episodes, SOUNDBREAKING charts a century’s worth of innovation and experimentation, and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the birth of brand new sounds. From the Beatles’ groundbreaking use of multi-track technology to the synthesized stylings of Stevie Wonder, from disco-era drum machines to the modern art of sampling, the series highlights the dynamic tension between the artificial and the natural––between the man-made and the God-given––and explores the way in which that tension has continuously redefined not only what we listen to and how we listen to it, but our very sense of what music is and can be. In the end, SOUNDBREAKING makes us hear the songs we love in a whole new way, and illuminates the sonic alchemy by which the music we listen to becomes a fundamental part of who we are.

SOUNDBREAKING is presented by Higher Ground in association with the late Sir George Martin, and produced and directed by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmakers Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre of Show of Force.

The great Sir George Martin passed away in March 2016. He is a six-time GRAMMY Award winner and recipient of the Recording Academy Trustees Award, and producer of more than 50 number-one hit records. SOUNDBREAKING marks his final project.

Organized thematically, each episode of SOUNDBREAKING tells stories of pop music icons who used their determination, ingenuity and guts to create works of art that have touched us all. Stories within the episodes include: The Art of Recording, Painting with Sound, The Human Instrument, Going Electric, Four on the Floor, The World is Yours, Sound and Vision, and I Am My Music