Placeholder score in rough cut — establishes rhythm and emotional arc before original composition. Essential for pacing feedback and investor screenings.
You need temp music in the first cut to even know if your film breathes. Without it, you're sitting in front of images that feel silent and soulless — and you can't decide if a scene should last three or seven seconds. The temp music is your scaffolding: it shows you the rhythm, the emotional arc, the turning points. You cut to it, not the other way around.
In practice, it works like this: you select pieces from existing compositions, film scores, or stock music libraries and lay them under the rough cuts. A drama might need something tried and tested by Hindemith or Radiohead; an action sequence works with electronic pulses or orchestral blasts. The music doesn't have to be final — it's an actor playing a placeholder. Some editors deliberately use iconic scores (Nolan with Hans Zimmer, Scorsese with classic rockers) to immediately hit the right emotional frequency. This saves discussions with the director.
Where does it get critical? During producer previews and test screenings. A film without music flops psychologically — the audience can't feel what you saw. With temp music, they understand the intention immediately. This is your selling point to the financier or distributor. At the same time, you have to be aware: the music colors things. An overly clever score in the edit can also hide mistakes. I've experienced editing errors only becoming apparent when the original score comes in and the music no longer smooths over the cracks.
Clearance is uncritical here — it's not for broadcast, just working material. But note down precisely which pieces you use (composer, opus, timecode). This helps the later composer understand your timing intent. Some directors even demand that temp music and the original score run side-by-side to test transitions — this is elaborate, but it immediately shows you where the new score doesn't work. In the end, the temp music is deleted, but its structure remains in the editing rhythm. Without it, you would never have found this structure.