FILMUSP investigates the professional networks that enabled the production, circulation, and commodification of film music in Italy from the “economic miracle” of the late 1950s to the recession of the mid-1970s.

At its core lies a relational database that integrates heterogeneous sources—open-access repositories, copyright registers, and archival documents—linking information on previously unconnected entities such as films, records, compositions, music publishers, record labels, as well as individuals (composers, session musicians, copyists, sound engineers) and sources (archival documents, interviews).

Designed to bridge data-driven analysis and historical research, the database underscores the project’s focus on relationality. Through a dedicated visualisation tool for historical social network analysis, FILMUSP reveals the underlying dynamics and key players of Italy’s media production system.

While systematising large-scale information from existing repositories and making it accessible for research, FILMUSP also traces first-hand documentation from archives of musicians and producers, enabling in-depth analyses of the creative and industrial synergies that shaped Italian soundtrack production.

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FILMUSP was developed in the framework of PRIN 2022 (Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale) by a team of music and film scholars from the Universities of Milan, Bologna, Pavia, and Pisa.