SA Toursim ‘Live Again’
Original Composition with 2 South African artists

KFC ‘Anything For Taste’
License and Remix of existing song 

Chicken Licken ‘Piki Piki Mabelane’
License of existing song 

Nedbank ‘Bank Your Time’
Re-record of existing song 

What’s striking about Marc’s body of work is the range. We’re talking original compositions built from scratch with South African artists, licences and remixes of existing tracks, re-records that reshape familiar songs into something culturally specific, indie discoveries that punch above their weight, and major global catalogue negotiations that bring iconic songs into local storytelling…it’s a lot!

SA Tourism’s ‘Live Again’ was an original composition created with two South African artists, carrying the emotional arc of the film from start to finish. Nedbank’s ‘Bank Your Time’ re-recorded an existing classic in a way that felt entirely its own, while Chicken Licken’s ‘Piki Piki Mabelane’ turned the right licensed track into something that instantly lodged in culture.

Director Karien Cherry from Giant Films says of her longtime working relationship with Marc, “Honestly, I go to Marc for his taste and his network of musicians. Sometimes I know exactly what I want, and other times it’s a collaborative exploration of what might serve the story and evoke the emotion we’re after. Marc has a strong grasp of tone, a vast music library in his head, and his finger on the pulse. A great partner in crime.”

And of his international work on Velveeta for agency Johannes Leonardo and director Andreas Nilsson (that’s the guy who directed Jean Claude van Damme doing the splits in that Volvo ad) Marc says, “For this project I listened to over a thousand tracks before I found the right ones. I didn’t want mainstream music for this, it was important that the sound was as unique and as fresh as the visuals and cast. One of the tracks I chose only had 1500 listens on Spotify, but I knew it was perfect. Once I sourced the right music, I contacted the relevant artists and began negotiating licensing fees and contracts.”

Velveeta ‘Crowd’
License of existing song. (USA work) 

When we asked Zee Ntuli, director at Darling Films, about working with Marc he said, “What I love about Marc is simple. He genuinely loves music. Not trends. Not charts. Music. That passion is contagious. He doesn’t just ‘find a track.’ He understands what the story is calling for. He opens doors through a vast network and connects with people and the work.”

That word keeps coming up in conversations about him. Connection. Connection to publishers, composers, artists and directors, and to the emotional undercurrent of a script. Over the past few years alone, he’s licensed music from Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, The Killers, Nina Simone, A Tribe Called Quest, Salt-N-Pepa, Busta Rhymes, Ben E. King and Supertramp, alongside South African legends like Brenda Fassie, Mandoza, Riky Rick and Bongeziwe Mabandla.

That level of catalogue is about years of building trust, understanding rights, and navigating the often invisible complexity of licensing. Because music supervision isn’t only creative, it’s a lot of legal stuff. It’s knowing who owns what, understanding usage windows, territories, and platforms and protecting a brand from an expensive mistake before it happens.

“There’s this misconception that music supervision is only for big-budget jobs, and that’s just not true. I work on radio, activations, smaller campaigns, indie-leaning work; it’s not about how much you’re spending, it’s about knowing where to look, who to call, and how to unlock something that genuinely elevates the piece,” says Marc.

And while most of his focus remains in advertising, his reach extends further. He was Music Supervisor on the Netflix series Marked, which reached number one on Netflix in South Africa and charted in the Top 10 across 37 countries. Marc was also the music supervisor of ‘Just Now Jeffery’ (brainchild of Hylton Tannenbaum and Brett Morris) that has just been nominated for a number of SAFTAs.

Five consecutive years at number one happens because you’re consistent. Because directors trust you, agencies know you’ll solve the brief and because artists pick up the phone. Here’s to another five years at the top, congrats bud!

Wanna (s)talk some more? Marc Algranti’s company website.