Top Music Industry Documentaries For Watching While Quarantined

If you’ve already binged through your favorite series but aren’t quite ready to commit to reading a book, these music documentaries can be a great way for music nerds to pass the time while waiting out their social isolation.

Guest post by Randi Zimmerman of the Symphonic Blog

We’ve picked the brains of our Symphonic team to find the best music industry documentaries to give your brain a break while you’re stuck at home. Grab your quarantine snacks, sit back, relax, and turn on these iconic music documentaries to help you pass the time.

Music Industry Documentaries to Watch While Quarantined

Ali Kennedy [Social Media Coordinator] — Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation

In August, 1969, half a million people from all walks of life converged on a small dairy farm in upstate New York. They came to hear the concert of their lives, but most experienced something far more profound: a moment that came to define a cultural revolution.

Click here to watch it on Netflix. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.

Nathan Hunter [Corporate Operations Manager] — Sasha & John Digweed: Delta Heavy

Sasha & John Digweed: Delta Heavy is a DVD release from System Recordings which chronicles Sasha & John Digweed’s “Delta Heavy” tour of the United States. Released in 2005, three years after the original tour, the “Delta Heavy” is known for being one of the first DJ tours to incorporate a rock concert atmosphere into traditional DJ venues.

Peter Wohelski [Senior Client Manager] — High Tech Soul Detroit: The Creation of TECHNO Music

High Tech Soul is the first documentary to tackle the deep roots of techno music alongside the cultural history of its birthplace, Detroit. If you’re into Techno, you definitely don’t want to miss this one.

Ana Gamboa Mahecha [Marketing Associate] — Buena Vista Social Club

Traveling from the streets of Havana to the stage of Carnegie Hall, this revelatory documentary captures a forgotten generation of Cuba’s brightest musical talents as they enjoy an unexpected brush with world fame. This documentary follows renowned guitarist Ry Cooder and his son, Joachim, as they travel to Cuba and assemble a group of the country’s finest musicians to record an album.

Click here to watch the full documentary on Hulu. For now, check out the trailer below.

Keith Odle [A&R Associate and Client Onboarding] — Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records

Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton is a feature-length documentary about avant-garde Los Angeles-based record label Stones Throw Records. The film weaves together rare concert footage, never-before-see archival material, inner-circle home video and photographs and in-depth interviews with the artists who put Stones Throw Records on the map.

Esteban Mora [UGC Coordinator in Client Services] — Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man tells the true story of Rodriguez, the greatest ’70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late ’60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation.

In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero.

Click here to watch it on Netflix. For now, check out the trailer below.