For a film to have a soundtrack is a given. Not only can they be an integral part of the movie but, on occasion, they can also stand on their own. Trainspotting's a particular example, as is Quadrophenia, where the film wouldn't have existed without the music of The Who around which it was built. Sometimes a song can even get a new lease of life from being used in a movie, Tarantino's soundtracks providing a few examples of this. In addion there's the "music influenced by the movie" approach such as that employed by Eminem's Eight Mile.
So could a novel have a soundtrack? In all honesty, I think it could. The technology is surely there to sell an ePub or mobi file with an accompanying mp3, even if it's impractical to have a soundtrack that would play in time to the reading experience. A few well chosen tracks could add a whole new dimension to the readers "journey", be they tracks referenced in the text, inspired by it, or just used to enhance the stimulation already provided by the words.
Granted, it's the authors job to draw the reader in, but, in the case of my own writing, however well I portray the music it will never match the true impact of listening to it. Even if all it does is give the reader a taster, a way to understand the description by providing the base knowledge to refer back to, then wouldn't that be of value?
I'd love to sell Discoredia with an album of selected tracks, Hardcore is a lot less one dimensional than people may expect. Even better I'd love my writing in turn to inspire those whose music helped inspire my story. Now that would be cool.
So what do people think? Could a book and soundtrack work? Has it been done? And, for those of you who write, if you could create a playlist or album to go with your own novel what tracks would you choose?
For my own part it's an idea I have no way of realising, so, unless somebody out there wants to put together a Discoredia theme tune, I'm stuck. Maybe I'll just have to wait for a movie after all.