Gone are the days of discovering new music through television, and that’s a shame.
Upon a recent watch of The O.C.—which premiered in 2003—and hearing the soundtrack, I came to a realization. This music, that I’ve never heard before, absolutely rocks. I had a second revelation soon after—most new television shows don’t provide audiences with music from new and artists, a true lost art in the streaming era.
Music in television before the streaming era was like a character in itself. Music supervisors were tasked with finding the perfect song—regardless of its popularity—to fit the vibe and emotional beat of a scene. Television was tasked with propelling music to its audiences, even with whole shows on MTV and MuchMusic dedicated to showing the music and music videos of the week.
Music on television shows was the most accessible way to find new music, often forcing audiences to check out the soundtrack’s CD, leading to the discovery of musicians and their own robust catalogues.
In my opinion, the shows of the 2000’s and early 2010’s did this best. Series often picked songs that created chart-topping hits. Grey’s Anatomy did this for songs like “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol, “How to Save a Life” by The Fray, and even a song called “White Horse” by a little-known artist called Taylor Swift.
House’s use of “Teardrop” by Massive Attack, transformed it into one of the band’s most well-known songs to date. Even shows like Glee—full of show tunes and top 40 bangers—brought underground songs to the masses, including “We Are Young” by fun. and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.”
However, the almighty titans of television music are the 2000s teen dramas, most notably One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, and the aforementioned, The O.C. Uniquely, the casts of the shows themselves would often chip in with their own tastes.
Superstar music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas captained the ship for The O.C, Gossip Girl, and Grey’s Anatomy. Patsavas crafted some of the most iconic needle drops at the time, like Jeff Buckley’s cover of “Hallelujah” in The O.C., and—my personal favourite—Jason Derulo’s “Whatcha Say” during the Thanksgiving episode of Gossip Girl.
In The O.C., music revolved around the lives of the main characters, with Adrian Brody’s character, Seth Cohen name dropping bands to his friends and family, introducing audiences to the indie sleaze greatness of Modest Mouse, The Shins, and of course, Death Cab for Cutie familiarly known on the show as Death Cab.
Like Death Cab, other bands had their own live performances too, both on The O.C. as well as Gossip Girl and other teen juggernaut One Tree Hill. Fall Out Boy, The Killers, and the up-and-coming Lady Gaga took to the stage. The music on The O.C. was so renowned artists like U2 and the Beastie Boys chose to premier their new music on the show, showcasing their songs “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” and “Ch-Check It Out” for the first time.
Now, I don’t want to discredit current day soundtracks. Many incredible music moments in recent television come to mind, with the likes of Stranger Things, Derry Girls, The Boys, and Euphoria all providing plenty of memorable scenes.
However, due to changes in licensing, music moments on new shows aren’t given the same attention nowadays—it seems to boil down to changes in licensing, with cable shows even having some of their music cues wiped from series after they arrive on streaming platforms.
Large platforms are unwilling to fairly compensate composers and music supervisors, often opting for generic songs. These tracks have similar vibes to easy TikTok listening, accompanied by a couple of the most current, already popular songs.
Though I love modern shows like Nobody Wants This or Never Have I Have I Ever, they have agonizingly almost-but-not-quite recognizable pop songs for every scene, with a few pop hits for good measure garnering attention online for using a beloved song.
Ultimately, the rest of the show’s music is too generic for any other music moments to stand out, making for a less satisfying viewing experience.
On the other hand, teen shows on Prime Video like The Summer I Turned Pretty have pop music whiplash, which doesn’t feel right either. Every two minutes comes with a trending online sound bite, not providing any emotional depth to the runtime.
Songs that are usually hard-hitting on their own become reduced to showing off just how much money a platform has—like Prime Video—to show off their music budget. It takes the viewer out instead of fully immersing them.
As a collective, it’s time to approach finding our music with curiosity instead of algorithmically, just like we used to do through TV.
Now, listen to Death Cab, and get off your damn phone!
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