The idea of music in television isn’t a new one. From its inception, television used music used to create moods, fill spaces, provide rhythm and link the production to other cultural texts (1). However this music was traditionally just that – music. There was no artist, no lyrics, no autonomy for that music – it was simply a part of the program. However the 90’s changed all that. It was the first decade where ‘what to listen for’ was, in fact, your television.
“Recent years have seen an increase in pop music on television, replacing its more traditional incidental music. It is now dominant as stock music on television, filling expanding continuity and advertising spaces. The licensing of pop music for screen use is increasingly important for the music industry, spawning a new form of ‘multipurpose music’ which, as well as being music in its own right, can also be resold as stock music for television. While in the 1980s there was a rush to tie-in pop music with films, in the 1990s, it increasingly was to tie pop music with television.” (2)
The 90’s, especially late 90’s, saw the rise of this trend. Shows I grew up with such as Charmed and Roswell gave particular consideration to the songs they selected and their placement in the episode. They used popular music to achieve a measure of control over their audience’s emotional response. When the right song was chosen it enhanced the emotion of the narrative; and can years later still remind me of the scene in which it was used and the emotions therein. For example, one of the most memorable uses of music for me was Sarah McLaughlin’s ‘Full of Grace’, used in a 1998 episode of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer (see below). Even after eleven years, I still think of it as the ‘Buffy-gives-up-on-everything-and-leaves-Sunnydale song’. 90’s television demonstrated one of the many functions of music—which is to manipulate mood—in a brand new, televisional context.
The legacy of this is hugely apparent in 00’s television. Every ‘hip’ show, from Skins to 90210, has to have a ‘hip’ sound; ‘hip’ enough that it will warrant a soundtrack release. Recently, there has been a boom in TV soundtracks and in websites devoted to the use of popular music in television shows (3). Of this, blogger Garrett Kamps wrote:
“Last year The O.C. popularized the trick of laying indie music over the histrionic exchanges of hollow characters so as to lend real pathos to an otherwise loathsome TV show. This year the rest of Hollywood caught up, and now we've got programs like Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill paying Tegan and Sara's rent.” (4)
While suggests that the 00’s popularized the music-in-TV movement, I would counter-suggest that all the 00’s have really done is capitalize on it and take it to the next level. For example in 2006, an episode of One Tree Hill allowed the audience to decide which song would be played at Nathan and Hayley’s wedding (5). Song selection has clearly become an integral part of the TV audience’s experience.
While this can be perceived as a good thing, it also comes with some bad. Namely what I mean is when dialogue in a scene has to compete with the background music because it’s so loud and so obvious. Songs have gone from enriching the scene to sometimes dominating it. Because of this, an episode can be robbed of its quiet moments and end up feeling like a 40 minute music video. One Tree Hill can be particularly guilty of this. Music in television is most effective when it is used sparingly and appropriately; the final minutes of Six Feet Under surely being the most brilliant and well-executed example of this (see below).
The 90’s saw a transition in the use of music in television; from instrumental, lyric-less background noise to the recognizable, purchasable and sometimes incessant music of today. For many (myself included), this revelation means that television has displaced the radio as the best medium to discover new music. Rather than listen to a particular radio station, I just watch Gossip Girl weekly. If you want to know what to listen to in the 90’s, then start by watching TV.
Music in 90's TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Evolution: the last 6 minutes of HBO's Six Feet Under
References
(2) Donelly, K.J. 2002. 'Tracking British television: pop music as stock soundtrack to the small screen' Popular Music 21 : 331-343 Cambridge University Press.
“Recent years have seen an increase in pop music on television, replacing its more traditional incidental music. It is now dominant as stock music on television, filling expanding continuity and advertising spaces. The licensing of pop music for screen use is increasingly important for the music industry, spawning a new form of ‘multipurpose music’ which, as well as being music in its own right, can also be resold as stock music for television. While in the 1980s there was a rush to tie-in pop music with films, in the 1990s, it increasingly was to tie pop music with television.” (2)
The 90’s, especially late 90’s, saw the rise of this trend. Shows I grew up with such as Charmed and Roswell gave particular consideration to the songs they selected and their placement in the episode. They used popular music to achieve a measure of control over their audience’s emotional response. When the right song was chosen it enhanced the emotion of the narrative; and can years later still remind me of the scene in which it was used and the emotions therein. For example, one of the most memorable uses of music for me was Sarah McLaughlin’s ‘Full of Grace’, used in a 1998 episode of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer (see below). Even after eleven years, I still think of it as the ‘Buffy-gives-up-on-everything-and-leaves-Sunnydale song’. 90’s television demonstrated one of the many functions of music—which is to manipulate mood—in a brand new, televisional context.
The legacy of this is hugely apparent in 00’s television. Every ‘hip’ show, from Skins to 90210, has to have a ‘hip’ sound; ‘hip’ enough that it will warrant a soundtrack release. Recently, there has been a boom in TV soundtracks and in websites devoted to the use of popular music in television shows (3). Of this, blogger Garrett Kamps wrote:
“Last year The O.C. popularized the trick of laying indie music over the histrionic exchanges of hollow characters so as to lend real pathos to an otherwise loathsome TV show. This year the rest of Hollywood caught up, and now we've got programs like Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill paying Tegan and Sara's rent.” (4)
While suggests that the 00’s popularized the music-in-TV movement, I would counter-suggest that all the 00’s have really done is capitalize on it and take it to the next level. For example in 2006, an episode of One Tree Hill allowed the audience to decide which song would be played at Nathan and Hayley’s wedding (5). Song selection has clearly become an integral part of the TV audience’s experience.
While this can be perceived as a good thing, it also comes with some bad. Namely what I mean is when dialogue in a scene has to compete with the background music because it’s so loud and so obvious. Songs have gone from enriching the scene to sometimes dominating it. Because of this, an episode can be robbed of its quiet moments and end up feeling like a 40 minute music video. One Tree Hill can be particularly guilty of this. Music in television is most effective when it is used sparingly and appropriately; the final minutes of Six Feet Under surely being the most brilliant and well-executed example of this (see below).
The 90’s saw a transition in the use of music in television; from instrumental, lyric-less background noise to the recognizable, purchasable and sometimes incessant music of today. For many (myself included), this revelation means that television has displaced the radio as the best medium to discover new music. Rather than listen to a particular radio station, I just watch Gossip Girl weekly. If you want to know what to listen to in the 90’s, then start by watching TV.
Music in 90's TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Evolution: the last 6 minutes of HBO's Six Feet Under
References
(2) Donelly, K.J. 2002. 'Tracking British television: pop music as stock soundtrack to the small screen' Popular Music 21 : 331-343 Cambridge University Press.
It's quite clever from a marketing perspective to get your song used on a TV show. Most people buy music based on familiarity, the more familiar you are with something the more likely you'll enjoy it. This isn't a universal rule, but I know friends who are into a certain genre will like other songs of that genre more than, say, Indonesian gamelan music. Getting a song on a TV show also increases the likelihood you'll enjoy it, and subsequently purchase it, because it's associated with something else you already enjoy (the TV show).
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