Want to predict tomorrow’s big hits? Turn off your radio and turn on your television, because the next big things are playing on the hottest TV shows.
Art by Zach Ostrum
Remember when Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” played when Marissa Cooper died in The O.C.? Although the song had already been well known for a while, this appearance boosted the song’s popularity even more. Imogen Heap, a long-time underground artist, made her debut on The O.C. with “Goodnight and Go.” After that, The O.C. once again featured Heap’s sparse vocal track, “Hide and Seek,” in the dramatic second season finale. You may have heard bits of the song in Jason DeRulo’s hit single, “Whatcha Say.” How about when The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” was featured on Grey’s Anatomy? The tune became popular overnight – literally. Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Want to Be” is featured as the theme song for the TV drama One Tree Hill. The show even got its title from U2’s track “One Tree Hill” on their classic album, The Joshua Tree.
TV series such as The O.C., Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, and One Tree Hill have put so many undiscovered artists in the limelight. TV has become the new radio for all of the talented artists that don’t have the chance to make it big through major record labels.
So who is behind all of this? Music supervisors such as Grammy-nominee Alexandra Patsavas. A music supervisor is responsible for selecting and licensing music for a production. Music supervisors combine music with visual media. Patsavas has worked on over sixty films and TV series. Her most famous works include Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., and Gossip Girl. Patsavas also supervised the soundtrack for the 2008 film Twilight. In 2007, Patsavas created her own music label, Chop Shop Records, which signs mainly indie rock bands. The music supervisors find the bands, license the music, combine the song with the right scene, and broadcast it on TV for millions of people to view.
Thanks to this newly developed branch of the music industry, thousands of artists now have the chance to be heard and more people have the chance to discover them before they top the charts and play on the radio.
