Wannabe pop stars once tried to get their records on to movie soundtracks. No longer. In the past 12 months, glossy teen soaps such as The O.C., Smallville and One Tree Hill have rivalled MTV in spotting new talent and breaking young bands. The US rockers Rooney, Modest Mouse, Phantom Planet, the Walkmen, the Killers and Death Cab for Cutie have all seen sales soar after their songs were featured in teen TV series — in the case of Death Cab for Cutie, an underground act who were also the subject of a brief argument on The O.C., their album sales tripled overnight.
The surprise beneficiaries of the O.C. effect, however, are British bands. Franz Ferdinand, Keane, Doves and South, the Irishmen the Thrills and the Welsh singer-songwriter Jem Griffiths have all benefited from spots on TV soundtracks. In the case of 28-year-old Griffiths, exposure helped make her a star in the US before she had even released a record in Britain.
Originally out on a US indie label, Jem’s debut album, Finally Woken, caught the attention of The O.C.’s music bookers on its low-key release in 2003. When the show used one of its tracks, the lush, electro-folky Just a Ride, in an early episode of its first series, interest in Jem jumped. In fact, so popular did the song prove with viewers that the Cardiff-born singer was invited to appear in a later episode, singing a striking cover of Paul McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed in a key wedding scene. Since then, Jem’s songs have been snapped up by Desperate Housewives and Six Feet Under, and Finally Woken — released here next month — has sold close to a quarter of a million copies in the US alone.
“I had no idea the show was going to be so popular,” says Jem. “Or that it could have such an impact on my career. Artists have been having hits off the back of movie soundtracks for years, but cool TV soundtracks never really existed before.”
The advent of the fashionable small-screen soundtrack dates back only to the late 1990s, when teen series such as Dawson’s Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer would pack episodes with contemporary pop songs. Their soundtracks were hardly cutting edge — the Dawson’s Creek theme was by Paula Cole and artists featured included Curtis Stigers and Sixpence None the Richer, while Buffy played it safe, if considerably cooler, with the likes of Garbage and Guided by Voices — but they deliberately drew attention to the songs.
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Tracks were chosen to enhance certain scenes and often played for over a minute, while soundtrack compilations were later released on CD. More importantly, the series themselves weren’t too cheesy and attracted audiences older than the usual teen dramas. By the time the slick witch series Charmed and teen sci-fi drama Roswell (whose theme was Dido’s Here with Me) hit screens, it wasn’t unusual to hear the Flaming Lips, Coldplay, Travis or Zero 7 while the characters fought demons or fell in love.
“In the last couple of years, TV soundtracks have become much cooler and much bigger business,” says Lori Feldman, an executive at Warner Bros in New York whose job it is to place songs in TV shows. “It has been driven by teen dramas and is now spreading to adult series like ER, 24 and Six Feet Under.”
But while record companies have become much more aggressive in marketing their acts to TV dramas, it is the series themselves that set the agenda. In the States, where the playlists of radio stations and music television stick rigidly to bankable acts, music supervisors trawl the internet for artists kids are talking about, but rarely get to hear, and go to gigs to hear new music.
Surprisingly, few artists have concerns about the use of their music on teen TV denting their credibility. Or about relinquishing control of their songs to producers who may change their meaning. In The O.C., Jem’s Just a Ride soundtracked a swinger’s party and gave the song a sexual connotation that didn’t exist before.
“In all honesty,” says Feldman, “I have never come across an act who refuses to have their songs on TV soundtracks. Maybe some of the older acts don’t want to be in teen dramas, but if ER calls, they’ll say yes. Even a credible, multi-platinum-selling band will say yes because they know the song will be heard by ten million-plus people.
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“A few years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case. It was considered cheesy to be on a TV show. But a few brave artists said yes and everyone else followed. Besides, these shows often have the production values of movies and rarely does anyone say no to a good movie.”
The result is that bigger bands are now as keen as newcomers to get their music on TV. In a groundbreaking recent deal, U2 licensed three songs from their current album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, to three episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Meanwhile, there are rumours of a forthcoming O.C. Beck-isode, which features several songs from Beck’s new album and back catalogue.
The biggest benefits, however, are still felt by young acts in need of exposure. When the American band Rooney had an O.C. episode built around the characters attending one of their gigs, their sales trebled.
“We chose Rooney because we wanted a band that was fun, not overexposed and not middle of the road,” says O.C.’s creator, Josh Schwartz. “If we can help be a catalyst for exposing new bands, that’s great. And if we can help kids listen to better music, then God bless America.”
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What Schwartz doesn’t mention is that new bands are cheaper.
“Money always plays a part,” says Feldman. “It’s a far better business model for them to use five great songs in five great scenes — songs that enhance that scene — than blow half their music budget for the episode on one chart number for one big scene. But hey, that’s good for us too.”
How good is only just becoming clear. Feldman recently licensed a song by a 21-year-old Scot Johnathan Rice, who has yet to release his debut album, to Smallville.
“I’ve never seen a reaction like it,” says Feldman. “They used a song called Break So Easy right at the end of the show. They must have played 90 seconds of it over the closing montage. In two days, sales of Johnathan’s EP, which isn’t all that easy to find, had shot up 647 per cent. The way they used the music really moved people and it could help make Johnathan’s career.”
Rice, however, didn’t even bother to watch. “I’m always flattered when anyone wants to put my music anywhere,” he says, “but I do carefully consider each opportunity. I won’t do commercials, but if someone wants one of my songs as background for TV while kids are making out or finding themselves, that’s fine. I’ve never actually heard it on a show, but my little sister always calls and tells me about it and if it makes her happy, that ‘s good enough for me.”