BEYOND THE NOTES
“All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. as featured in HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry
Television soundtracks have become cultural engines shifting music tastes. Every time I listen to “Greenlight” by Lorde I think of Nick and Jess from New Girl. When I listen to Taylor Swift songs, I can imagine edits made by fans about various shows. Beyond giving people an image to paint in their heads of their favorite characters on the screen, these soundtracks hit the core of the music industry by shaping the top songs of that month or year and launching (or re-launching) the careers of artists.
When I think of 2020, one of the first songs that comes to mind is “Left Hand Free” by alt-J, which had a sharp increase of streams in April 2020 with 2.5 million streams in the United States in April alone due to the hit television series Outer Banks despite its release being in 2014. Two years later, charts saw a global Spotify streaming increase of 8,700% for Kate Bush’s 1985 “Running Up That Hill” based on Stranger Things Season 4. Recently, in December 2025 due to the success of HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry, the 2002 song “All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. surpassed 1 million daily Spotify streams for the first time driven by a 200% discovery spike. The trajectory and popularity of these songs have been transformed by their roles in television soundtracks. They’ve become revived to a broader audience due to their inclusion in television soundtracks. It begs the question: what kind of music in soundtracks truly affects the music industry?
Is it the shows with the most popular artists, or the ones that find songs that truly fit the scenes? Is it about the music’s meaning outside of the show, or how much the music can bring more depth into the show? Take for example Amazon Prime’s series The Summer I Turned Pretty. The soundtrack of this show never fails to amaze me in just how many big name artists they can fit into one season, with many of the songs not fitting the scene it was placed in. In season 3 when Belly and Jeremiah are fighting before he leaves for his spring break where he cheats on Belly with a character named Lacie. It’s moments like these where fans thought the music was often too “on the nose” and forced with top artists. Personally, I will always gravitate toward music that completely encapsulates the scenes I watch, no matter how well I knew them beforehand. While soundtracks with “big names” are always sufficient, soundtracks that are the “perfect fit” are the ones that create lasting industry shifts.
Shondaland’s Bridgerton universe brought a unique take to the industry with a different twist on popular modern songs. Creating string renditions of modern songs we’ve all heard, this show chooses popular music that mostly fits the scenes of the show but makes it feel new and different with a depth through the string renditions. Listening to “Nobody Gets Me” by SZA in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story felt perfect to me and added a deeper meaning to a song I already love as in these characters’ relationship they can only truly know each other due to their royal roles. Moments like this remind us that while big names are great to see in soundtracks, the music that enhances rather than takes over scenes is what truly leads to cultural shifts.
Do you prefer seeing your favorite artists in television soundtracks? Or discovering (or re-discovering) artists through television soundtracks? Whether it’s a string rendition of a modern hit or a 1980s classic finding a new audience, the true power of a soundtrack lies in its ability to turn a single scene into a cultural milestone that resonates long after the credits roll.
LATEST