It turns out that '80s pop star Kate Bush and the fictional girl group Huntr/x from “KPop Demon Hunters” have a lot in common.
In recent years, Netflix has positioned itself as one of the few video streaming services focused on making an impact in the music industry.
From the surprise revival of old songs like Bush's “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica's “Master of Puppets” on shows like “Stranger Things,” to the online streaming of the most originally produced music documentaries, there's no doubt that Netflix's audience is musically attuned.
Last summer, Netflix reached another level with the overwhelming success of “KPop Demon Hunters.” The animated film, which features fictional K-pop idols battling the forces of evil, has become Netflix's most-streamed film with more than 480 million views since its release in June. But its success was not limited to the audience.
The soundtrack, filled with punchy K-pop tunes and inescapable melodies, is the first to top the Billboard charts since 2022, when Disney's “Encanto” created a similar frenzy. Huntr/x is also nominated for five Grammy Awards at Sunday's awards ceremony.
The hit single, “Golden,” which spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is nominated for song of the year, the first time a Netflix production has been nominated in one of the four main Grammy categories.
Music and film have always enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Think classic songs like “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz” and “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic” that became generational hits.
Now, Netflix and other global streaming platforms have taken the synergy to another level, creating new opportunities for artists to showcase their music.
“Suddenly people are discovering music they didn't know before,” said Ian Eisendrath, the music supervisor for “KPop Demon Hunters.” “I think people got hooked on the movie, which got them hooked on the soundtrack, which got them hooked on the soundtrack, which led them to discover other music.”
Eisendrath said the film, produced by Culver City-based Sony Pictures Animation, was not expected to be “a runaway commercial success. It was a risk.”
Although aimed at children, the film attracted a large audience of all ages.
“He approached all kinds of angles, the music, the story, the characters, the images… [Netflix] “I was very interested in a film that had broad appeal to all quadrants of viewers,” Eisendrath said.
In the age of streaming, music supervisors like Eisendrath play an increasingly important role in the success of projects like “KPop Demon Hunters,” said Robert Fink, chair of music industry programs at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
He said that over the past 10 years, the role has become more than just finding a song to match a scene.
“They take care of artists like record labels used to,” Fink said. “They have artists that no one knows, or they can get some people to write songs for them.” [the project]which could then become a way for those artists and those songs to be successful in the industry.”
The singing voices behind Huntr/x are not those of the main actors. They belong to rising musicians Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. Ejae has written songs for major K-pop groups such as Twice, Le Sserafim and Red Velvet, while Nuna and Ami have experience as solo artists.
Although they were not a group before the film, they have since performed together on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Saturday Night Live” and in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The soundtrack gained global appeal, with more than two-thirds of its streams coming from outside the U.S., according to data from entertainment industry analytics firm Luminate. “Golden” earned a record 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard global charts. The popularity of the film and its music helped boost music consumption on a global scale.
“KPop Demon Hunters” is already doing well this awards season, winning two Golden Globes and receiving two Oscar nominations for best animated film and original song.
Justin Kamps, the music supervisor for “Bridgerton,” has noticed a similar trend as new seasons of the Regency-era romance series come out. The period piece is famous for playing picturesque orchestral covers of contemporary pop artists such as Billie Eilish, Pitbull and BTS. Its final season will feature covers by Third Eye Blind, Coldplay and Usher.
According to Spotify, both the Vitamin String Quartet, the group behind the covers, and the original artists' songs, such as Eilish's “Happier Than Ever” and BTS's “Dynamite,” experienced spikes in listening following the show's release.
“Music and streaming have grown together. It's great for artists, because the moment a song appears on a project, it could be an incredible boost to their streaming numbers and get them discovered,” Kamps said.
Perhaps one of the most memorable examples of this dynamic occurred in 2022, when “Stranger Things” featured Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Overnight, everything changed for both Bush and Netflix.
Nora Felder, the show's musical supervisor, called the moment “the perfect storm.”
“It exploded through the stratosphere. We weren't expecting that. We were focused on finding something to tell the narrative. It seemed like it was bigger than ever,” Felder said.
“Running Up That Hill” received approximately 22,000 daily streams on average before appearing on the show, according to Luminate. Following its stellar turn, the song reached a peak of 5.1 million views in a single day, almost 40 years after its release. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and reached one billion streams in 2022. The song then generated viral trends on TikTok and brought the '80s star into contemporary pop culture.
Throughout its five seasons, “Stranger Things” continued to influence what viewers heard. Felder said the appeal of his soundtrack is a mix of nostalgia for older viewers who might have grown up in the '80s (the era in which the show is set) and an introduction to a new sonic world for younger listeners. According to Luminate, 28% of Generation Z discover music through exclusive streaming series.
When Felder works with other studios, he said music can feel like a “last consideration” or like “not enough money has been put into the music budget.” But with Netflix, music seems to be a priority, as it has been able to license songs from David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac and two songs from Prince (which were played in the series finale of “Stranger Things”).
“Netflix is very careful and, in some projects, music is more of a protagonist than in others,” Felder said. “I feel like Netflix has been especially careful in trying to budget accordingly and analyze the projects and [realize] “That music could really be an added force.”
Netflix's musicality will be put to the test during Sunday's Grammy telecast, when the girls of Huntr/x take on Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, as well as Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars and Rosé. The Grammys will stream live from Crypto.com Arena on CBS and Paramount+.
