SOUTHWOLD, ENGLAND - JULY 21: Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches performs on stage during Latitude Festival ... [+]
While the COVID-19 pandemic silences car radios, coffee shops and clubs that introduce people to new music, the soundtracks of streaming TV shows are reaching larger audiences than ever.
The Scottish synth-pop band CHVRCHES landed one of the biggest synchs of the social distancing season when “Forever”, a track from their 2018 album Love is Dead, was featured prominently in Elite, a popular Spanish-language show on Netflix
According to CHVRCHES’ label, Glassnote Records, “Forever” logged 2.5 million global streams in the tracking week ending April 2. The song’s monthly Spotify streams increased by 900%, with a peak daily total of 171,000 streams on March 27. The song has been added to high-profile playlists like Spotify’s “Teen Party”, and “Heartbreak Pop” on Apple Music.
“The results were really staggering,” said Kristen Bushnell Perez, Head of Film and TV for Glassnote Records. “More and more fans are being drawn to the track.”
Elite explores class tensions, romance and murder at an exclusive private school in Spain. The show has been a hit since it premiered in 2018, reaching more than 20 million households during its first four weeks on Netflix.
The third season of Elite dropped on March 13, just as many national governments began issuing emergency decrees to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“It was the first weekend that a lot of people had to stay at home,” Perez said. “Content was being streamed at a much higher rate. I think that’s why we saw a more drastic reaction [to ‘Forever’] than normal.”
“Forever” plays during Elite’s opening sequence in multiple episodes, and in a montage that looks back on the mysterious, violent death of a main character at a school dance.
“The montage encompasses key moments for each of the characters, showing what each character believes,” said Lynn Fainchtein, music supervisor for Elite. “‘Forever’ helped to tell a story within a story… and let the audience know the emotional state of these key characters in a quick recap.”
Perez said the lyrics of “Forever” convey the students’ conflicting feelings of anger and remorse, particularly the song’s pre-chorus: “You will never see my side/And I will always think I’m right/But I always regret the night/I told you I would hate you 'til forever.”
Shazam data suggests that thousands of Elite viewers used the app to identify “Forever” as they watched. The track saw a tenfold increase in Shazam tags month-to-month, logging 250,000 in a single week. The song reached No. 16 on the Shazam global chart, and No. 5 in Mexico.
“Viewers now have time to look into and discover the music in each program,” Perez said. “Netflix and other streaming platforms have more power than ever in influencing artists’ careers.”
On Friday, CHVRCHES released a new music video for “Forever,” filmed from each member’s separate places of isolation. The band is slated to open for Halsey on U.S. tour dates this summer.
