television: a foray into mainstream consciousness for musicians?

i definitely can credit some of my music discoveries to tv. when a show that i like plays a great song i don't recognize, i go straight to google or the "featured music" clips at the end of the show.  it's pretty normal to hear people say something along the lines of, "yeah, i'm awesome, i find all of my awesome music through pure genius, never through lame tv shows." well, maybe not really like that, but i think a lot more people find great new artists through tv than will admit to it.

the cast of gossip girl.

these days, lots of musicians are getting into the spotlight once they're featured on tv shows. remember when death cab for cutie and the killers exploded after being featured and talked about on The OC? don't hate, i know you watched it too! and other bands, like snow patrol, found major mainstream success after several albums of indie success once they were featured on a grey's anatomy episode - the very next day, their song was the most-downloaded track on itunes. 

and lots of these shows (the oc, grey's anatomy, gossip girl, etc.) that are sending indie bands into the stratosphere of popularity have one thing in common: music supervisor extraordinaire, alexandra patsavas. she knows how to pick a great song, that's for sure.

the OC's adorable seth cohen (played by adam brody) helped shoot death cab for cutie and others into mainstream popularity during the show's heyday.

when you think about how music is changing and reaching ever wider audiences, do you think about music featured on tv shows? it's definitely interesting how much music has changed television in the past few years. for example, many shows now feature songs and artists at the end of the show or even on the bottom of the screen during shows. most people think of online promotion and other new-ish forms of media as the jumping-off point for unknown artists, but television is providing this access to the public as well. 

so, do you find some of the music you listen to from tv?


xo!