Television killed the Radio Star?

I realize in the last couple of posts I've been mulling over what the new radio will be. Will it be ad-supported Ruckus? Customized indie pop betterPropaganda? Will it be new Reggaeton/R&B formatting? Yet again, I will explore another vein of media that could be the new radio: Television.

Watching Grey's Anatomy last year, I was struck by the amount of really great new music showcased during some of the most dramatic, emotional moments of an episode. This is such an interesting, innovative way to trick your average teenager into liking a song. Take an addictive, soap-operatic TV show aimed at the high school, collegiate audience; then pick a great song by an unknown, unsigned indie band and pay virtually pennies for it; synch it up to picture during one of the most emotional scenes; create a smash hit single. Chasing Cars, anyone? And, while you're at it, make a compilation CD of all said songs, conveniently place the advertisement after the credits before the "next episode preview," sell it everywhere, make a fortune.

An article in the Chicagoist from January, 2007 echoes this same sentiment. With physical CD sales declining and digital downloads rising exponentially, it seems logical there would be radical changeover in the way music is marketed. Indie bands have found a virtual gold mine in Grey's Anatomy, The OC, Six Degrees, Ugly Betty, Scrubs and many others.

So then, perhaps unintentionally, doesn't television become the next radio of sorts? By strategically placing songs in a show like Grey's Anatomy, it requires the viewer to listen to the song in its entirety. Additionally, it doesn't hurt that the viewer will continue to associate the song with how they felt during a certain scene in the show - most likely, the song will endear itself to the viewer before the 3 minutes is up and Grey's Anatomy will have helped a previously unknown band sell thousands of copies of its single. Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor for the show (and also The OC), is highly esteemed by the producers of the show for her ability to subtly underscore the dramatic elements of the episode.

This is better than radio, because the viewer doesn't just listen to the song, but instead listens to the song while watching the show, which is an entirely different experience. It becomes even cooler to like the song than it would if one simply heard it on the radio.

Bands like Snow Patrol and the Fray have received global recognition from Grey's Anatomy exposure. Even the RIAA agrees in their December newsletter. When I googled the compilation soundtrack of Grey's Anatomy, I received webpages advertising the bands and the soundtrack from all over the world. Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars and the Fray's How to Save a Life both went on to achieve smash success digitally and on the radio -- with the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack selling an unprecedented 46,000 in the first week and How to Save a Life going platinum. With the state of CD sales, it's remarkable that a television show could help sell that many copies of a soundtrack or album.

Other up and coming artists such as Kate Havnevik, Mat Kearney, and KT Tunstall have been showcased on Grey's Anatomy, as well. Bands such as The Shins and Frou Frou, not to mention artists like Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin, Nick Drake and Colin Hay have been showcased on Scrubs. New, trendy television shows also showcase new, trendy music. So long as the show has viewers (which Grey's Anatomy certainly does), the new band has a huge potential audience.

In comparison with terrestrial radio, advertisers are still profiting from television and online streaming of episodes. As a result of the huge popularity of these new shows and their subsequent soundtracks and singles, advertisers have added incentive to support the format.

It remains to be seen if these shows will achieve longevity, but in the meantime... indie bands should be clamoring to be heard on the TV.