With the increasing popularity of streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, 2019 proved to be an interesting time for sync. As the year comes to an end, the Anara Publishing team has decided to take a closer look at the 2019 sync trends in TV and Gaming.
Female artists take the lead
The first trend that we have observed, especially in American TV series, is a predominance of female over male lead vocals. The main example of that is Freya Ridings, whose single “Lost Without You” has so far been used 17 times in different productions including Grey’s Anatomy, Legacies and Love Island (UK, USA and Australia!). We have to admit that it’s a powerful ballad with emotional lyrics, that catches the ear and works great for sentimental, passionate scenes.
Our personal favourite this year is Billie Eilish and her songs such as “bad guy“, “you should see me in a crown“, “bury a friend” and the emotional ‘‘when the party’s over’. All these tracks have been used in dozens of projects (including Riverdale, 13 Reasons Why, Love Island and FIFA ‘19). All of this has culminated in the 16 year-old star reaching new heights in her career receiving six AMAs nominations this year!
Anara Publishing artist FABRIK has also been successful in sync this year. Thanks to the deep, original vocals of lead singer Hayley their track “Black Lake” featured in the US drama Light As A Feather, currently airing on Channel 4.
Acoustic covers and the ’80s revival
Another new trend that emerged in sync this year is the interest of music supervisors in indie covers of well-known songs. Lusaint’s acoustic cover of En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go”, called “More Than Friends” was used in this year’s series of Love Island (UK) which helped her reach the 5th place on 2019 Spotify UK Viral Chart. Also, “More Than Friends” was searched for over 23,000 times on Shazam after the show aired.
There has of course also been the continuous popularity of synth-wave and 80s-inspired tracks which have proved to be some of the most popular soundtracks during this entire decade. The presence of this trend can be seen in 2019 shows like Russian Doll, Stumptown, mixed-ish and the US teenage drama Sex Education.
FIFA soundtracks “influence culture”
In the games industry, the soundtrack of popular football game FIFA has always been highly appreciated by the players and it’s a great representation of every year’s music trends. The 2020 edition, released in September ‘19, features many new tracks, yet to become popular and some more trendy 2019 releases from artists such as Foals, Rosalia, Major Lazer and Skepta. This year, two separate soundtracks have been curated for the game, featuring over 110 tracks from 20 different countries. As stated by Steve Schnur, President of Music at EA, “Originally, EA Sports FIFA soundtracks reflected world culture. Then they began to influence culture” (EA 2019 Press Release).
Whilst our team decided to focus on the trends discussed above, the sync business is constantly changing and new trends are emerging with the release of every new film and series. Should you be interested in licensing a track from our roster for your upcoming ad, film or TV releases, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.