Once upon a time—more specifically, during the golden age of 2000s TV—earworms were plugged into key scenes. Iconic? Definitely. Intentional? Probably. Case in point: that Gossip Girl Thanksgiving scene at the Van der Woodsens’ set against Jason Derulo's ‘Whatcha Say'. Brain chemistry altering. That scene resurfaces on Instagram and TikTok every November like clockwork, sending me straight down a 2000s bop playlist rabbit hole, and honestly, I’m not complaining.
Flash forward to our OTT binge today, and a show’s background music has come back with a vengeance—and it’s now screaming main character louder than ever. Take Netflix’s XO, Kitty, for example. The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before spin-off introduces a fourth lead strong enough to upstage the actual love triangle: the K-pop bangers that drop every other scene. From Stray Kids and BTS to IVE and (G)I-dle, the soundtrack feels like a carefully curated gift to K-pop fans (and internet virality). Almost like a sneaky way to compensate for Kitty’s, uh, casual approach to Korean culture and language. And guess what? The joke’s on us, because it worked. The show performed well, and the music played no small part in that.
Shows are no longer just curating soundtracks—they’re engineering them for maximum virality. Thanks to TikTok and Instagram Reels, a single background song can turn a scene into a meme, a trend, or a full-fledged cultural moment. Think Wednesday and ‘Goo Goo Muck’—that dance became a global challenge, proving that a well-placed song can extend a show’s reach far beyond streaming numbers.
Sheya Kurian on why when it comes to OTT shows today, music isn’t just background noise; it’s a marketing tool.
