Stranger Things, Kate Bush, Sync Licensing & You

As I’m sure you’ve probably heard by now, Kate Bush’s song, “Running Up That Hill” was featured in season 4 of Stranger Things on Netflix.  Due to the exposure of the song being featured on Stranger Things, this 37 year-old track by Kate Bush has become a viral sensation and went all the way to #1 on Billboard’s Global 100.

Kate Bush now holds the record for being the oldest artist to ever have a #1 song, at age 63.   It’s estimated that to date she’s earned 2.3 million dollars in streaming revenue alone as a result of her Stranger Things sync placement.

2.3 million dollars!

This was a big deal.  For Kate Bush.

I’ve seen multiple Youtubers and bloggers in the sync licensing community covering this story and alluding to how there are lessons we can all glean from the Kate Bush / Stranger Things story.

Although I think there are definitely some takeaways from this story we can learn from, I’m going to approach this story from a slightly different angle than how I’ve seen it covered.

First things first.  The bad news.

Takeaway #1

99.9% of you will likely never have a Kate Bush moment. 

Think about it. Most of you probably didn't write a hit song 37 years ago that is going to be picked up by a massively popular TV show and even if by chance you did happen to write a big hit song back in the day, this is the sort of thing that no one could have predicted.

Not even Kate Bush herself could have predicted what happened with this track.  Here’s what Kate Bush had to say about the resurgence in popularity of “Running Up That Hill”:
 
“How utterly brilliant! It’s hard to take in the speed at which this has all been happening since the release of the first part of the Stranger Things new series. So many young people who love the show, discovering the song for the first time. The response to ‘Running Up That Hill’ is something that has had its own energy and volition. A direct relationship between the shows and their audience and one that has stood completely outside of the music business. We’ve all been astounded to watch the track explode!”
 
A few days later she went on to say:
 
“The track is being responded to in so many positive ways. I’ve never experienced anything quite like this before! I just want to say a really big thank you to everyone in the U.S. who has supported the song. It’s the first time I’ve had a Top 10 single over there and now it’s in the top 5!”
 
And finally, upon the song reaching #1, she went on to say:

“We’re all so excited! In fact, it’s all starting to feel a bit surreal,” she said. “I’ve just watched the last two episodes of Stranger Things and they’re just through the roof. No spoilers here, I promise. I’d only seen the scenes that directly involved the use of the track and so I didn’t know how the story would evolve or build. I was so delighted that the Duffer Brothers wanted to use ‘RUTH’ for Max’s totem but now having seen the whole of this last series, I feel deeply honored that the song was chosen to become a part of their roller coaster journey. I can’t imagine the amount of hard work that’s gone into making something on this scale. I am in awe. They’ve made something really spectacular.”

So even Kate Bush herself was taken by surprise that this happened, and why wouldn’t she be, there was absolutely no way her or anyone involved could have predicted the massive success that resulted from her Stranger Things exposure.  Older hit songs are used in TV shows all the time, but seldom if ever do they result in this sort of massive viral success.

Which leads me to takeaway #2:

You can’t predict what is going to go viral online.

In the internet age, some things go viral, and well, most things don’t.  No one can really predict what songs or videos end up going viral in advance.  Some things just take on a life of their own and end up becoming massive viral hits.  This is clearly one of those times and I’m happy for Kate Bush.  “Running Up That Hill” is a really cool tune and it clearly stands the test of time.

Although it’s doubtful that most of us will have a moment quite like Kate Bush has had, there are some important takeaways as it relates to sync licensing and your music. 

Which leads me to takeaway #3:

You can’t predict when your songs are going to be licensed or how much they’ll earn.

One of the most important takeaways from the Kate Bush story is that your back catalog has significance and you just never know when an older track is going to be used and how much it could potentially earn.  I’ve had songs get placed in tv shows as much as 10 years after they were recorded.  Not as extreme as the Kate Bush example and I didn’t earn quite as much as she did, but ten years is still a long time to wait for a track to get placed!

I’ve had other songs take as many as 7 and 8 years to get placed.  You just never quite know when it comes to sync licensing, which is why I always tell people licensing is a marathon and not a sprint.  There’s an element of uncertainty and unpredictability which can be both frustrating and exciting (when songs finally do get placed).

Which leads me to takeaway #4

Play the long game.

If you love writing songs like I do, then my advice is to simply keep writing songs and putting them out there.  It can seem like an uphill battle at times with all the music that’s out there these days. 

But, and I guess this is most important takeaway from the Kate Bush story, you just never know what’s going to happen with your music and who knows, maybe one day you or I will have our own “Kate Bush Moment”.  You just never know :)

---

In case you're one of the few people who haven't heard this song yet, here is the official music video, which currently has 94 million views.

---

Here are a few examples of some of my songs that ended up being licensed many years after they were recorded and initially placed with music libraries.
​
1) "Where We Were" -  I wrote and recorded this song in 2015.  It was used multiple times earlier this year in a German television show called "The Great Way" or in German "zu Fuß um die Welt".  I've yet to receive a payment for this placement so I'm not really sure how much I'll make from it. (Produced by Gary Gray featuring MJ on harmony vocals)
​

---

2) Joy To The World - Instrumental Rock Guitar - This track sat in one of my music publisher's catalogs for ten years until several years ago when it was used multiple times on ABC Primetime News, a tv show called "The Middle", and multiple commercials for several different ABC shows.  What was strange was that it got multiple uses one year and then was never used again.  Such is the nature of sync licensing.  I ended up making several thousand dollars from the track.

---

3) "Up To You" - This track has been synced over 150 times. It took about seven or eight years before it started getting used and since then has become my most synced track to date.  It's been used primarily in sports shows like Fox Sports, MLB Whip Around, The US Open and others.