The long-awaited fourth season of Netflix’s hit thriller show “Stranger Things” hit the web over Memorial Day Weekend, and amid the usual pop-culture buzz bomb of reviews and fan theories, news emerged that the show’s recurring use of Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill” had resulted in revival of interest on streaming services, according to Consequence.
When asked about the behind-the-scenes process of securing the rights to the song, Stranger Things’ music supervisor Nora Felder revealed that negotiations with Bush–who is known to be very selective with regard to licensing her work–had been eased by the artist is a personal fan of the show. What ultimately made the difference, however, were elaborate descriptions of the song’s use in key scenes, as well as the fact that the staff wanted to leverage the breadth of meanings the lyrics of “Running Up That Hill” can have for listeners. The song’s tone and text fit the journey of the character whose scenes it accompanies throughout the season perfectly – a fact Bush greatly appreciated.
Once the artistic vision had been communicated, the biggest challenge, Felder says, was the fact that the song can be heard during a staggering number of scenes–nearly every single one in which one of the season’s protagonists appears. This meant that the approval process was far more drawn out than it usually is.
The labor was well worth it though–the song’s use was well received, and the decision to license the song has clearly proved profitable: Stranger Things 4 quickly elevated Bush’s reach to a new peak, with the song’s Spotify streams up nearly 9,000%, and first place listings on both the Spotify US Daily chart and the iTunes sales chart.
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