Securing the rights to use a song in film or TV is a challenging and expensive task — and the more iconic the song, the more challenging and expensive the clearance is likely to be.
So when two of Prince’s most legendary songs, “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain,” appeared in the finale of “Stranger Things,” it was obvious that therein lay a tale. And the tale is even more complicated than anyone would probably have thought.
Why? Not only because of the challenges in clearing the songs with the Prince estate — but because of the show’s plot: The two songs required for that segment of the show had to be the first and last songs on one side of a vinyl album, which, to use a reference from the show, is like a Rubik’s Cube for the music supervisor, and much more challenging than selecting Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” or any of the show’s many other iconic music moments.
The hard work paid off: Since the episode debuted on New Year’s Eve, “Purple Rain” has seen a 243 percent increase in Spotify global streams and a 577 percent surge in global Gen-Z streams specifically, Variety can exclusively reveal. “When Doves Cry” also saw a 200 percent boost in global streams, as well as a 128 percent increase in Gen Z streams. Overall streams of Prince‘s catalog have climbed 190 percent, with an 88 percent uptick in Gen Z streams.
And as you’ll see below, Nora Felder, president of Picture Music Company and a veteran music supervisor who has been on board for the entirety of “Stranger Things,” was more than up to the task — which doesn’t mean it was easy! Variety caught up with Felder on Friday afternoon to find out how she got it done …
Did you do anything special for the finale?
Yes, I saw it in a theater with my family — I’ve never seen “Stranger Thigns” like that, with an audience. It was the first time I was able to really experience how they’re so emotionally attached to the characters — they were cheering and shrieking, some of them were crying. I can’t think of another way I would rather have seen it.
I think the music in the show does so well because it stems from the fans being so attached to the characters and the stories, and the music extends their journeys, so they naturally become attached to it as well.
Music plays a bigger role in “Stranger Things” than a lot of similar episodic shows or films. Was that intentional from the jump?
I think the intention was just to find songs to push the narrative of the story, and rolling up our sleeves and keying in on “What is the right song for this character?” and “What is the right song for each moment? Should this be score or a song?” I can’t speak on behalf of the Duffers, but I don’t think there was an overall sense of “We’re going to create something that’s going to make music such a main character that it’s going to blow up all over their world!” No, they just wanted songs that accented their characters, pushed the narrative, and showed the attachment of music to the characters — and how music can sometimes save you. Did we know the Clash was going to have a moment? Or Kate Bush or Metallica or possibly what’s going on now? No, it’s always been about what is the most effective choice to either move this narrative or represent the true essence of this character. And I think that because we always constantly stayed true to that, the show became what it was.
Those two Prince songs were a surprise, and I’m sure it was a challenge clearing them. Why those songs? And how do you think they spoke to those moments in the show?
I’m glad you say “do you think” because songs can be interpreted in so many different ways. But they came about in a similar way to Kate Bush and “Running Up That Hill”: They were not scripted. They were “TBD” moments in the two spots in the script where a song needed to play: [SPOILER ALERT] for the scene when Hopper and Murray set off the bomb detonation to collapse the Upside Down gate, which was set off from the record player. So it needed to be the first song from one side of a [vinyl album], and then it needed to segue to the last song on that same side of the [album], to play through Eleven’s emotional stand against that leads into the collapsing dimension of the Upside Down. So they needed to hit those two spots.
The Duffers reached out to me about this before the scene was shot — I didn’t even have a shooting schedule, I think they had just written the script and only the cast had seen it. They’d been going through songs, I think they were asking for ideas from the cast. And they said, “This one is a little more tricky because of the way the scenes are going to be set up: We need something preferably from 1987 but it could be before, the songs have to be from the same artist, and the first song has to start the A or B-side of an album, and the second song ends the A or B side of that album.
That is an incredibly narrow window!
Exactly! So my heart stopped, like, ooh, that’s a tough one. And remember, the scene’s not shot yet, so I haven’t seen the footage and this is just me imagining it in my head — and it’s got to play through this big, emotional, sad scene that’ll lead into a dimension collapsing! I’ve been doing this for 20 years, but there’s still always a first!
Obviously I have various ways of finding music: Sometimes songs just pop in my head — and I know the ‘80s quite well — sometimes it’s just e-surfing, Spotify or streaming this or that; sometimes it’s just driving in a car and somebody drives by with a song playing; and I also have, 15,000 or 20,000 CDs and albums. But for this one, I needed to go to my research books. I found a couple that listed the albums [by side], and I literally had to go and flip through the book for ideas and then see if the first and last tracks on a side could line up to our needs. And in a lot of cases, they just didn’t. I mean, I stayed up all night, and I think I came up with just two ideas.
Just to step away from Prince for a second, in these situations, I like to give the Duffers a lot of different flavors to choose from to find what works best. Like in the scene where [SPOILER ALERT] Karen is fighting the monster to save Holly, I tried all kinds of songs, from Frank Sinatra to you name it, and they fell in love with the ABBA song, “Fernando,” which was actually the first song I sent them.
So what was the other album you sent them, along with Prince’s “Purple Rain”?
Part of me doesn’t want to say what it is, because I don’t want people to feel bad. But I did send a classic artist from the ‘70s, big artists, and I said, we could end it with this, but I’m not sure about the starting song — but honestly, I don’t even know if those guys will clear it, and it’s going to be megabucks.
Or, we would end it with “Purple Rain” and start with “When Doves Cry,” but honestly, I don’t even know if I can clear it. I mean, I had not heard of [“Purple Rain”] clearing before, although I know now that it did clear for something right after he died [in 2016] — there was a relationship with someone who did a series episode about a character mourning Prince’s death, but that was a one-off situation.
So they wrote back to me and said, “Do you think we could get this cleared?” And I’m like gulp, “I’m really not sure, but I’d be willing to try.” And they said, let’s try. Double gulp! Because this means they really want it — they weren’t having me clear anything else.
The good news is, I majored in English in college, and that helped with creating what I call “theses”: where you give the rights owners all the information of how the song’s going to be used, and then the backstory of it, the meaning of it — I go deep. So Jennifer, my clearance coordinator, and I spoke to Marty Silverstone at Primary Wave. He goes, “Well, we all know it’s a tough one, but let’s try.” I said, “If there’s anything that they might clear it for, it would be ‘Stranger Things,’ right?” He goes, “Let’s hope!,” because the estate has so many approvals.
Then I talked to Joy Murphy at Universal Music Publishing [which administers the songs’ publishing], and she said the same thing — “Nora, let’s give it a try, we’ll do everything we can to position this in the right way.” So that was two. Then I had Thuy Lam at Warner Records — which controls the master [recording] — who I’d been down this road before with Kate Bush, and she said, “We support this.” And then we waited — that was grueling, and it took a few weeks — we were getting closer to shooting and I told them to leave it in as a placeholder, but a day or two days before the shoot, I got the answer that [the Prince tracks were approved.]
Now, I know the Duffers have been saying that they feel [Prince’s estate cleared the songs] because of Kate Bush, and they’re not wrong because I’m sure Primary Wave and Universal reminded them. And I did tell them I thought this was going to be one of the most significant moments in the season, although you don’t have a crystal ball — I mean, I heard Tiffany’s taking off like crazy and “Fernando” and some other songs. But from my perspective, it had a good chance to be these songs. But still, for the rights owners, it’s not just about the money, it’s about what lines up with what Prince would have wanted, and to do it in the most respectful manner possible. And I don’t want to discount all the hard work we put into the “theses,” making sure everyone fully understood these uses and what they meant to the characters.
For “Running Up That Hill,” though, there were hundreds of other songs that could have worked, you didn’t need songs that began and ended an album side.
Yeah, for [the Kate Bush slot], I had 9 or 10 other songs in my pocket — but I said, “This is the best one. This does everything we want it to do.” I don’t think it could have been [as good with] anything else — because the lyrical content lined up so perfectly with what the characters were going through and needed to do. You know, they needed to step outside of their own world and step into someone else’s shoes to truly understand and reconnect. I’m not saying we couldn’t have gotten something else, but I don’t know if it would have lined up as perfectly, not only with the melodic structure in the building, but also with the intricate message that seemed to speak on a deeper level and relate to our characters.
Also, those two Prince songs are so heavily associated with the “Purple Rain” film and the emotions and visuals that go with it — was that a concern?
No, not for me, and the Duffers never mentioned that. We’ve never been against using songs that have been tied to other stories because this is a completely different, unique story. And again, going back to the special relationship that the audience fans have with this show, once you attach it to their characters and this story, it’s almost as if it takes on a different meaning. And remember, a lot of the young people are not going to have that association. Even the older people that knew and grew up with these songs, they’re listening to it in a different way.
They kind of line up in that way as well, because “Purple Rain” is obviously the climax of that film, and here it’s part of the climax.
Yeah, when things are beginning to be resolved and [SPOILER ALERT] Eleven has made her decision that she needs to cease existing in order to save them. And “When Doves Cry” — doves have always represented love and peace, right? And in this case, they’re crying because they’re sorrowful — if we want to get heavy here, and pretend we smoked some pot (laughter). But from what I’ve always understood, the song is about the conflicts that exist within relationships, right? So to me, it was interesting to put the song in that spot, because they’re feeling hopeful, but things aren’t resolved — their mission is not done; there’s still people in danger; the world is not one. So even though the song has a kind of a lightness to it, I think that’s why it worked well. When I saw it to footage, went, “Wow, that works way better than I even imagined.” And “Purple Rain” has always symbolized the chaotic, sad world that we live in, but it’s also ultimately about redemption, love, and transformation.
OK, can I guess the other one you considered? Led Zeppelin? The Eagles?
No, it wasn’t the Eagles. And I’m not going to say Led Zeppelin didn’t come up — I tried Led Zeppelin, but it didn’t work because I was thinking “Stairway to Heaven” and it wasn’t a first [song on album side] and a last situation. And I thought maybe Pink Floyd with “The Wall,” but I can’t remember if the right song was an ending or not. I don’t know how many times I went through this: One song would work and the other one wouldn’t. I mean, that’s why I stayed up all night with my books!
Are you having separation anxiety now that the show is over?
I’m sad, but I’m about to go into “Yellow jackets right now, literally on Monday. And I love that show. And I’m working on the Duffer Brothers’ other project that they’re executive-producing, “The Boroughs,” that’s coming out this year. And then we’ll see about after that! But I really want to take some time and find something really special to work on.