TV theme music plays a major role in making a television show instantly recognisable. It doesn’t really matter whether the music has a vocal track or not. Some of the most memorable TV theme songs have been instrumentals. Think of classic shows with instantly recognisable themes such as MASH, The Pink Panther and Hawaii Five 0. With the modern era revamp on Hawaii Five 0 in recent years, the theme music is even well known among a new generation of viewers.

A successful television show, whether it’s a comedy, a game show or drama, will usually have iconic music as the theme. Now while the theme song doesn’t have to be memorable for the show to be, it certainly goes a long way towards branding a show and making it stick in people’s minds.

The way the theme also pairs itself with the images you see on screen when the show starts also has a lot to do with how well a song will be received, liked and remembered. Generally if a show is very popular it tends to make the music more likeable as well.

The theme music really has to match the tone and mood of the show though. If the show is predominantly action, then the music should be mid to up tempo, catchy and sound like something is happening. Music for a comedy will generally be cheery, light and upbeat. Sci-Fi will tend to have an atmospheric and eerie tone, while horror will just be downright creepy. News programs and current affairs always seem to have that dramatic, arresting tune which is often kind of irritating, but gets your attention.

Of course, theme songs with lyrics are possibly even more catchy than those iconic instrumentals we all recognise. Where there are vocals we can sing along to the theme song, which further ingrains it into our subconscious.

But whether a theme song has vocals or not, the more the theme fits the tone of the show and the higher quality the actual show is, the better it will be. Marry an awesome show with a great theme tune and you are sure to have a winner that will be remembered for decades.

Sync Licensing Music For TV

While many TV theme songs are composed specifically for the show, many shows take advantage of all the ready made music available for sync licensing; both for the main theme and for music that plays throughout each episode of the program. There are loads of talented artists, composers and producers that make music solely for the music licensing marketplace.

The internet is a prolific place for music licensing opportunities and there are many sites that act as the go between for the artist and the buyer. All the legal side of sync licensing is handled by the music licensing website, leaving artists free to create and TV show producers the convenience of securing quality music instantly for a fair price, saving them valuable time and possible headaches.

It’s a great era to be alive when it comes to all forms of creative pursuits. The internet has really opened the doors to so many opportunities for creatives of all types. Not only that, these days it is so much easier to meet other likeminded people and collaborate on various creative projects, and in a way musicians sync licensing their music with producers of television shows is also an indirect collaboration.

One of my favourite music licensing websites, and a great place to find music for TV shows, is a company called Songtradr. You can check out their catalogue by clicking on their logo below.