FAQ+: Tunefind Talks Reality TV

November 23, 2022September 14, 2023 Sam Bowser

Here at Tunefind, we often provide a very specific view of today’s movies, TV shows, and video games. Today’s entertainment is filtered through a lens of music and how the music in these projects evolves, and how it shapes the entertainment that we all know and love. In this entry of Tunefind’s FAQ+ series, we discuss a very specific television genre, Tunefind is talking reality TV.

“Where’s my show!?”

Tunefind receives content requests almost daily, and each request is cataloged and researched. There is a certain amount of criteria that a show must meet to be approved for addition to the site. The initial, and most critical, question to ask when researching a project for addition to Tunefind is, “Does this show feature music?” Since Tunefind is built to help you find music from your favorite TV shows and movies, we only add content that contains music. The good news is that almost every show and movie will use some kind of music, and you might be hard-pressed to find content completely lacking in song. Which brings us to the next most important question for content addition, “Are we able to access the musical resources?” Tunefind uses a myriad of methods to verify and find the music featured in a wide variety of content. This can range from something as simple as a soundtrack album all the way up to us going straight to the source in the form of a project’s music supervisor. However, there are certain situations where it proves difficult to track down these resources, and in those cases, it becomes more difficult to approve its addition to Tunefind. We must avoid adding a project to the site and allowing it to remain empty (i.e., no song entries included on the page.)

Tunefind is internationally accessible and used by fans all over the world. However, the human caretakers that keep Tunefind up and running, are largely based in the US. This is important to consider when making requests for content addition to the site. If Tunefind’s team is unable to access the show or movie you are requesting, it can make it difficult and sometimes impossible, to get that project added. Tunefind will still always do its utmost to investigate and source the content, but keep in mind that some entertainment only airs in specific countries and that can create barriers.

The reality of the situation

The ability to stream our entertainment has evolved to completely change the way fans view their favorite content. Streaming giants such as Netflix, Hulu, and HBOMax, now make original content that often includes some kind of reality TV genre. From Netflix’s Love is Blind, to Hulu’s The Kardashians, reality TV has earned a place amongst streaming audiences. However, there are still plenty of reality series that continue to air on live and cable TV channels. Networks including USA, Bravo, and MTV, all maintain major reality TV franchises that include series such as Temptation Island, Teen Mom, and The Challenge. It is usually easier to track down the music heard in shows that are available to stream. The ability to click through an entire episode, pause, rewind, and more, make it much more likely that you can identify that catchy song you heard. While there are ways to find the music in series that air live, the nature of the watching experience can create barriers between viewers and identifying that clip of music you hear during a scene.

“That sounds like…”

A sound-alike is a recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend. Every TV show has a production budget that accounts for every cost to film, produce, and release an episode and season. Incorporating the popular music of today in a series has numerous advantages, but can be very expensive. It is usually more expensive to license the use of a popular song or artist, and the use of just one currently trending track can blow an entire budget. Production libraries are catalogs of pre-licensed music available to be used for syncs. Production libraries often have multiple versions of the same track, including instrumental versions, different tempos, etc. If a series doesn’t have or want a composer for a particular project, there is a myriad of different options available in popular production libraries that could easily replicate the sound of an original score. Libraries often have a wide selection of tracks that sound very similar to what you might expect to hear on the radio, but for a lot less money. The popular reality series of today, sometimes have a lot of library tracks packed into a single episode. The pace of reality TV is often fast and show runners and music supervisors can use production libraries to get a whole lot of music options. It’s not unheard of to see a 40 minute long episode include over 40 different library tracks. Lots of music, used in short bursts, to supplement the fast pace of the plot.

Some reality series will use multiple production music libraries and get a wide array of genres and sounds. Series such as Selling Sunset have been known to use tracks from no less than 4 different production music libraries in a single episode. On the most recent incarnation of The Kardashians, you will see a post show credit that states “Music Library provided by Vanacore Music.” In this instance, the series production have partnered with a specific library to source it’s music.

That’s a wrap!

We hope this FAQ+ is helpful and informative! If you have any questions left unanswered, please feel free to reach out. Check out Tunefind’s FAQ and About sections for more information on the inner workings of Tunefind. Is Tunefind missing your favorite reality show? Send us a content request through the Contact Us feature, here! We will do our best to get the project up on the site. Check out Tunefind News for more information about Tunefind and popular content.

Check out some of the most popular reality TV shows on Tunefind!