That scene in Saltburn they everyone is talking about sparked an unexpected revival of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 hit ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’, sending the song to the US charts for the first time in over two decades.
A host of other lucky tracks also found themselves enjoying a second coming decades after their debut, thanks to films and TV shows, with TikTok acting as a powerful catalyst to catapult songs from yesteryear to unprecedented heights.
Inspired by this phenomenon, experts at BonusFinder analysed search volumes for a variety of coveted soundtracks, both one month before and one month after the release of the associated film or series, to unveil the songs that have enjoyed the biggest comebacks and the tunes that are reaping the biggest rewards by delving into potential royalty earnings from Spotify.
15 oldies making the BIGGEST comeback thanks to film and TV
Topping the list with a staggering 1,940% increase in searches is The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck” (1981), which catapulted to stardom after being used as the backdrop for a spooky dance choreography in Netflix’s 2022 smash-hit Wednesday. The ‘80s tune quickly turned into a huge TikTok sensation, experiencing a meteoric rise from a mere 300 videos to an astonishing 200,000 in a single month.
In second is Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” (1994) which found fame as the theme song of the BBC series “Peaky Blinders,” receiving a 288% bump in searches a month after the programme’s premiere.
Resurrected by one of Netflix’s biggest hits, “Stranger Things,” the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush has been struck by luck in 2022 when her 1985 track “Running Up That Hill” took center stage in an iconic scene where Max frantically fled the Upside Down villain Vecna. The song reclimbed the charts nearly four decades after its release, successfully attracting a new generation of listeners with a 111% jump in searches, ranking third in the study.
Madonna’s “Material Girl” (1985) comes fourth with searches escalating by a notable 73% after being given a fresh orchestral twist in the second season of Netflix’s royal hit “Bridgerton” (2022). Meanwhile, Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” rounds off the top five after a sped-up version went viral on TikTok with fans adopting Wednesday’s dance to the 2011 pop song, despite not actually being featured in the show.
Despite a modest 4.35% uptick in search volumes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” (2001) surging popularity is indisputable. The song’s resurgence is evident on TikTok, with a huge spike in users recreating Barry Keoghan’s dance moves as video count soared to 411,300 on the platform, a significant leap from just 571 the day before the movie release.
Which songs rake in the most cash from Spotify?
Featured in the musical biopic of the same name, the top-grossing old song on Spotify is “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975), potentially bagging the British rock legends Queen a whopping £8,145,844 in royalties.
In second place is “Running Up That Hill” which has generated £3,916,276 for Kate Bush. Revived by the hit Amazon Prime show “The Boys” (2020), iconic power ballad “Dream On” (1973) comes third amassing over 1 billion streams so far, amounting to an estimated £3,582,922 in royalties for the American rock band Aerosmith.
