'The
O.C.' is television's on-ramp for alt-rock bands
November 24,
2005
Citizens Here and Abroad,
a three-year-old alternative-rock group from San Francisco, spent
a recent Thursday night mesmerized by the latest TV episode of ''The
O.C.''
They were not ordinary fans.
The band, whose ''Appearances'' was one of the featured songs, was
hoping to catch the wave of success that airplay on the hit Fox
show has brought to so many groups before them. ''It's kind of known
among a lot of indie bands that being on there could mean great
exposure,'' said Adrienne Robillard, 30, one of Citizens' singers.
Its own character: In
the 2 1/2 seasons ''The O.C.'' has been on the air, it has
developed into a musical alchemist, transforming unknown bands
into critics' darlings and sparking online chatter and sales.
Originally intended to illuminate the emotional lives of the
characters, the music instead has become a character in its
own right.
Call
it ''The O.C.'' Effect. Jem. Imogen Heap. Death Cab for Cutie. Dios
Malos - the list of independent artists whose profiles have been
boosted by the show's meshing of music and emotionally charged moments
is growing.
And
then there is the ''O.C.'' Ripple Effect: Thus far, Warner Bros. Records
has released five soundtrack albums - ''Music From The O.C.: Mix 1''
in March 2004 was the first. The fifth in the series, ''Mix 5,'' hit
record stores this month.
When
it comes to major indie-rock tastemakers, Alexandra Patsavas doesn't
exactly look the part. Her mane of wavy dark hair isn't spiked blond
or streaked fuchsia. Her jeans aren't low-rise and ripped. But as
''The O.C.'s'' music supervisor, Patsavas has been instrumental in
defining the show's sound.
''We try to go through almost everything,'' said Patsavas, whom music
fans, record labels, artists and band managers alike respect for her
keen ear and her open mind - to say nothing of her willingness to
slog through the slush pile of unknown musicians.
What's she listening for?
''An amazing emotional moment,'' she said. ''When I'm listening to
music, I definitely save things, like, 'That would be a great breakup
song.' That's how I hear music.''
Scrolling through her iTunes, Patsavas runs her cursor over some of
the tracks she's considering for upcoming episodes: underground bands
such as Her Space Holiday, Great Northern, Durango Park, Jason Collett,
Clue to Kalo. Some of those songs will make their way on to the weekly
compilation CDs Patsavas sends to the show's executive producers,
Josh Schwartz and McG. From there, the music selection becomes a collaborative
process.
''Anthemic'' is the sound Schwartz is going for.
A prime-time soap opera embraced by teens and twentysomethings - a
demographic that dovetails with the music industry's hungriest consumers
- ''The O.C.'' debuted in 2003. It takes place in Newport Beach, Calif.,
and chronicles a group of hip, well-heeled teens as they negotiate
the turbulent waters of friendship, romance, family and school.
In
its 8 p.m. Thursday slot, still one of the most competitive on prime
time, the show is averaging 6.5 million viewers, a drop of 7 percent
compared to last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. Likewise,
sales of ''Music From the O.C.'' mix CDs have been declining. The
four volumes have sold a total of just under 600,000 copies, according
to Nielsen SoundScan, the most, not surprisingly, for the first
edition (270,000), the least for the third (40,000), a compilation
of alt-rock holiday music.
Young viewers: And while the show's viewership has slipped 3 percent
this year in its key adults 18-to-49-audience, ''The O.C.'' is still
hanging on to its young audience.
Schwartz said he always listens to music when he writes, and while
writing the show's pilot, he was listening to the Joseph Arthur
track ''Honey and the Moon.''
''In the beginning, the bands we used - the Doves, South, Jeff Buckley
- weren't hugely popular artists,'' said Schwartz, who scored most
of the music for the first six episodes from his iPod. ''We weren't
trying necessarily to start a new trend. It was just the music I
really responded to and all the people who worked on the show responded
to, and all of a sudden we realized it was connecting with people.''
When Schwartz ran out of music, he hired Patsavas: ''She took what
I was trying to do and elevated it, and it kind of became this other
component of the show.''
They also began incorpor- ating live music, beginning with an in-show
performance by the band Rooney. A week after that appearance, Rooney's
album sales tripled. The experience prompted Schwartz to make live
performances a standard feature.
Certainly, ''The O.C.'' is not the first show to link teen drama
with new music, but it gets more attention than most because so
much music is used. Each episode contains from four to 14 songs.''
'The O.C.' is totally unique in its power for music marketing because
there just hasn't been as consistent a level of success with any
other show generating the kind of excitement that they tend to do,''
said Marisa Porter, co-founder of Zync Music, a music-placement
company in Santa Monica, Calif. ''It just has become a resource
more than anything for the kids out there who are looking for some
other avenue, some other way of finding out about cool new acts.
I don't think any other show has established itself as that kind
of oracle.''
