Stranger Things: How a TV Show Made Old Songs Super Popular Again

The Show That Wouldn’t Stay Quiet

Stranger Things is a TV show on Netflix. When its fifth season came out, it didn’t just end quietly—it made a big splash in the music world! Imagine you watch a show and hear an old song, then you and millions of others go to a music app to listen to it again and again. That’s exactly what happened.

On November 26, 2025, the first four episodes of Season 5 appeared on Netflix. Right after that, songs played in the show got a huge bump in listens on Spotify (a popular app for streaming music online).

Important Point: All the percentage numbers below compare how many people listened or searched on Spotify the day before the premiere (Nov 25) versus on December 3, 2025.

Music Explosion After the First Episodes

Songs from the first part (called Volume 1) jumped in streams (that means online plays). Here are the biggest winners:

• The Chordettes – "Mr. Sandman" (a song from 1954): streams went up by 625%
• Diana Ross – "Upside Down": up 510%
• Tiffany – "I Think We’re Alone Now": up 490%
• ABBA – "Fernando": up 335%

But people didn’t just listen—they searched for the songs even more!

• "Upside Down" searches jumped 3,538%
• Tiffany’s song searches rose 1,288%
• "Fernando" searches increased 1,110%
• "Mr. Sandman" searches climbed 1,030%

And for the youngest listeners (called Gen Z—roughly kids and young adults born late 1990s to early 2010s), Diana Ross’s song got a massive 1,250% increase in streams.

(The original article also had a YouTube video showing some of this music in action!)

The Biggest Winners from Volume 1 (Quick List)

• The Chordettes — "Mr. Sandman": +625%
• Diana Ross — "Upside Down": +510%
• Tiffany — "I Think We’re Alone Now": +490%
• ABBA — "Fernando": +335%

The Finale’s Magic (and Prince’s Rare Yes!)

The music buzz didn’t stop in November. On December 31, the final episode aired. It used two Prince songs that are usually very hard to get permission to use: "When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain". After the finale:

• "When Doves Cry" streams rose 200%
• "Purple Rain" streams rose 243%
• Prince’s other songs (his whole collection) went up 190%

Cool Fact: Netflix’s own news site (Tudum) said Prince’s team (the people who manage his music) rarely says "yes" to using "Purple Rain" outside its own movie. So this was a special treat!

Also, David Bowie’s "Heroes" played during the end credits. It normally got about 94,000 streams a day, but after the show it shot up to as many as 470,000—that’s almost 5 times as much!

Chart Surprises Beyond Percentages

Percentages are cool, but some songs did things numbers alone can’t show:

• Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide" appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 (a famous USA song popularity list) for the first time ever!
• Djo’s "End of Beginning" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 (the world list) and reached a new high of No. 6 on the Hot 100. Fun twist: this song was never actually in the show! Fans made video edits celebrating Joe Keery (the actor who plays Steve Harrington and is also a musician), and that made it huge.

How to Get the Soundtrack (Step-by-Step)

If you wanted to own the music, here’s how it came out:

1. Nov 28, 2025 – First digital soundtrack (many artists) released.
2. Dec 26, 2025 – Second digital part released.
3. Jan 1, 2026 – Third digital part released.
4. Jan 1, 2026 – The show’s original background music (score) by Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein came out separately through Lakeshore Records and Invada Records.
5. Jan 30, 2026 – CD, vinyl (black disc), and cassette (tape) versions arrived via Legacy Recordings.
6. By the week ending Feb 5, 2026, the soundtrack sold 21,000 copies in the United States (according to Billboard).

Why Song Owners Love This

Over all five seasons, Stranger Things taught music owners something valuable: when a song is tied to a beloved character, a big moment, or a sad goodbye, it becomes more than just background noise. It becomes part of the story. And even after the TV screen goes dark, people keep listening.

Summary

• Season 5 premiered Nov 26, 2025, causing old songs to skyrocket on Spotify.
• "Mr. Sandman" led with +625% streams; searches exploded even more.
• The finale used rare Prince songs and Bowie’s "Heroes," causing huge jumps.
• "Landslide" entered Hot 100 for first time; Djo’s song topped global chart thanks to fans.
• Soundtrack released in stages, sold 21k copies by early Feb.
• The show proves a good song in a story keeps living in our ears.

FAQ

Q1: What is Spotify, and why does it matter?
Spotify is a free or paid app where you can listen to almost any song online. When a song gets more "streams" there, it means lots of people are playing it.

Q2: Why did these old songs get popular again?
Because they were played in Stranger Things, a show many people love. Hearing a song in a fun or emotional scene makes viewers want to hear it again on their own.

Q3: Was Djo’s "End of Beginning" in the show?
No! It was never in the episodes. Fans made tribute videos for actor Joe Keery, and those edits used the song, pushing it to No. 1 worldwide.

Q4: What does "licensing" mean in simple words?
Licensing is like asking, "May I use your song in my show?" and the song owner saying yes (often for money). Prince’s team rarely gives permission for "Purple Rain," so it was a big deal.

Q5: How much did "Mr. Sandman" streams really go up?
The 1954 recording by The Chordettes increased by 625% after the first episodes—meaning about 7 times as many plays as before!