2020 may have thrown a lot of curveballs, but in the TV sync world, a familiar name continued to reign supreme.
Tunefind has revealed its top shows, songs, movies and artists in terms of onscreen syncs for 2020, and for the fourth year in a row, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy rules the top shows list, maintaining its stature as one of the top TV shows for music discovery, a reputation it’s held since its premiere in 2005.
Tunefind, a music discovery website that partners with The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard to present the Top TV Songs chart each month (ranking songs that appear in TV shows each month using a combination of metrics from Tunefind and Nielsen Music/MRC Data), has revealed its 2020 year-end data, sorting the top songs, shows, movies and more based on traffic and interaction on the Tunefind website.
Grey’s Anatomy’s reign occurs despite a shortened 17th season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that premiered in November, while the 16th season concluded in April.
Featuring music supervision from Alexandra Patsavas and Kasey Truman, Grey’s Anatomy snagged one entry in the top 10 songs list from Tunefind as well: Lindsey Ray’s “Keep You Safe,” at No. 10, which was featured in the eighth episode of the 16th season.
Lucifer again comes in at No. 2 on the top shows ranking, while The Blacklist, The Umbrella Academy and Supernatural round out the top five.
The year’s top rookie is Virgin River, which premiered two seasons on Netflix in December 2019 and November 2020.
2020’s top song, meanwhile, is Chip Taylor’s “On the Radio,” which appeared in the eighth episode of the second season of Netflix’s Sex Education, premiering in January. Unlike some of the other songs on the year-end top songs tally, “On the Radio” was recorded specifically for the show in which it was featured, Taylor’s tune an instrumental cover of Regina Spektor’s 2006 release from her album Begin to Hope.
As far as the biggest artists on TV and film in 2020, Lizzo tops 2019’s top artist, Billie Eilish, ranking at No. 1 while Eilish comes in at No. 2. Much like the Billboard Hot 100 the past two years, Lizzo’s music was often inescapable on TV, with her songs included in episodes of The Flight Attendant, Virgin River, Black-ish, A Million Little Things and many more.
Ezra Furman, meanwhile, rules the top composers ranking for the second straight year, thanks to his continued work on Sex Education.
Finally, in a decidedly different year at the movies due to the closure of many theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 365 Days takes the cake as Tunefind’s top movie of the year for syncs. The Polish drama was initially released in Poland in February, followed by a Netflix release in June. Its music included Everybody Loves An Outlaw’s “I See Red,” which eventually rose to No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in mid-July, as well as music from Michele Morrone, one of the film’s stars.
Check out the full rankings for 2020 below, via Tunefind.
Top Songs
1. “On the Radio,” Chip Taylor, Sex Education
2. “Emerge,” Fischerspooner, Westworld
3. “Ooh La La (feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier),” Run the Jewels, Ozark
4. “This Year’s Love,” Jasmine Thompson, Lucifer
5. “Crazy,” Daniela Andrade, The Umbrella Academy
6. “You’re Somebody Else,” Flora Cash, Locke & Key
7. “Fire for You,” Cannons, Never Have I Ever
8. “I Can’t Remember Love,” Anna Hauss, Robert Wienroder & William Horberg
9. “Remember (feat. Jacob Banks),” Seinabo Sey, Power
10. “Keep You Safe,” Lindsey Ray, Grey’s Anatomy
Top TV Shows
1. Grey’s Anatomy (supervisor: Alexandra Patsavas & Kacey Truman)
2. Lucifer (Justin Kamps & Alexandra Patsavas)
3. The Blacklist (John Bissell)
4. The Umbrella Academy (Jen Malone)
5. Supernatural (Alexandra Patsavas & Justin Kamps)
6. Peaky Blinders (Amelia Hartley, Pete Saville & Zoe Ellen Bryant)
7. Sex Education (Matt Biffa)
8. Shameless (Ann Kline)
9. Power (Jennifer Ross)
10. All American (Madonna Wade Reed)
Top New TV Shows
1. Virgin River (supervisor: Lindsay Wolfington)
2. The Queen’s Gambit (Randall Poster)
3. Outer Banks (Liza Richardson)
4. Watchmen (Liza Richardson)
5. Normal People (Juliet Martin & Maggie Phillips)
Top Movies
1. 365 Days (supervisor: Mateusz & Michal Sarapata)
2. 6 Underground (Dave Jordan & Trygge Toven)
3. To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You (Laura Webb & Lindsay Wolfington)
4. The Gentlemen (Matt Aberle)
5. The Old Guard (Julia Michels)
6. Trolls World Tour
7. Let It Snow (Season Kent)
8. After We Collided (Josh Kessler & Dylan Bostick)
9. The Kissing Booth 2 (Linda Cohen)
10. Little Women (Spring Aspers)
Top Artists
1. Lizzo
2. Billie Eilish
3. Ariana Grande
4. Rayelle
5. Aloe Blacc
6. John Legend
7. Sleeping At Last
8. Dua Lipa
9. Jacob Banks
10. Ruelle
Top Composers
1. Ezra Furman
2. Graham Coxon
3. Ramin Djawadi
4. Jeff Russo
5. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
