It’s seven straight years for Grey’s Anatomy as the top TV show for music synchs, according to Tunefind.
Tunefind, a SongTradr company, has again announced its top shows, movies, songs and artists for onscreen music synchs for the year, with ABC’s 19-season behemoth snagging both top show and top song honors.
The music discovery website Tunefind’s year-end rankings are based only on traffic and interaction on its website, which helps fans identify what song they heard in a TV show or film. Tunefind’s year-end charts are separate from the monthly Top TV Songs chart, presented with Billboard. The monthly Top TV Songs chart ranks the top songs that appear in TV shows each month, using a combination of metrics from Tunefind and Luminate.
Throughout 2023, Grey’s Anatomy appeared on the monthly Top TV Songs list multiple times via its 2023 run of episodes as part of the 19th season, which concluded May 18. The No. 1 song of the year, Lxandra’s “Let It Be Hope,” appeared in the first episode of 2023 (the seventh episode of the season), which aired Feb. 23.
“Let It Be Hope” saw its overall premiere via the show’s episode, with an ensuing wide release in May.
A second song, Lindsey Ray and TAIINA’s “I Am Here,” ranks at No. 9 on the year-end songs tally via its synch in the 10th episode of the season (March 16).
The series will have a chance to defend its title yet again in 2024, as the show has been renewed for a 20th season.
The top song on the year-end chart whose origins are pre-2023 is the No. 2: Sofi Tukker’s “Best Friend,” featuring NERVO, The Knocks and Alisa Ueno. A popular synch since its 2017 release (it was prominently featured in an ad that year for the iPhone X), the song was heard in the season (and eventually series) finale of The Rookie: Feds, ABC’s spinoff of The Rookie¸ on May 2 (the show was later canceled in November).
Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso ranks at No. 2 on the shows list, bettering its appearance at No. 5 in 2021. The Jason Sudeikis-led comedy-drama ended its three-season run in May, with synchs throughout the season including songs from Bob Marley & the Wailers (“Three Little Birds” ranked at No. 1 on the April 2023 chart), Beyonce, Cat Stevens and more.
The top new show, meanwhile, is Apple TV+’s Shrinking, which premiered in January and concluded its first season in March. Fred again..’s “Dermot (see yourself in my eyes)” concurrently represents the series on the top songs ranking, appearing at No. 6. Shrinking has been renewed for a second season.
The top movies chart finds Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with top honors, buoyed by a popular soundtrack full of original music helmed by producer Metro Boomin. The Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse: Metro Boomin Presents soundtrack peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in June and yielded multiple appearances on the Billboard Hot 100, paced by “Calling” with Swae Lee and Nav and featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, which peaked at No. 41 that month.
Lil Nas X ranks as the year’s top artist, while Max Richter takes home the distinction of top composer. Lil Nas X boasted a variety of synchs in 2023 from series like The Summer That I Turned Pretty, Red, White & Royal Blue, RuPaul’s Drag Race and School Spirits. Richter, meanwhile, is the composer on Apple TV+’s Invasion (which premiered its second season in August) and his composition “On the Nature of Daylight” was also used in HBO’s The Last of Us this year.
See each of the year-end rankings below.
Top Songs
- “Let There Be Hope,” Lxandra, Grey’s Anatomy
- “Best Friend,” Sofi Tukker feat. NERVO, The Knocks & Alisa Ueno, The Rookie: Feds
- “Never Let Me Down Again,” Jessica Mazin, The Last of Us
- “Numb,” Tramont, Ginny & Georgia
- “Until I Found You,” Stephen Sanchez & Em Beihold, Ginny & Georgia
- “Dermot (see yourself in my eyes),” Fred again.., Shrinking
- “Nothing Else Matters,” Phoebe Bridgers, Will Trent
- “Feeling Our Way Through the Dark,” Katie Garfield, The Good Doctor
- “I Am Here,” Lindsey Ray & TAIINA, Grey’s Anatomy
- “Fuel to Fire,” Agnes Obel, The Last of Us
Top TV Shows
- Grey’s Anatomy (supervisor: Justin Kamps)
- Ted Lasso (Tony Von Pervieux & Christa Miller)
- The Blacklist (John Bissell)
- Yellowjackets (Nora Felder)
- Love Island
- All American (Madonna Wade-Reed)
- Sex Education (Matt Biffa)
- The Bear (Josh Senior & Christopher Storer)
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Robin Urdang)
- Billions (Jim Black)
Top New TV Shows
- Shrinking (supervisors: Tony Von Pervieux & Christa Miller)
- Sullivan’s Crossing (Lindsay Wolfington)
- Beef
- The Last of Us (Evyen Klean & Ian Broucek)
- Poker Face (Thomas Golubic)
Top Movies
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (supervisor: Kier Lehman)
- John Wick: Chapter 4 (Jen Malone)
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (Dave Jordan)
- Creed III
- M3GAN (Andrea von Foerster)
- Barbie
- Fast X
- Talk to Me
- Scream VI
- Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Season Kent)
Top Artists
- Lil Nas X
- SZA
- Usher
- AC/DC
- The Smashing Pumpkins
- Phoebe Bridgers
- Tones and I
- Cake
- James Brown
- Ramones
Top Composers
- Max Richter
- Daniel Pemberton
- Nathan Barr
- The Newton Brothers
- Theodore Shapiro
