Here’s an interesting question for you - what do you reckon is the highest earning TV theme tune of all time? The Monkees? Friends? The Flintstones?
Actually, it’s none of those. The answer is the theme to the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, the early 90s sitcom that launched Will Smith on the road to Hollywood stardom.
That’s according to the online gaming platform Spin Genie, who worked out that the theme – written by Will Smith and his-then sidekick Jazzy Jeff - has earned $751,000 through streams alone, with over 132.2 million Spotify plays.
However, it should be pointed out that back in ye olde days, some themes were actually released as singles and people paid real money for them. The Friends theme, I’ll Be There For You, was a huge hit for LA alt rock duo The Rembrandts in 1995. The Theme From M*A*S*H went to number one in 1980 and then was a hit all over again for the Manic Street Preachers in 1992.
Going further back, the theme to Van Der Valk – Eye Level by the Simon Park Orchestra – was a number one in 1973 and sold over a million copies. Surely all of these would have earned more? Perhaps Spin Genie couldn’t be bothered to work out what they all accrued through physical sales...
The Fresh Prince theme was never actually released as a single in the UK, but it was still certified as silver in 2018, having broken through the 200,000 streams barrier.
The rest of Spin Genie’s Top Ten is interesting. REM are at Number Two with Stand. Chosen as the theme for the early 90s US sitcom Get A Life, its earnings currently, er stand at $284,100, though that doesn’t count what it accrued when it reached the Billboard Top Ten in 1989. Meanwhile the Sopranos’ theme Woke Up This Morning has been a nice little earner for Alabama 3 down the years– it came in third, raking up $231,200.
Under those are the themes to Married With Children, Batman, The Addams Family, Taxi, Scooby Doo, The X Files and King Of The Hill. Some of those will be instantly familiar. Others will leave you scratching your head going… ‘really?’
The other interesting thing about the list is that other than The Sopranos, all those shows were first shown in the 20th century. Specifically-written TV themes are an endangered species. Advertising encroachment has played a part in this, but increasingly in the modern age of streaming, viewers have the option of skipping the intro, rendering the theme tune largely redundant. And that’s something of a shame, don’t you think?
