A new type of music television

Call it an addiction, or maybe a guilty pleasure. No, we're not referring to the 3 a.m. Snickers bars you sometimes sneak from the vending machines; it's "The O.C.," FOX's hottest new show, a weekly teenage soap opera in the vein of the now-defunct "Beverly Hills, 90210." While creating buzz over a new fictional group of wealthy Southern California teenagers, "The O.C." also recalls its early '90s counterpart through strong emphasis on music. But while "90210" used its Peach Pit After Dark club to showcase emerging artists, "The O.C." takes a more comprehensive and all-encompassing approach to featuring new music from emerging indie rock artists. The show often plays 30-second clips of new music videos immediately before or after commercial breaks and its website contains a section devoted entirely to the music of "The O.C.," including message boards about the show's soundtrack and an opportunity to buy Music From The O.C., Mix 1, the first in a set of three albums devoted to songs played on the show.

"The O.C." certainly isn't the first TV show to use songs from emerging artists as its soundtrack; however, it is part of a new crop of programs that give viewers repeated opportunities to hear such music. Both "Smallville" and "Gilmore Girls" also contain music pages on their websites and give viewers the opportunity to buy albums with music from the shows. The website for the WB even features a radio section, where users can stream an Internet playlist of all the music featured on a specific show. Overall, there seems to be a visual-association approach to music prevalent in many current TV shows catering to young adults--by allowing viewers to hear music from artists they don't normally listen to or may not have even heard of, these shows give the artists an opportunity to increase their popularity.

In the weeks after first being featured on "The O.C.," the sales for Rooney's self-titled debut album increased by 200 percent. There's also the explosion in popularity of Phantom Planet, a band that used to be primarily known for its ex-drummer Jason Schwartzman (of Rushmore fame) than for its music. Phantom Planet contributed the show's theme song "California"; now sales for its self-titled album are booming.

Yellowcard's video for "Ocean Avenue" was featured as one of the video clips on "The O.C." and is currently one of the most requested videos on MTV's "TRL," with the band's 2003 release Ocean Avenue going gold a few weeks ago. Many other artists mentioned on these TV shows, such as Death Cab for Cutie, Jet and Bright Eyes, have also experienced recent spikes in popularity.

Overall, it seems as though television shows are able to effectively promote the music of emerging artists, whether it be by featuring them on their soundtracks or websites, or by including clips of their music videos in between commercials. So watch "The O.C." all you like. While it may not be activating your brain cells, it sure is expanding your musical awareness.