Each new season of brings a bounty of reveals: steamy romances, elaborate balls, Whistledown dispatches and string quartet covers of pop hits to accompany it all. “We’re always looking for covers that are pretty recognisable and enhance the story we’re telling,” says music supervisor Justin Kamps. “Sometimes we like the more straightforward cover with the steady tempo that’s perfect for the ball sequences, and then other times we like the ones with a bit more creativity in the arrangement so it’s a bit more emotional.
” Picking and placing orchestral covers for the Netflix series is an intricate process, beginning with what Season 3 producer Jess Brownell estimates to be “a playlist of maybe 100 or 200 orchestral versions of pop songs” that – with input from directors, producers and Netflix – is trimmed down to a dozen or so stand-outs. According to The Economist, it has led to a surge of classical musicians recording pop covers, string quartet bookings at weddings, and live events that merge classical music and pop. After the release of the third season’s first batch of episodes last month, Spotify searches for content increased 1,700 per cent, while the creation of -related playlists on Spotify spiked nearly 400 per cent in the United States.
“It’s been so exciting to watch the sound become solidified and become so popular,” says the series’ composer Kris Bowers. “In the beginning, it was really an experiment, but now that we’re a few ye.