I Need Something Like This: How March Madness Theme Songs Are Chosen

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Aside from slightly warmer temperatures, nothing signals the arrival of spring like March Madness, college basketball’s annual postseason tournament where 68 schools compete for a trip to the Final Four. The orchestral-sounding eight-note jingle of the NCAA Tournament is instantly recognizable, even to the casual sports fan, who only fills out a bracket because someone in their office pushed them to join a task force at the last second.

But while the catchy melody – as well as the one sung by Luther Vandross “A brilliant moment” which plays over an end-of-tournament montage shortly after the final buzzer of the championship game – is still the de facto theme of the event, so you may be wondering why you’ve heard U2’s new single “American” so often Soul” throughout March Madness. This year. Played at the top of every CBS and Turner Sports tournament broadcast, in and out of many commercial breaks, and even sometimes in the commercials themselves, the guitar rocker from Bono & co. featuring Kendrick Lamar, featuring “Vertigo”, was chosen as the secondary theme for March Madness 2018. The Songs of experience The track was accompanied by a video shoot on a barge on the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop.

The performance videofilmed moments after the Irish band’s concert Performance at the Grammy Awards in the same location, is the latest in a series of NCAA Tournament theme songs, which began in 2011 following a $10.8 billion deal between CBS Sports and Turner Sports for broadcast rights of each match of the tournament. Craig Barry, chief content officer and executive vice president of Turner Sports, has contributed to what he calls “full music integration,” the idea that music and sports can be combined not only for broadcast itself, but also for the complete commercial campaign.

“One of our core philosophies, especially at Turner Sports, is bridging sports and pop culture,” says Barry. “You kind of put yourself in a place where you think about your audience, you think about your event, you think about the song, you think about how that song interacts with the aesthetic of the action footage – and you’re looking for something that will ultimately add to the experience of watching the event. We believe music is part of that connective tissue that connects casual fans to entertain them while we do our shows.

Finding the perfect song is of utmost importance for networks covering March Madness and other sporting events as well. Several factors go into choosing the best song for the tournament, as many songs are considered each year across all genres.

“It can work in different ways, but you really have to start with the song,” Barry continues. “It has to do with the tempo, the rhythm of this song, the lyrics and, to some extent, the artist’s relationship with the sport. Are they fans? Many of them are intangible, but they are important aspects of the passion of the people involved.

So how did we end up with U2’s “American Soul” for this tournament? Turner creative director Drew Watkins says it took a while.

“They’ve come up in discussions for a lot of other tent events we do,” he said, recalling one conversation in which someone asked, “Do we want this group older ?”. This time, the answer was an unequivocal yes.

“What you maybe give up in terms of pure demographics, you regain icon status,” Watkins adds. “It’s a trade-off that we talk about a lot and in this case we thought it was a trade-off worth making. When U2 wants to work with you, you want to work with them on an event of this magnitude.

Watkins also noted that while Turner’s other flagship sporting events — including the NBA Playoffs and NBA All Star Weekend — have recently featured younger, more current artists like Kendrick Lamar or Migos, they still find a way to incorporate different genres in their coverage of March Madness, through short special interest pieces and commercial outings, for example. “It might not necessarily be the Migos-type demo that we would do March Madness stuff for this year (with U2),” Watkins says. “But when we take you on the show, we use a lot of younger guys, a lot of the more up-and-coming artists.”

In the case of March Madness – as well as Turner’s other sports broadcasts, like Sunday’s MLB games, the PGA Championship and the major NBA events mentioned above – Turner Sports works in tandem with artists and labels, providing them with a platform to showcase their new music.

Most March Madness songs surround the release date of a major artist’s album, usually within a six-month period. Past themes were performed by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay, The killers, Muse, The black keys, Kings of Leon, and more. Notably, the 2015 theme song, “American Oxygen” by Rihanna, predated the song’s release by about three weeks, meaning that for the duration of the tournament, the only place anyone could hear the single was on a college basketball television broadcast.

But even though the release dates for these records were set well in advance, Robert Rudkin, former music director of CBS Sports and current director of business operations for music licensing company MIBE, says these songs were chosen well. later than expected.

“Every year, it’s really a case that’s played out,” he said. “You would think they would plan a year in advance as soon as the tournament ends, but I don’t think that’s the case. I remember for The Killers (“Shot at the Night,” 2014), it was probably early February and they were still filming (the music video).

Barry adds that the decision can be made even a week before the event: “We think there are higher levels of engagement with new music. Each of us – myself, the creative director or one of the producers – hears something and thinks, “That would be great for sport ‘X.’ This could happen two months before, three months before, or even a week before, literally.

For this year’s theme, U2’s “American Soul,” everything came together only about two weeks before the show was filmed on the Hudson River. With so much production and last-second planning for the video, the channel, already accustomed to working in the live entertainment business, is able to work under incredibly tight deadlines.

With the idea of ​​full integration, these secondary themes can sometimes seem a bit overplayed, as the specific song may be played a dozen times during a broadcast, during highlights, commercial breaks, etc. But ultimately, CBS and Turner aren’t as worried about that — they’re more focused on the overall broadcast itself.

“You have to remember that the producers and directors of the show just want the show to look good and sound good, so they don’t care so much about what we’re playing and which song goes out because “They’ve heard it billions of times in the last three weeks for March Madness,” Rudkin says. “They’re worried about their obligations – sometimes they want to spend a certain amount of money on each broadcast. When you add that up over multiple matches, this is definitely going to be repetitive.

Although these secondary theme songs can be played a lot throughout each game, Barry isn’t worried about the risk of the track becoming exhausted, always emphasizing the mutual importance of the partnership between the artist and the network itself .

“We’ve never had a problem with overproduction or oversaturation of musical integration,” he says. “When you get into broadcasts and then digital extensions and social extensions, overall audience engagement is through the roof. This is why it creates incredible value for the artist.

As March Madness ends Monday night, CBS and Turner Sports are already gearing up for their next major sporting events, the Masters and the NBA Playoffs, respectively, where we’ll be treated to a new set of theme songs designed specifically for those broadcasts. But if you’re worried about a potential lack of U2 in future games, don’t worry – if Opening day All indications are that ESPN will also use “American Soul” throughout its 2018 MLB coverage.