History Main / RevivalByCommercialization

* ''Series/TheLastOfUs2023'': Music/DepecheMode's "Never Let Me Down Again", a deep cut off their 1987 LP ''Music/MusicForTheMasses'', more than tripled in streams after it was used at the very end of the first episode.

* A memorable performance of Odyssey's "Native New Yorker" on ''Series/TheMaskedSinger'' by Lips [[spoiler:a.k.a. Wendy Williams]] boosted the mostly-forgotten song's popularity, and it's now mostly associated with that performance (if not its usage in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome''... which came out well after that season of ''The Masked Singer'').

* ''Series/{{Wednesday}}'' went above and beyond and did this with a song that wasn't even featured on the show. While Wednesday Addams' dance scene in the fourth episode originally used Music/TheCramps' "Goo Goo Muck", the version that went viral on Website/TikTok swapped it out for a sped-up remix of Music/LadyGaga's "Bloody Mary". It proved popular enough that not only did Gaga [[AscendedMeme record her own version of the dance]], but she released "Bloody Mary" as the official sixth single from ''Music/BornThisWay'', an album that came out ''eleven'' years prior -- and it became a charting hit!

* Since the 1980s, the Wrestling/WorldWrestlingFederation has been at the forefront of combining sports-entertainment with popular music (rock and rap, especially). While it would be an exaggeration to say they "discover" new bands, they are often the first entertainers outside of pop music to promote these bands. Two examples of songs that went mainstream thanks to WWE's use of them are Saliva's "Click Click Boom" and Kevin Rudolf's "Let It Rock"; both songs were later on the soundtracks of major Hollywood films. (It doesn't hurt that a number of pro wrestlers, including Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/JohnCena, are themselves musicians in their spare time.)

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' did a sketch about this: a fake commercial for a compilation album of songs that both parents and teens could enjoy together because of their re-emergence in commercials. For example, "Good Vibrations", which Mom remembers from listening to Beach Boys records as a kid, and daughter recognizes as the theme from a Sunkist ad.
* Speaking of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend" will forever be associated with the 1990 sketch featuring Creator/PatrickSwayze and Creator/ChrisFarley auditioning to be Chippendale's dancers.

* Though it never completely fell into obscurity, Hall & Oates's 1981 hit single "You Make My Dreams" has certainly rose to prominence in film and TV since the late 1990s to the point where it may now be their SignatureSong. It may have possibly started with its appearance in the Creator/AdamSandler comedy ''Film/TheWeddingSinger'' and is now associated with the films ''Film/StepBrothers'' and, especially, ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer''.

* Felix's '90s house hit "Don't You Want Me" gained resurgence in the UK after being featured in a famous 1997 ad for Blackcurrant Tango.

* This has happened to several of the songs featured in the ubiquitous John Lewis Christmas adverts: covers of "[[Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood The Power of Love]]" and "[[Music/{{Keane}} Somewhere Only We Know]]" shot to #1 in successive years (in the former case, 28 years to the day after the original version hit #1), and a cover of "One Day I'll Fly Away" in the 2016 ad brought that song back into the public consciousness 36 years after its initial release

* The Bellamy Brothers' 1976 debut single "Let Your Love Flow" was repopularized in the UK in 2008 due to the banking company Barclays using it in commercials.

* The Christmas classic song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" got a big boost in downloads after British grocery chain Marks & Spencers used it in an ad campaign.

* Somewhat related: Music/ElvisPresley's "A Little Less Conversation" was mostly forgotten, and didn't even make the top 40 when originally released (it only peaked at #69). Then in 2002, it was remixed by Junkie XL for a TV commercial, got featured in other commercials and soundtracks, and became a #1 hit in many countries. It's now a standard number in Elvis impersonator acts in Las Vegas. It is also used as the theme song to the TV show ''Las Vegas''. And then the remix itself was probably caused by the song having been featured in ''Film/OceansEleven'' - itself a remake of ''[[Film/Oceans11 1960 eponymous film]]'' - in 2001.

* Andy Williams's "Music to Watch Girls By" got a boost after it was used in a British car advert. The funny thing is that it was a TopTenJingle to begin with - the music came from a [=McDonald's=] ad.

** Music/KateBush's "Running Up that Hill" charted in the top 10 in several countries after it was featured multiple times in season 4. In the United States, the song only reached #30 during its first go-around in 1985, only for it to reach a far higher peak in 2022.

* Any song featured prominently on Website/{{TikTok}} would qualify, with the crowning examples being ILOVEFRIDAY's "Mia Khalifa" (''[[RefrainFromAssuming Hit or miss, I guess they never miss, huh]]''), Music/LilNasX's "Old Town Road", Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride" and several Music/BillieEilish songs.

* Dave Grohl [[http://books.google.com/books?id=fRQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 said he tries to avert this]] - even rallying with John Kerry after UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush used "Times Like These" in commercials - but agreed to license a song for a Japanese beer ad so that the Music/FooFighters' dressing room would always be filled with Kirin.

* "[[Music/NickCave O Children]]" was originally released in 2004, and was an album-only track on a record that didn't sell a lot (though was critically acclaimed). Six years later, ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart1'' decides to use it in one of the film's most [[{{Tearjerker}} heartwrenching]] / SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments, which was also unique to the film. Cue huge surge in the song's popularity, with many young listeners being introduced to Nick Cave for the first time. Funnily, this wasn't the first time this had happened to Nick Cave - ''[[Film/{{Scream 1996}} Scream]]'', ''Film/DumbAndDumber'', and to a lesser extent ''Series/TheXFiles'', did the same thing for "Red Right Hand" (which was also a [[RedRightHand trope]] [[TropeNamer namer]]).

* Any song featured prominently on [=TikTok=] would qualify, with the crowning examples being ILOVEFRIDAY's "Mia Khalifa" (''[[RefrainFromAssuming Hit or miss, I guess they never miss, huh]]''), Music/LilNasX's "Old Town Road", Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride" and several Music/BillieEilish songs.

* The NBC Sunday Night Football song -- originally sung by Music/{{Pink}}, currently sung by Music/FaithHill -- is a rewrite of the 1988 Music/JoanJett song "I Hate Myself For Loving You".

* Several classic rock songs used in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', plus Music/TheRollingStones' "Gimme Shelter", which was used in the commercial for the game, experienced a rise in popularity and [=iTunes=] sales.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' did this to a few songs, notably Music/TheRollingStones' "[[Music/StickyFingers Wild Horses]]", Music/NinaSimone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars", and a number of semi-obscure indie tunes.

* Creator/{{Pixar}} did this a lot with the trailers for their earlier works. These included "[[Music/ThinLizzy The Boys Are Back In Town]]" for ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' (and for ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''), "[[Music/TheWho Baba O'Riley]]" for ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', "[[Creator/StaxRecords Hold On, I'm Coming]]" for ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', "[[Music/TheDoors Break On Through (To the Other Side)]]" for ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', and "[[Music/MenAtWork Down Under]]" for ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. They still do it occasionally to this day, notably with ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Onward}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', whose trailers respectively used "[[Music/{{Boston}} More Than a Feeling]]", "[[Music/TheCars Magic]]" and "[[Music/BackstreetBoys Larger Than Life]]".

* ''Film/{{Ghost}}'' famously revived "Unchained Melody", and with it, The Righteous Brothers' careers. The song went to #1 on the UK charts following the film's release; higher than it had gone there when it was first released. Then in 1995, it charted again in the UK, as performed by Robson Green and Jerome Flynn in the series ''Soldier, Soldier''.

* While it's never exactly been ''obscure'' per se, Music/{{Journey}}'s "Don't Stop Believin'" is back in the forefront of pop culture's noggin thanks to ''Series/TheSopranos'' series finale and its appearance in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' involving a karaoke bar.

** Music/{{Metallica}}'s thrash metal classic, "Music/MasterOfPuppets" was featured on the second half of season 4, which like "Running Up that Hill", got a big boost in popularity, which caused the song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, whereas the song didn't chart when it was originally released in 1986.

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* The 2000 rap song "Danger (Been So Long)" by Mystikal found new popularity when it was used by Creator/JohnOliver to ridicule NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner's online alias [[AwesomeMcCoolname "Carlos Danger"]] on ''Series/TheDailyShow'' in the summer of 2013.

** Music/KateBush's "Running Up that Hill" charted in the top 10 in several countries after it was featured multiple times in season 4.

* [[WebAnimation/GenLock]], thanks to its use of "Belgrade" as an opening theme song, may well be the best thing ever to happen to [[Music/BattleTapes]].