A movie’s soundtrack can have big impact on the movie itself. However, sometimes a soundtrack can take on a life of its own, says Los Angeles Times writer Gerrick Kennedy. Case in point, “Fifty Shades of Grey” and its use of the track “Earned It” by The Weeknd.

Gerrick Kennedy

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“[‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is] not the greatest movie. Decent enough book. Soundtrack — super hot. And I think…we saw what just happened with really successful music, and how you build that into the film,” Kennedy says.

While Kennedy says that Weeknd fans may not identify with the film, “everybody that saw ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ [knows ‘Earned It’], so the song is killing pop radio.”  

Kennedy says that the trend of creating a soundtrack that has consistency — which also extends to music from films like “Furious 7” and “The Hunger Games” — isn’t new.

“That brings you back to what was happening in the ’90s, where it was always about the whole body; the entire soundtrack was what you bought,” he says.

Although this trend may have lulled for a few years, Kennedy says “now I think executives are working a little bit hard to make the music play into the film a little bit better.”