Let’s be real for a second. Whether you loved the movies or spent the entire time rolling your eyes at the dialogue, you cannot deny the music. It was everywhere. It still is. Back in 2015, when the first film dropped, the fifty shades of grey movie songs basically took over the Billboard charts and stayed there for what felt like an eternity. It wasn’t just a collection of pop tracks; it was a cultural shift in how studios approach the "erotic" genre through sound.
Most movie soundtracks are background noise. You hear a score, you maybe recognize a hit, and then you forget about it by the time you're in the parking lot. This was different. Universal Pictures and Republic Records treated the music like a separate character. They knew that to sell the "fantasy," the audio had to be a thousand times more sophisticated than the actual script. They weren't wrong.
The Weeknd and the "Earned It" Phenomenon
The standout was, obviously, Abel Tesfaye—The Weeknd. Before Earned It, he was mostly an underground R&B darling with a dark, moody vibe that parents didn't really know about yet. This song changed his entire career trajectory. It’s a slow, orchestral waltz. It’s heavy. It’s cinematic. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and even snagged an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Think about that. A movie that critics absolutely trashed was getting Oscar nods because the music was that polished. The production by Stephan Moccio and Jason "DaHeala" Quenneville brought a vintage, "Old Hollywood" feel that grounded the film’s more controversial elements in something that felt like prestige art. It’s a trick the industry uses a lot, but rarely this effectively.
Ellie Goulding’s "Love Me Like You Do"
Then you have the pop side. Max Martin—the guy responsible for basically every hit of the last 30 years—co-wrote Love Me Like You Do. It is the polar opposite of The Weeknd's track. It’s bright, shimmering, and synth-heavy.
It broke records for the most-streamed song in a single week in the UK at the time. Why? Because it appealed to people who hadn't even seen the movie. It’s a wedding song. It’s a radio staple. It proved that fifty shades of grey movie songs could exist entirely outside the context of the Red Room. You could hear this at a 10-year-old’s birthday party and it wouldn't feel weird, which is a wild feat of marketing when you think about the source material.
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The Art of the Remake: Beyoncé and Beyond
One of the smartest moves the music supervisors (led by the legendary Dana Sano) made was the reimagining of existing hits. We have to talk about Crazy in Love.
The 2003 original is a high-energy, brassy anthem. For the 2015 film, Beyoncé recorded a slowed-down, breathy, and honestly haunting version. It set a trend that lasted for years in movie trailers—taking a well-known upbeat song and making it "spooky" or "sensual." It became a trope because this version worked so well.
- Annie Lennox covered Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You." It’s gritty. It’s soulful.
- Sia delivered "Salted Wound," which is basically a sonic weighted blanket.
- Danny Elfman, the guy who did Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas, did the actual score.
That last point is usually missed. Having a composer like Elfman involved gave the project a level of musical gravity it probably didn't deserve on paper. He used a lot of piano and atmospheric textures to fill the gaps where the dialogue fell flat.
Why the Sequels Continued the Trend
By the time Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed rolled around, the formula was set. Big stars. Massive collaborations.
Remember I Don’t Wanna Live Forever? Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift. That was a massive deal. Bringing together two of the biggest fanbases in the world for a single track was a masterclass in demographic targeting. It wasn’t just about the song; it was about the "event" of the song. The track was sleek, produced by Jack Antonoff, and hit that same "moody pop" sweet spot.
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Then you had Liam Payne and Rita Ora for For You. It moved away from the dark R&B and toward a more upbeat, synth-pop sound as the movies shifted from "mystery" to "romance/action." It’s interesting to see how the music followed the character arc of Christian and Ana—getting more conventional and "happy" as the story progressed.
The Technical Side of the Sound
If you listen to these albums back-to-back, there’s a consistent "sheen" to the production. High-end compression, lots of reverb, and very intimate vocal recordings. The vocals are often mixed "dry" and very close to the mic to create that sense of whispered intimacy.
It’s a specific aesthetic choice. It’s meant to feel expensive. When people search for fifty shades of grey movie songs, they aren't just looking for the titles; they are looking for that specific "vibe" that defined the mid-2010s.
The Cultural Longevity of the Soundtrack
Believe it or not, these soundtracks still pull millions of streams every month. They’ve outlived the movies in terms of cultural relevance. You'll find "Earned It" on almost every "Chill Hits" or "Late Night" playlist on Spotify.
It’s an example of "Soundtrack First" marketing. Sometimes the album is the more durable product. The 2015 soundtrack debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. It was the first time since the Michael Jackson's This Is It soundtrack that a movie album sold that well.
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What You Should Take Away
If you're looking to recreate that specific mood or just want to understand why these songs stuck around, look at the production credits. You'll see names like Max Martin, Jack Antonoff, and Danny Elfman. The secret wasn't the movie's plot; it was the fact that the studio hired the absolute best people in the music industry and gave them a huge budget to make "mood music."
Next Steps for Your Playlist:
To truly capture the essence of this era of music, don't just stick to the main singles.
- Check out the score by Danny Elfman if you want something purely atmospheric for working or focusing. It’s surprisingly complex and lacks the "pop" distractions.
- Compare the covers. Listen to the original "I Put a Spell on You" and then the Annie Lennox version. It's a great lesson in how arrangement changes the entire meaning of a lyric.
- Explore the "Inspired By" tracks. Many artists recorded songs for the films that only appeared on the Deluxe versions or during the credits. These often have more creative freedom than the "radio hits."
The music of Fifty Shades survived because it was built on a foundation of elite production and smart collaborations. It’s a blueprint that movies like Barbie or the Black Panther series followed later—treating the soundtrack not as a souvenir, but as a standalone pillar of the franchise.