A Closer Look at Biopics and What They Mean to the Music Industry

By Samantha Jordan, Content Operations Coordinator at Vydia

In recent years, musician-based biopics have taken the film industry by storm, including recent hits like A Complete Unknown, Elvis, and the highly anticipated film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. In turn, these films have impacted the music industry, influencing resurgences of artists’ discographies, creating new fan engagement and inspiring renewed cultural conversations around their legacies. This renewed attention has not only boosted streaming numbers and record sales but has also redefined how these artists are positioned in today’s cultural landscape. Recognizing these shifts and the important role biopics can play in an artist’s career is essential to understanding the broader influence they wield and how a legacy act may leverage them in the future.

What is a biopic? 

A biopic is a film that follows the life of a real person, typically a well-known figure like a celebrity. There’s a wide range of styles these movies can take –  some are very lighthearted, while others have a more serious tone.

How accurate are biopics?

The most important thing to know about biopics is that there is not one out there that is completely, utterly, 100% accurate. This always seems to be a debate whenever a new film premieres, allowing people to speculate what’s true, what’s not, and why certain plotlines were created or cut.

For example, Rocketman, the 2019 movie that follows Elton John’s breakthrough years, was a film that many adored, but not every scene was accurate. According to Mashable, “Not everything is exact, some things deliberate and some not, but might be justified knowing that John was a producer and had a hand in creating the project.”

Storylines were also rearranged in Bohemian Rhapsody, following the band Queen. The film depicted the band together in a very easy fashion, although this wasn’t the case for them. There’s also a scene that depicts the band’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 and implies it’s a sort of reunion, despite the fact that Queen released The Works in 1984 and toured for it as well.

To keep it simple, no, biopics are not completely accurate, but this is done for the sake of storylines to flow and to keep audiences engaged. However, that doesn’t mean movies like Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody were completely inauthentic. In fact, they both depicted aspects of the musicians’ lives audiences were not privy to, creating deeper connection between the artist and their audience. This allowed producers to still tell an honest, genuine story, even if some of the details were enhanced by movie magic. 

How exactly do biopics benefit the music industry? 

If you examine the influx of streams for artists after a biopic is released, the numbers show you exactly how beneficial these movies are. Typically, when a biopic is released, there’s a significant change in streaming.

Rocketman, for example, helped Elton John’s “Rocket Man” to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify in January 2024, while also leading to an overall resurgence of his music among all platforms. Bohemian Rhapsody was able to do the same as on-demand music streams for Queen’s music tripled within six months after its release. According to CNN, Spotify reported a 200% increase in streams as well. Specifically, the hit song “Somebody to Love” had a 438% increase. And this is not just a pattern that’s occurred for recent biopics- back in 2005, Walk the Line, a film based on the iconic Johnny Cash, helped to increase CD sales at the time of its release. To be specific, the Irish Examiner reported more than a 700% jump.

The resurgence in popularity of these artists doesn’t only come from streams alone, but also all the media traction that comes along with promoting a movie. Back when artists like Johnny Cash, Freddie Mercury, and Elvis were releasing music, promotion tactics were very different. (None of them were creating TikToks to promote their albums!) Press tours for movies nowadays are pretty inescapable, whether an interview with the director appears on your For You Page or cast members are making appearances on your favorite morning show. From elements like this alone, it immediately directs an audience’s attention to whatever artist’s or band’s story is being told.

What kind of negative impacts come from biopics?

Biopics, while often celebrated for bringing artists’ stories to life, can sometimes have unintended negative consequences. They may oversimplify complex realities, dramatize events for emotional effect, or present a biased perspective that reshapes public perception in ways that don’t always align with the truth.

One of the best examples of a negative impact from a biopic would be Priscilla, a movie focusing on Priscilla Presley, the wife of Elvis Presley.  The film that followed Priscilla Presley’s experiences sparked lots of controversy due to the dramatization of certain storylines and how Elvis himself was portrayed. According to Variety, Elvis’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, slammed the movie, for its “vengeful portrayal” of her father and pleaded with filmmakers to consider the impact the film would have on his legacy and their families. 

But Priscilla is far from an isolated case. Many biopics face similar criticism for prioritizing sensationalism or particular viewpoints, which can lead to distortions that disappoint longtime fans and complicate an artist’s legacy.

Simply put, when biopics drag old stories out into the limelight, and aren’t told with a specific level of nuance and care, it’s easy to make fans and families of the artist in question feel misrepresented and misunderstood. 

That said, when considering the lasting impact of well-made biopics, the universal factor they all share is the ability to introduce classic artists and their stories to new generations. Since many monumental artists have created works that have or will outlast them, these films serve to reaffirm and celebrate their enduring legacies. When it’s done with a quality cast, a script that’s honest, and a plot that’s authentic, you can’t go wrong.

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