Nora Felder served as music supervisor on the final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, which is set in the fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and the series' heroes are united by a single goal of finding and killing Vecna, who has vanished. In addition, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
"My main responsibility as a music supervisor is to oversee every aspect of aligning music for any given project," shares Felder. "It’s a role that engages both the creative and analytical sides of my brain — I’m constantly thinking outside the box artistically while working within very real budget constraints. My skill set is a bit like a butterfly net: I try to stay open to ideas from anywhere or anyone, and then carefully capture and land them in place.”
Stranger Things, says Felder, constantly raised the bar and challenged her in new ways each season.
“The layers (of) storytelling is so rich, with its range of characters, locations and emotional depth. Music plays a vital role throughout. It isn’t just support — it’s part of the narrative.”
One of the toughest challenges she faced while working the series involved two tracks from the late artist Prince - “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain” – both of which were featured in the Season 5 finale.
“Before filming began for this last chapter of the series, the Duffer Brothers approached me with a very specific request: they wanted two classic songs from 1987 - or before - by the same artist, from the same album,” she shares. “Not only that, but the songs needed to align sequentially — one opening a side of the vinyl album and the other closing it. On top of that, both tracks had to sync seamlessly with the narrative unfolding on-screen.”
After extensive research, she nervously submitted the Prince tracks, knowing that clearance could be a significant hurdle.
“Once the Duffers embraced the idea and after some sleepless nights, a few passing weeks and a series of negotiations, the Prince estate approved the usage,” she shares. “And from there everything fell into place.”
Felder attended one of the finale Stranger Things screenings held at a local theater and was thrilled to witness an audience’s reaction to the songs’ placement.
“You can feel when it clicks, but seeing and hearing it live in that theater on New Year’s Eve was another level,” she reveals. “It truly makes all the problem-solving worth it.”