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Q: I love Chicago P.D. and I'm looking at some of the earliest episodes. The music (by Atli Orvarsson) at the end of the shows is so powerful. Why did they stop using it on the new episodes?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

Award-winning Icelandic composer Atli Orvarsson's music was all over "Chicago P.D.," and indeed all over Dick Wolf's other two "One Chicago" properties ("Chicago Med" and "Chicago Fire"). At least it was until recently. He's still being used on "Med," but he disappeared from the other two in early 2018.

No one's explicitly said why -- composers don't get the same attention that actors do -- but it seems to have been part of a general refresh of the brand that happened last fall.

Reviewing "Chicago P.D.'s" season premiere at the time, fan site OneChicagoCenter.com said that the episode, "continued the theme that ran through all of 'One Chicago' opening night -- showing fans that things aren't the same anymore in the city."

They were referring there to a number of major plot and character changes, but it's possible that the producers wanted to more subtly signal those with a change to the music as well.

Generally, when there's a major change in music on a television show, that's why. If producers need to signal a shift of some kind -- either due to a major overhaul to fix an ailing show or due to a gentler brand refresh of a long-running hit -- they often do so with changes to the background or theme music.

If you're worried about Orvarsson's career, don't be. He's won numerous industry awards for his work on film and TV and recently composed the score for a new film due out next year, "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard" (a sequel to 2017's "The Hitman's Bodyguard," which he also scored).

 

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