BMG’s UK-based Bespoke music unit has helped Apple Originals land the ultimate rock legend to create the title song for its eagerly awaited new series Slow Horses featuring Gary Oldman.

Longstanding BMG publishing client Mick Jagger has co-written, recorded and performed the brand-new track, titled ‘Strange Game’ with Oscar-nominated film composer Daniel Pemberton.

It is released this Friday, April 1, via Polydor Records to coincide with the global series premiere of Slow Horses on Apple TV+. Slow Horses focuses on an imaginary MI5 department to which failed or rejected spies are exiled.

BMG Senior Director, Original Repertoire, Rachel Menzies said, "The idea to ask Mick came from music supervisor Cat Grieves (Killing Eve, The Outlaws, Riviera) and director James Hawes (Black Mirror, Snow Piercer, Penny Dreadful). Cat called and said, ‘Don’t laugh. It’s probably impossible but what do you think the chances are of Mick Jagger being up for writing an original song for us?’"

You don’t get if you don’t ask, so Menzies brought the opportunity to Jagger’s management, sharing the brief. It turned out Jagger loves the books on which the series is based. Soon she was negotiating terms directly with Grieves.

When it became time to start discussing the creative, Menzies hosted a Zoom call between Jagger and the series score composer Daniel Pemberton. “Mick and Daniel got on brilliantly,” she said. “Dan picked up a guitar and within minutes they were vibing back and forth on the creation of their new song. It was a magical moment.”

The original track 'Strange Game' captures the series’s dark and mischievous mood, and cleverly references many aspects of the show’s multiple storylines.

Said Menzies, “This track typifies so much of what we are trying to achieve with our bespoke offering, creating new work with a service which adds value both for our clients and for film, TV, and advertising customers. It is a very different discipline to traditional synch. It is a lot more hands-on and involved and typically starts a lot earlier in the production process.”

BMG President Repertoire & Marketing UK Alistair Norbury said, “Bespoke music is the kind of win-win value-added service BMG is all about. Programme-makers get to create something absolutely tailored to their needs, while our artists and songwriters get a new outlet for their creativity.”

Mick Jagger, alongside bandmate Keith Richards, recently extended his deal for BMG to represent his music publishing interests for a second time.