The advent of streaming has made it harder than ever for musicians to make the big bucks. But there appears to be at least one way for songwriters to keep cashing them checks — compose the theme song for endlessly repeating basic-cable shows.

That’s the success formula for Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, who’s made way more money from “Uncontrollable Urge,” the theme song for Rob Dyrdek’s Ridiculousness, than he ever earned from the group’s biggest hit, “Whip It.” Despite the song never getting anywhere near the Billboard Hot 100, it airs around the clock on MTV where Ridiculousness can run up to 14 hours a day. Ka-ching!

“I’ve written so many other songs for films and television shows,” Mothersbaugh told Rolling Stone about his compositions for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Rugrats and multiple Wes Anderson films. At an earlier age, “I would’ve been shocked if you told me...