I’m not sure what they are called, I always use the word tag, or bumper. They are the little musical interludes played after a news story on NPR programs like All Things Considered or Morning Edition. They are often just melodic snippits of music but sometimes they relate to the story just played.
Sometimes, they are extremely funny. My personal favorite was heard on Weekend Edition, after a story on tenderizing meat by using high explosives in a large water tank (I kid you not). After the end they played “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Canibals” by Raymond Scott. I figured I must have been one of six people in the country who got the joke, but it meant a lot to me.
So, anyone else have favorites?