Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group, examining career beginnings, roads to success and any resultant hardships.

Forbes was later used to narrate the Milli Vanilli episode when it was modified to include the death of Rob Pilatus.

VH1's criterion for choosing the musicians who appear on the show is, in many cases, to profile those who are no longer in the music industry, or were moderately significant in rock history (although many are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame such as Neil Diamond, The Police, Metallica, AC/DC, Aerosmith among others).

In June, 2000, VH1 aired the BBC produced Behind the Music like program on Pink Floyd entitled Behind The Wall which coincided with the release of Is There Anybody Out There?

A short-lived half-hour spin-off series titled BTM2 (short for Behind the Music 2), chronicled the careers of newer upcoming artists.

In September 2020, a spin-off known as MTV's Behind the Music: The Top 40 was announced for Paramount+, which was to feature a countdown of the 40 "biggest artists of all-time".

Similar to the original series and Behind the Music: Remastered, it includes both new episodes and updated versions of past ones.