Lisa sees a commercial for the Springfield Lottery and realizes that the jingle uses a Bleeding Gums Murphy song with new lyrics.
She goes to the local jazz club thinking that the musicians there would be angry, but they are resigned to the fact that people will always steal Black music.
When she realizes that Monk is not receiving money for licensing Murphy's music to the lottery, she plans to find a way to compensate him despite his protests.
The plot of the episode was inspired by the life of its writer, Loni Steele Sosthand, whose brother, Eli, is hearing impaired.
[1] Sosthand grew up with a father who introduced jazz to the family and considered a situation where Lisa discovers Bleeding Gums Murphy has a deaf son.
[citation needed] The episode was the most watched program of the night on Fox, scoring a 0.3 demo rating and 0.95 million viewers.
[3] Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode a 3.5 out of 5 stars stating, "'The Sound of Bleeding Gums' is sweet, but not cavity-inducing.
"[4] Bubbleblabber gave the episode an 8.5/10 stating, "Overall, 'The Sound of Bleeding Gums' sees the show making history once again in its 33-season run.
With 'CODA' winning Best Picture and this week's episode, it's safe to say that the deaf community has a bright future in the media industry, especially in animation.