What was that song in that episode of that show I saw that one time?
May 31, 2012 2:51 PM Subscribe
You're watching your favorite tv show. There's a song in the background that catches your ear, and suddenly you're desperate for a recording. Unfortunately, you don't recognize the voice of the singer. Or the sound of the band. And dammit, you can't make out enough of the lyrics to google them!
Waiting for DVDs is usually no help, since they often can't use (read: afford the rights to) the original music, so you're stuck with illegal, fan-made DVDs at ridiculous prices, awful, meaningless replacement music, or a single missing song that destroys the essence of the episode (c.f. Quantum Leap episode "M.I.A." and "Georgia on my Mind;" Wiseguy episode "No One Gets out of Here Alive" and "Nights in White Satin").
What's a fan to do?
Heard on TV is a user-generated website centered on music heard on tv in your favorite tv shows. Just watched a tv show, looking for the music you just heard? Look no further. And if you already know the title of a song you just heard, go ahead and contribute!
To add a song, navigate to the episode then click on the link to submit your song.
Missing your favorite tv show? Request its addition!
Is this a common problem? The only time I've heard about it was in regard to Spaced, which hadn't initially been released on DVD in North America because they couldn't secure the North American rights to the songs. (I think that was resolved when the North American version was eventually released, but I've only ever season the Region 2 version, on my friend's multi-region DVD player, so I'm not actually sure.)
posted by asnider at 3:01 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by asnider at 3:01 PM on May 31, 2012
eugenen: I wonder if it's still true for today's TV shows and DVD releases.
I know that one of the more egregious examples is the tv show Life, which aired from 2007-2009. About 90% of the original music has been replaced, and the original music was some terrific stuff.
posted by tzikeh at 3:03 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
I know that one of the more egregious examples is the tv show Life, which aired from 2007-2009. About 90% of the original music has been replaced, and the original music was some terrific stuff.
posted by tzikeh at 3:03 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
Waiting for DVDs is usually no help, since they often can't use (read: afford the rights to) the original music.
This. Mission Hill with midi music was the saddest DVD I ever bought. Daria made me sad too.
posted by Garm at 3:04 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
This. Mission Hill with midi music was the saddest DVD I ever bought. Daria made me sad too.
posted by Garm at 3:04 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
I wonder if it's still true for today's TV shows and DVD releases.
Not just the DVD releases. Shows in syndication quite often have replacement music.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:05 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
Not just the DVD releases. Shows in syndication quite often have replacement music.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:05 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
WKRP in Cincinnati was definitely gutted by this.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:07 PM on May 31, 2012 [23 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 3:07 PM on May 31, 2012 [23 favorites]
Clone High as well.
posted by impishoptimist at 3:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by impishoptimist at 3:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
...and this site apparently doesn't have WKRP. Fail.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Thorzdad: Not just the DVD releases. Shows in syndication quite often have replacement music.
Yup -- there's a "two-year" license that musicians can go for, which allows the shows to use the songs in repeats for the first two years, and then have to replace it afterwards--plus replace it on the DVDs.
Another example of the replacement of original music on the DVDs right up until today: Friday Night Lights, a show that used music brilliantly, is missing a lot of the original songs from the series, and that series ended only two years ago. Thank goodness you can buy a lot of the original music on CD or as mp3s as the Friday Night Lights soundtrack.
And now I'll stop thread-sitting. :)
posted by tzikeh at 3:12 PM on May 31, 2012
Yup -- there's a "two-year" license that musicians can go for, which allows the shows to use the songs in repeats for the first two years, and then have to replace it afterwards--plus replace it on the DVDs.
Another example of the replacement of original music on the DVDs right up until today: Friday Night Lights, a show that used music brilliantly, is missing a lot of the original songs from the series, and that series ended only two years ago. Thank goodness you can buy a lot of the original music on CD or as mp3s as the Friday Night Lights soundtrack.
And now I'll stop thread-sitting. :)
posted by tzikeh at 3:12 PM on May 31, 2012
Or you pull out your smart phone and use Sound Hound or Shazam.
posted by Defenestrator at 3:13 PM on May 31, 2012 [10 favorites]
posted by Defenestrator at 3:13 PM on May 31, 2012 [10 favorites]
Bosom Buddies is just not the same in syndication.
posted by usonian at 3:21 PM on May 31, 2012 [13 favorites]
posted by usonian at 3:21 PM on May 31, 2012 [13 favorites]
I've had the Netflix/International release theme song to Dawson's Creek stuck in my head for a week thanks to music rights issues/my wife's terrible taste in TV shows.
Oddly enough they seem to have rights to most of the mediocre late 90s music they use on the actual show.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:22 PM on May 31, 2012
Oddly enough they seem to have rights to most of the mediocre late 90s music they use on the actual show.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:22 PM on May 31, 2012
Shazam on my phone held near the telly for me. It doesn't work if there is talking or noise effects, though.
posted by milkb0at at 3:24 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by milkb0at at 3:24 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
@Bulgaroktonos, Hah, I work for Evan of the "Evan and Jaron" that did one of the big songs for Dawson's Creek, Crazy for this Girl
I'll have to ask him if his song in on the DVD release.
posted by sideshow at 3:30 PM on May 31, 2012
I'll have to ask him if his song in on the DVD release.
posted by sideshow at 3:30 PM on May 31, 2012
Sometimes the official site of a show has a list of the music they use.
posted by AnnElk at 3:37 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by AnnElk at 3:37 PM on May 31, 2012
Northern Exposure is the series I think of when talking about this sort of thing.
The radio station was the soul of the series, and the scenes got butchered for the DVD releases.
posted by madajb at 3:39 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
The radio station was the soul of the series, and the scenes got butchered for the DVD releases.
posted by madajb at 3:39 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
HOLY SHIT I loved "Crazy for this Girl" when I was 16/too earnest for my own good. It's not something I admit in public, but I did love that song.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:40 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:40 PM on May 31, 2012
House M.D. uses three different pieces of music for its title sequence around the world, depending on where Massive Attack's "Teardrop" can be licensed (as used in the US) or not...
posted by benzo8 at 3:54 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by benzo8 at 3:54 PM on May 31, 2012
Both the Freaks and Geeks and The State DVDs were notoriously held up because of exactly this issue.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:56 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Navelgazer at 3:56 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
No wonder people pirate music. These fuckers want to spoil everything, even when they have been paid many times over for the work. Jeez, can't they work something out?
nthing the mighty KRP being gutted by this. And that was on in 78-82 era, and still this is a problem ffs. WHY HAS IT NOT BEEN FIXED YET?
posted by marienbad at 3:59 PM on May 31, 2012 [6 favorites]
nthing the mighty KRP being gutted by this. And that was on in 78-82 era, and still this is a problem ffs. WHY HAS IT NOT BEEN FIXED YET?
posted by marienbad at 3:59 PM on May 31, 2012 [6 favorites]
I'm busy watching Life again on Netflix and the soundtrack is spectacular.
posted by arcticseal at 4:03 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by arcticseal at 4:03 PM on May 31, 2012
Good article about this problem as it related to the documentary film Eyes on the Prize. In that particular case, the film got bailed out by cash donations, but it's an ongoing challenge due to our crazy copyright system.
posted by maxim0512 at 4:05 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by maxim0512 at 4:05 PM on May 31, 2012
Defenestrator: Or you pull out your smart phone and use Sound Hound or Shazam.
Except some tracks are library or production pieces, which might get re-used in other shows, but aren't for public purchase. There was one such track from Life, and I finally verified the track from various forum posts and music samples on YouTube, but found I couldn't even buy it if I wanted to. It might have been the replacement track for syndication, as I heard the song on the Netflix streaming version of the episode.
And this isn't the only music-from-TV-shows site around. Similar to lyrics sites, it seems the info gets swapped around. TV Show Music has similar collections, and notes that it pulls from Have Dog, fan forums, and Episode World.
There's also Tune Find, and Ad Tunes has forums dedicated to various TV shows. I'm sure there are a few more general sites, and a bunch of show-specific sites.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:09 PM on May 31, 2012
Except some tracks are library or production pieces, which might get re-used in other shows, but aren't for public purchase. There was one such track from Life, and I finally verified the track from various forum posts and music samples on YouTube, but found I couldn't even buy it if I wanted to. It might have been the replacement track for syndication, as I heard the song on the Netflix streaming version of the episode.
And this isn't the only music-from-TV-shows site around. Similar to lyrics sites, it seems the info gets swapped around. TV Show Music has similar collections, and notes that it pulls from Have Dog, fan forums, and Episode World.
There's also Tune Find, and Ad Tunes has forums dedicated to various TV shows. I'm sure there are a few more general sites, and a bunch of show-specific sites.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:09 PM on May 31, 2012
Ah, so we can get a list of all the shows that have (ab)used Hallelujah to oblivion. Anyone who pulled that after the wonder that was West Wing's Posse Comitatus (ending part 1, ending part 2, apparent blatant rip of the whole episode) was phoning it in, with the sole exception of k.d. lang at the Olympics.
Incidentally, the second song in Posse Comitatus is Stephen Oliver's obscure "Patriotic Chorus" from the Royal Shakespeare Festival's epic 1982 production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, the relevant clip of which is posted on YouTube so you can see its horribly uncreative staging. By epic, I mean it's like six hours long or thereabouts.
posted by zachlipton at 4:09 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Incidentally, the second song in Posse Comitatus is Stephen Oliver's obscure "Patriotic Chorus" from the Royal Shakespeare Festival's epic 1982 production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, the relevant clip of which is posted on YouTube so you can see its horribly uncreative staging. By epic, I mean it's like six hours long or thereabouts.
posted by zachlipton at 4:09 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
I remember my brother bought me some Tour of Duty DVDs for my birthday. We were so excited as we sat down to watch them. It started up, but we were not greeted to the gritty prime-time television Vietnam War with the Stones' "Paint it Black." It was something else, a song I had never heard of.
We watched one episode and that was it.
The music is pretty important to the emotional content of a show.
posted by chemoboy at 4:11 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
We watched one episode and that was it.
The music is pretty important to the emotional content of a show.
posted by chemoboy at 4:11 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
oneswellfoop: ...and this site apparently doesn't have WKRP. Fail.
Yeah--I think the problem there is that, for fans to compile the list of songs used, they have to have access to the original broadcasts so that they can hear the music. Alas, there are no original broadcasts of WKRP around anymore. Even when it was in repeats, much of the music was replaced.
Somewhere, someone must have WKRP on VHS whose willing to convert it from a VCR through various devices/wires into .avi or .mp4 and make it available by ahem. We just have to find that person.
posted by tzikeh at 4:14 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah--I think the problem there is that, for fans to compile the list of songs used, they have to have access to the original broadcasts so that they can hear the music. Alas, there are no original broadcasts of WKRP around anymore. Even when it was in repeats, much of the music was replaced.
Somewhere, someone must have WKRP on VHS whose willing to convert it from a VCR through various devices/wires into .avi or .mp4 and make it available by ahem. We just have to find that person.
posted by tzikeh at 4:14 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
maxim0512: ... an ongoing challenge due to our crazy copyright system
Copyrights aren't specifically the issue, it's the agreements made by various parties to cut costs. The Museum of Broadcast Communications has a lengthy history of music copyrights, and their relation to the use of music in TV. Copyright are the binds that tie, but it's all managing expenses.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:20 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
Copyrights aren't specifically the issue, it's the agreements made by various parties to cut costs. The Museum of Broadcast Communications has a lengthy history of music copyrights, and their relation to the use of music in TV. Copyright are the binds that tie, but it's all managing expenses.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:20 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
chemoboy: I remember my brother bought me some Tour of Duty DVDs for my birthday. We were so excited as we sat down to watch them. It started up, but we were not greeted to the gritty prime-time television Vietnam War with the Stones' "Paint it Black." It was something else, a song I had never heard of.
Tour of Duty - Paint it Black intro vs. what in the hell is this, and WHY ARE THERE PAN PIPES? Is the whole damned intro done with synths?
With the change of music, a gritty war drama show became less intense than Airwolf, which was the rough equivalent of Night Rider with a helicopter, minus the AI.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:25 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
Tour of Duty - Paint it Black intro vs. what in the hell is this, and WHY ARE THERE PAN PIPES? Is the whole damned intro done with synths?
With the change of music, a gritty war drama show became less intense than Airwolf, which was the rough equivalent of Night Rider with a helicopter, minus the AI.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:25 PM on May 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
Count me as yet another person who found the replacement soundtrack for Life to be unacceptable. I was totally ready to shell out the money for the DVDs of the show's only two seasons, but changed my mind when I saw the music had been replaced.
posted by yasaman at 4:36 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by yasaman at 4:36 PM on May 31, 2012
This isn't just TV shows - movies also can have this issue for incidental music, especially older movies.
Two examples from 70s movies that come readily to mind is the melancholy guitar riff from "The Bermuda Depths" which played while Jenni Hanifer was on the screen and the incidental music from the 1977 "Dawn of the Dead" where the SWAT troopers are securing the shopping mall.
(I know what these are and don't need SLYT replies, thx. Just a couple of examples.)
It also occurs to me that being able to looking every damn mystery up on teh interwebs is generally a good thing, but isn't there a romantic aspect to unanswered questions?
Maybe that's mere cliched nostalgia, the serenely well-fed pining for those days of hunger and uncertainty...
posted by lon_star at 4:38 PM on May 31, 2012
Two examples from 70s movies that come readily to mind is the melancholy guitar riff from "The Bermuda Depths" which played while Jenni Hanifer was on the screen and the incidental music from the 1977 "Dawn of the Dead" where the SWAT troopers are securing the shopping mall.
(I know what these are and don't need SLYT replies, thx. Just a couple of examples.)
It also occurs to me that being able to looking every damn mystery up on teh interwebs is generally a good thing, but isn't there a romantic aspect to unanswered questions?
Maybe that's mere cliched nostalgia, the serenely well-fed pining for those days of hunger and uncertainty...
posted by lon_star at 4:38 PM on May 31, 2012
Freaks and Geeks was another one that suffered from this in syndication. Music rights held up the DVDs, but luckily they were released with the originals intact.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:42 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:42 PM on May 31, 2012
Isn't it irritating (to say the least) that right now, today, for no reason other than to make rich corporations even richer, we are allowing copyright monopolies to obscure or destroy huge portions of our culture and collective experiences?
Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dazed and Confused, Quantum Leap, etc. and etc. forever and ever. Nothing is sacred to these clowns.
posted by jsturgill at 4:42 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dazed and Confused, Quantum Leap, etc. and etc. forever and ever. Nothing is sacred to these clowns.
posted by jsturgill at 4:42 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
isn't there a romantic aspect to unanswered questions?Then don't look.
posted by fullerine at 4:44 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Region 2 Quantum Leap DVDs do have all the music intact. Every so often I consider ordering a DVD player and all five seasons from the UK.
posted by Flannery Culp at 4:45 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Flannery Culp at 4:45 PM on May 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
It also occurs to me that being able to looking every damn mystery up on teh interwebs is generally a good thing, but isn't there a romantic aspect to unanswered questions?
There is a romantic aspect to unanswerable questions, but there is so much truth in life waiting to be learned, not all necessarily on the internet, that the process of discovery takes on a beauty of its own.
posted by anifinder at 4:49 PM on May 31, 2012
There is a romantic aspect to unanswerable questions, but there is so much truth in life waiting to be learned, not all necessarily on the internet, that the process of discovery takes on a beauty of its own.
posted by anifinder at 4:49 PM on May 31, 2012
The DVD release of thirtysomething was tied up for ages due to problems securing the rights to the original songs. They finally got permission and did a pretty excellent film-to-DVD transfer from the original stock (sometimes reassembling episodes from newly struck prints, if I remember what I read correctly). But it was the music rights which kept it in limbo for decades.
posted by hippybear at 4:50 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by hippybear at 4:50 PM on May 31, 2012
It's depressing to think that all that stands between us and hot and cold running Jonathan Meades is the cost of clearing the music (source: this interview; other Meades interviews). And we definitely don't want replacements for everything from Pizzicato Five (used as the soundtrack to, I think, the architecture of Dunfermline) to Gotan Project while talking (if memory serves) about a botulism outbreak.
Until that time, there is the Meades Shrine. Ah, here we go.
posted by Talkie Toaster at 4:51 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
Until that time, there is the Meades Shrine. Ah, here we go.
posted by Talkie Toaster at 4:51 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
Wait, what? Dazed And Confused? What did they do to that? I saw it in the theater and own the DVD and have never noticed any differences. That's one of the most amazing, subtle, insightful films ever. What did they do to it?
posted by hippybear at 4:52 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by hippybear at 4:52 PM on May 31, 2012
jsturgill: Isn't it irritating (to say the least) that right now, today, for no reason other than to make rich corporations even richer, we are allowing copyright monopolies to obscure or destroy huge portions of our culture and collective experiences?
TV shows aren't syndicated or sold to the home viewer as a means of preserving culture, but making more money. Calculations were made, and it was felt that enough people would still watch and buy TV shows if they didn't have the original music.
There are still master recordings of old shows, complete with original scores. Maybe at some point, more media companies will realize there's a growing appreciation for shows as they were originally made, music and all, and that people are willing to shell out more money for high definition transfers with original scores.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:54 PM on May 31, 2012
TV shows aren't syndicated or sold to the home viewer as a means of preserving culture, but making more money. Calculations were made, and it was felt that enough people would still watch and buy TV shows if they didn't have the original music.
There are still master recordings of old shows, complete with original scores. Maybe at some point, more media companies will realize there's a growing appreciation for shows as they were originally made, music and all, and that people are willing to shell out more money for high definition transfers with original scores.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:54 PM on May 31, 2012
The music rights are, I believe, what's holding up the DVD release of China Beach, a show I would pay ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY* to own on DVD. It was such a great show and the music was such an integral part that I'd honestly rather not have it than have it with 60s-esque muzak in its place.
*Um. Within reason. I'm not rich.
posted by Aquifer at 5:00 PM on May 31, 2012
*Um. Within reason. I'm not rich.
posted by Aquifer at 5:00 PM on May 31, 2012
One point in favor of media companies listening to the outcry of fans with money: The 1960s TV series The Fugitive was released on DVD with music cue changes to the second season, and fans were pissedThe Film Music Society has a lengthy article on the process of originally scoring the series, the trouble with old scoring notes and music libraries changing hands, and what it (probably) took to reinstate the original score. CBS/Paramount later offered replacement discs to people who purchased the original release of the second season.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:07 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by filthy light thief at 5:07 PM on May 31, 2012
Wait, what? Dazed And Confused? What did they do to that? I saw it in the theater and own the DVD and have never noticed any differences. That's one of the most amazing, subtle, insightful films ever. What did they do to it?
My bad. I meant to type Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Music licensing issues marred the initial video release and many of its appearances on television.
TV shows aren't syndicated or sold to the home viewer as a means of preserving culture, but making more money. Calculations were made, and it was felt that enough people would still watch and buy TV shows if they didn't have the original music.
There are still master recordings of old shows, complete with original scores. Maybe at some point, more media companies will realize there's a growing appreciation for shows as they were originally made, music and all, and that people are willing to shell out more money for high definition transfers with original scores.
Copyright monopolies only make sense as a way of encouraging the creation of new and exciting cultural artifacts. Culture that is not available for consumption might as well not exist. I really do not care at all whether or not Warner or Sony can continue to milk royalty costs from rival studios. I do care about being able to re-experience, study, and share the culture I live in.
posted by jsturgill at 5:34 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
My bad. I meant to type Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Music licensing issues marred the initial video release and many of its appearances on television.
TV shows aren't syndicated or sold to the home viewer as a means of preserving culture, but making more money. Calculations were made, and it was felt that enough people would still watch and buy TV shows if they didn't have the original music.
There are still master recordings of old shows, complete with original scores. Maybe at some point, more media companies will realize there's a growing appreciation for shows as they were originally made, music and all, and that people are willing to shell out more money for high definition transfers with original scores.
Copyright monopolies only make sense as a way of encouraging the creation of new and exciting cultural artifacts. Culture that is not available for consumption might as well not exist. I really do not care at all whether or not Warner or Sony can continue to milk royalty costs from rival studios. I do care about being able to re-experience, study, and share the culture I live in.
posted by jsturgill at 5:34 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
For this same sort of copyright nonsense it's impossible to get 'legitimate' copies of Schickele's Mix.
posted by Matt Oneiros at 5:48 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by Matt Oneiros at 5:48 PM on May 31, 2012
I'm not sure, but I think this is why for some time the pilot for Stargate: SG1 was unavailable on Hulu during the period when all 10 seasons of other episodes were. What a fustercluck.
posted by localroger at 6:03 PM on May 31, 2012
posted by localroger at 6:03 PM on May 31, 2012
"Waiting for DVDs is usually no help, since they often can't use (read: afford the rights to) the original music"
Given that I waited about fifteen years for the release of a real version of the Blade Runner soundtrack -- most of that pre-WWW -- I have no sympathy.
posted by markkraft at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2012
Given that I waited about fifteen years for the release of a real version of the Blade Runner soundtrack -- most of that pre-WWW -- I have no sympathy.
posted by markkraft at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2012
Daria made me sad too.
You're in luck.
I hope that similar restoration projects are in the works for other "properties."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:17 PM on May 31, 2012
You're in luck.
I hope that similar restoration projects are in the works for other "properties."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:17 PM on May 31, 2012
This happened with just 5 notes in Wayne's World (trivia bit #4) resulting in this.
As long as the final scene in Six Feet Under is still intact a year or two from now, I think I'll be ok.
posted by K.P. at 6:28 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
As long as the final scene in Six Feet Under is still intact a year or two from now, I think I'll be ok.
posted by K.P. at 6:28 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
This happened with just 5 notes in Wayne's World (trivia bit #4) resulting in this yt .
That explains so, so much.
For years, I've been thinking Wayne was the world's crappiest guitar player!
posted by madajb at 7:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
That explains so, so much.
For years, I've been thinking Wayne was the world's crappiest guitar player!
posted by madajb at 7:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
This isn't just TV shows - movies also can have this issue for incidental music, especially older movies.
Didn't the DVD version of Donnie Darko lose The Killing Moon from the opening sequence, where Donnie is freewheeling down the hills on his bike?
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2012
Didn't the DVD version of Donnie Darko lose The Killing Moon from the opening sequence, where Donnie is freewheeling down the hills on his bike?
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2012
Copyrights aren't specifically the issue, it's the agreements made by various parties to cut costs.
Yeah, I’m not sure what all the ranting about copyrights is. The people putting out the DVD’s just don’t want to pay for the music, on one is stopping them from using it (usually). Basically, they make a deal;
How much to use your song in our show? Uh huh, what if we only want to use it for the first couple of showings, can we get it cheaper?
Producers pay for music because they think it’s important, or decide it’s not worth it. It’s ridiculous to get upset at the musical artists, why should they let their music be used for free to sell someone else’s TV show? Should you be able to use actors likeness’s to sell your product? DVD’s are a product, TV shows are a product. It’s amazing to me that people here will make the argument "OMG the original music is so important I can’t live without it" and then turn around and say that it’s not worth paying for, that the musicians are trying to rip people off. Which is it?
posted by bongo_x at 8:50 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I’m not sure what all the ranting about copyrights is. The people putting out the DVD’s just don’t want to pay for the music, on one is stopping them from using it (usually). Basically, they make a deal;
How much to use your song in our show? Uh huh, what if we only want to use it for the first couple of showings, can we get it cheaper?
Producers pay for music because they think it’s important, or decide it’s not worth it. It’s ridiculous to get upset at the musical artists, why should they let their music be used for free to sell someone else’s TV show? Should you be able to use actors likeness’s to sell your product? DVD’s are a product, TV shows are a product. It’s amazing to me that people here will make the argument "OMG the original music is so important I can’t live without it" and then turn around and say that it’s not worth paying for, that the musicians are trying to rip people off. Which is it?
posted by bongo_x at 8:50 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
So, I checked and both Evan and Jaron songs were replaced on Dawson's Creek.
Here is a music guide for the DVDs. Looks like most songs were replaced.
http://www.freewebs.com/everythingdawsonscreek/seasonfourmusicguide.htm
posted by sideshow at 8:54 PM on May 31, 2012
Here is a music guide for the DVDs. Looks like most songs were replaced.
http://www.freewebs.com/everythingdawsonscreek/seasonfourmusicguide.htm
posted by sideshow at 8:54 PM on May 31, 2012
As long as the final scene in Six Feet Under is still intact a year or two from now, I think I'll be ok.
I watched the entire first season of Luther last night, and when one episode ended with "Breathe Me" I was shocked at how much context that song carried with it.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:21 PM on May 31, 2012
I watched the entire first season of Luther last night, and when one episode ended with "Breathe Me" I was shocked at how much context that song carried with it.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:21 PM on May 31, 2012
The long tail sucks. It's not like anyone is making money hand over fist on WKRP reruns so if there's anything that can be cut out, it'll be cut out.
You've got to admit that it sucks that in 2012 we have to rely on pirates to archive artistic works in the form that they were first presented to the public.
You can also say that TV and music are just products and the artists and their agents should aggressively negotiate for the best possible compensation regardless of negative consequences down the road -- that is a valid position.
But it's also depressing.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:29 PM on May 31, 2012
You've got to admit that it sucks that in 2012 we have to rely on pirates to archive artistic works in the form that they were first presented to the public.
You can also say that TV and music are just products and the artists and their agents should aggressively negotiate for the best possible compensation regardless of negative consequences down the road -- that is a valid position.
But it's also depressing.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:29 PM on May 31, 2012
The State sketch about "Maybe you should try... pants" loses so much without the Breeders singing "Cannonball" over it.
They have a fairly OK sound-alike on the DVDs but it's just not the same.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:42 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
They have a fairly OK sound-alike on the DVDs but it's just not the same.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:42 PM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
Somewhere in my mess of archived files I have an audio recording of a song in the movie "Sixteen Candles" that I would love to have in my CD collection so this post hits kinda close to home for me. I have the movie on Laserdisc, which has the original tunes, but the song is not on the film's soundtrack (on LP at least as I have that as well), so I've been out of luck.
Also, re: WKRP, they recently started showing it here in Chicago on WGN on Sunday nights. They even run four episodes back to back, and it has the original music. ISTR from one of my many searches for that show on DVD that the original license agreement allows for over the air broadcast of the episodes for an unlimited amount of time as long as the source is video tape. Anything else is verboten. It looks great in 720p over the air (no idea why), and I'm killing myself over the fact that I don't have a PC set up to DVR the episodes and burn them to DVD for future viewing. :(
First world problems, I know.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 9:56 PM on May 31, 2012
Also, re: WKRP, they recently started showing it here in Chicago on WGN on Sunday nights. They even run four episodes back to back, and it has the original music. ISTR from one of my many searches for that show on DVD that the original license agreement allows for over the air broadcast of the episodes for an unlimited amount of time as long as the source is video tape. Anything else is verboten. It looks great in 720p over the air (no idea why), and I'm killing myself over the fact that I don't have a PC set up to DVR the episodes and burn them to DVD for future viewing. :(
First world problems, I know.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 9:56 PM on May 31, 2012
I would give my left kidney for DVDs of Keen Eddie with the original soundtrack. There's a great video showing the difference the music makes between the original and the DVD over here.
posted by rednikki at 10:01 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by rednikki at 10:01 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Another thing to keep in mind is that when you’re watching a show using licensed music there’s a really good chance that it wasn’t even the song they wanted to use, that perfect song might be the second or third choice.
posted by bongo_x at 10:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bongo_x at 10:10 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
These days the answer is always easy:
Some song by the National.
posted by srboisvert at 11:54 PM on May 31, 2012
Some song by the National.
posted by srboisvert at 11:54 PM on May 31, 2012
One way around this is to watch the DVD in another language. For some reason, the Spanish or French episodes of a TV show will often have the original music.
It's a really strange experience to watch an episode dubbed in a different language, and with completely different music in the background.
posted by venividivici at 12:50 AM on June 1, 2012
It's a really strange experience to watch an episode dubbed in a different language, and with completely different music in the background.
posted by venividivici at 12:50 AM on June 1, 2012
Pal of mine wanted to use some 80s in-game chiptune music on a documentary they were making about, hey, the 80s.
Couldn't do it. The rights could not be cleared. Rights clearance people went purple at the thought.
Entire sections of our culture are being censored.
Big thing? I think so.
posted by Devonian at 1:11 AM on June 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Couldn't do it. The rights could not be cleared. Rights clearance people went purple at the thought.
Entire sections of our culture are being censored.
Big thing? I think so.
posted by Devonian at 1:11 AM on June 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
The Wonder Years is another show that will probably never have its full seasons released on dvd, because the music was so integral to the show.
I've come so close to buying the box set of Friday Night Lights, but the fact that music's been replaced makes me hesitate. Also, the episodes from season four and five are apparently the edited ones for NBC, not the longer ones shown on DirecTV.
TV Shows on DVD often lists when a dvd has changed music, though Wikipedia seems to be more up to date these days.
posted by Georgina at 1:13 AM on June 1, 2012
I've come so close to buying the box set of Friday Night Lights, but the fact that music's been replaced makes me hesitate. Also, the episodes from season four and five are apparently the edited ones for NBC, not the longer ones shown on DirecTV.
TV Shows on DVD often lists when a dvd has changed music, though Wikipedia seems to be more up to date these days.
posted by Georgina at 1:13 AM on June 1, 2012
UbuRoivas: "This isn't just TV shows - movies also can have this issue for incidental music, especially older movies.
Didn't the DVD version of Donnie Darko lose The Killing Moon from the opening sequence, where Donnie is freewheeling down the hills on his bike"
That was an "artistic choice" in the Director's Cut. It was replaced with "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS - a far less satisfying choice in my (and many others') opinion...
posted by benzo8 at 1:34 AM on June 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Didn't the DVD version of Donnie Darko lose The Killing Moon from the opening sequence, where Donnie is freewheeling down the hills on his bike"
That was an "artistic choice" in the Director's Cut. It was replaced with "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS - a far less satisfying choice in my (and many others') opinion...
posted by benzo8 at 1:34 AM on June 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
filthy light thief: "With the change of music, a gritty war drama show became less intense than Airwolf, which was the rough equivalent of Night Rider with a helicopter, minus the AI."
FLT, don't you dare disparage Stringfellow Hawk. Airwolf is the adjective we should use to describe anything of majesty, beauty, and intensity.
posted by namewithoutwords at 5:21 AM on June 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
FLT, don't you dare disparage Stringfellow Hawk. Airwolf is the adjective we should use to describe anything of majesty, beauty, and intensity.
posted by namewithoutwords at 5:21 AM on June 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
Producers pay for music because they think it’s important, or decide it’s not worth it. It’s ridiculous to get upset at the musical artists, why should they let their music be used for free to sell someone else’s TV show?
This. And to the original question in the post, isn't this information usually on Wikipedia? I've never had trouble finding information on a song I heard in a show.
posted by statolith at 6:59 AM on June 1, 2012
This. And to the original question in the post, isn't this information usually on Wikipedia? I've never had trouble finding information on a song I heard in a show.
posted by statolith at 6:59 AM on June 1, 2012
> Northern Exposure is the series I think of when talking about this sort of thing.
Me too; in fact, it was in connection with Northern Exposure that I first learned about this horrible situation. Thank God I taped a bunch of the shows when they were first shown.
It's one of the sad/funny features of humanity that those who care intensely about culture generally don't care about money, and those who care intensely about money don't care about culture.
posted by languagehat at 7:09 AM on June 1, 2012
Me too; in fact, it was in connection with Northern Exposure that I first learned about this horrible situation. Thank God I taped a bunch of the shows when they were first shown.
It's one of the sad/funny features of humanity that those who care intensely about culture generally don't care about money, and those who care intensely about money don't care about culture.
posted by languagehat at 7:09 AM on June 1, 2012
why should they let their music be used for free to sell someone else’s TV show?
Because it's free advertising?
posted by kirkaracha at 7:37 AM on June 1, 2012
Thank God I taped a bunch of the shows when they were first shown.
Back in the day I taped nearly every episode of Quantum Leap, labeled them with episode names, watched them more than I want to admit, and obsessed over the show on blessedly defunct online services (Prodigy and GEnie represent!). I even had a couple special promotional tapes from a friend at NBC. When our VHS player died and the DVD release was announced, I tossed them - they were a pain to move and the format was becoming obsolete. Ah, regret.
posted by Flannery Culp at 8:28 AM on June 1, 2012
Back in the day I taped nearly every episode of Quantum Leap, labeled them with episode names, watched them more than I want to admit, and obsessed over the show on blessedly defunct online services (Prodigy and GEnie represent!). I even had a couple special promotional tapes from a friend at NBC. When our VHS player died and the DVD release was announced, I tossed them - they were a pain to move and the format was becoming obsolete. Ah, regret.
posted by Flannery Culp at 8:28 AM on June 1, 2012
Flannery Culp: Ah, regret.
The good news is that somewhere on the internet, either on a bustling public site or a quiet little semi-private corner, fans still obsess over episodes as they originally aired. If people can dig up MST3K episodes that aired on a local station 24 years ago, there's probably someone still trading tapes of Quantum Leap. Fans do spend time re-mixing original soundtracks to shows released on DVD (Google cache of a Pirate Bay torrent, with info on "restoring" Roswell's soundtrack).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:39 AM on June 1, 2012
The good news is that somewhere on the internet, either on a bustling public site or a quiet little semi-private corner, fans still obsess over episodes as they originally aired. If people can dig up MST3K episodes that aired on a local station 24 years ago, there's probably someone still trading tapes of Quantum Leap. Fans do spend time re-mixing original soundtracks to shows released on DVD (Google cache of a Pirate Bay torrent, with info on "restoring" Roswell's soundtrack).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:39 AM on June 1, 2012
I love the British show "Mind Your Language". At least one of that show's episodes can't be put on the DVD sets because there's a Beatles song played in it.
posted by reenum at 9:53 AM on June 1, 2012
posted by reenum at 9:53 AM on June 1, 2012
tzikeh: "Somewhere, someone must have WKRP on VHS whose willing to convert it from a VCR through various devices/wires into .avi or .mp4 and make it available by ahem. We just have to find that person."
Some kind soul actually did this a few years ago, and the avi files are floating around various dusty corners of the internets. Crappy quality by today's standards, but totally watchable (and listenable).
posted by plantbot at 9:04 AM on June 2, 2012
Some kind soul actually did this a few years ago, and the avi files are floating around various dusty corners of the internets. Crappy quality by today's standards, but totally watchable (and listenable).
posted by plantbot at 9:04 AM on June 2, 2012
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Wow, I totally was not aware that this was a thing that happened. I wonder if it's still true for today's TV shows and DVD releases.
posted by eugenen at 2:58 PM on May 31, 2012