Black and White One-Hour Shows (1 Viewer)

[Ron1973]

     Quote: So they say.  It seems like a bit of a stretch to me only because I thought those shows utilized music from the WB films as it was.  But apparently that either isn't the case, or somehow doesn't matter. Gary "fortunately for me many of those WB series aren't high on my wishlist anyhow - but I feel bad for fans that are still waiting" O.

I posted on their FB wall about "Enos," the spin-off from The Dukes of Hazzard. Guess what I was told? Music rights was a big hold up! Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I don't remember that much about the show to be able to tell.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Music rights is a very valid issue and I'm just glad that Warners holds out trying to clear the music at a reasonable price for a DVD release rather than go the Paramount way of hiring a cheap keyboardist and replacing the music like they did on My Three Sons, The Fugitive and Gomer Pyle. Its not just songs its all music that needs to be cleared to avoid possible future lawsuits. Just because you have rights for the music in a movie released on DVD does not mean you automatically have the rights to release it for a TV show that reuses the same music. Think of it like this: You write a song. A studio puts it in a movie and pays you. Later they want to use it in a TV show so they need to pay you again. Now later they want to release the movie on DVD so now they pay you for that so then when they release the TV show on DVD they naturally have to pay you for that. Just basic Music Royalties. So obviously since a TV show can have many songs or different pieces of music on many episodes the price can add up fast and many times too expensive for what the studio thinks they can make on the DVD release so they sometimes have to hold out for a lower price or wait for things to change with an estate or try what Paramount did and replace the music. I continue to buy other shows that are not my top tier but most of my unreleased grail shows now are Warner Shows like their remaining westerns and their detective shows. So the wait continues but they keep releasing a few more each year.

 

[Richard V]

Music rights is a very valid issue and I'm just glad that Warners holds out trying to clear the music at a reasonable price for a DVD release rather than go the Paramount way of hiring a cheap keyboardist and replacing the music like they did on My Three Sons, The Fugitive and Gomer Pyle. Its not just songs its all music that needs to be cleared to avoid possible future lawsuits. Just because you have rights for the music in a movie released on DVD does not mean you automatically have the rights to release it for a TV show that reuses the same music. Think of it like this: You write a song. A studio puts it in a movie and pays you. Later they want to use it in a TV show so they need to pay you again. Now later they want to release the movie on DVD so now they pay you for that so then when they release the TV show on DVD they naturally have to pay you for that. Just basic Music Royalties. So obviously since a TV show can have many songs or different pieces of music on many episodes the price can add up fast and many times too expensive for what the studio thinks they can make on the DVD release so they sometimes have to hold out for a lower price or wait for things to change with an estate or try what Paramount did and replace the music. I continue to buy other shows that are not my top tier but most of my unreleased grail shows now are Warner Shows like their remaining westerns and their detective shows. So the wait continues but they keep releasing a few more each year.

If they can clear the music rights, the next question to ask is, how do they release the show? MOD or general release? If music clearance costs may be massive, does that preclude using the MOD, with theoretically fewer total sales?

 

[Randy Korstick]

If they can clear the music rights, the next question to ask is, how do they release the show? MOD or general release? If music clearance costs may be massive, does that preclude using the MOD, with theoretically fewer total sales?

Good question. I think the answer would be since Warners has already designated the majority of their older shows to the Archive because of lack of confidence at the declining retail level then it is safe to assume the older shows are usually going to the Archive only. And as you said with potentially less sales also means the negotioned fees for the music clearance has to be even lower. Which is why some shows are stuck this way. Some maybe forever and others will most likely see their issues change in the future. The only one I know of that had music issues that they have cleared is Cheyenne and from a recent FB post they must have cleared all remaining seasons now as well because they stated they hope to have seasons 5-7 all out this year or by early next year at the latest. 77 Sunset Strip is requested alot and they state they are still working on clearing it. With the amount of requests for this one I'll go out on limb and say this one will get cleared eventually. Another side of the music issue equation is some of the shows may not have any royaties due or clearance issues but until the studio assigns someone to go through every episode to verify they do not know. So sometimes when they say music clearance issues it can also mean that. I suspect that was the case with Cheyenne and may be for the other Warner Brothers Westerns but I understand the detective shows had songs as well which would go back to the royalties problem.

 

[Professor Echo]

Randy, I've always wondered if you are employed by WB in some capacity? You seem to have lots of inside information and are a staunch supporter of theirs. Is it employee pride or are you just a diehard fan? I understand if you don't want to publicly disclose your affiliation, I was just curious.

 

[Randy Korstick]

No I wish I was employed by them. I'm loyal because they have released many cult and rare films I really wanted and never thought would come out plus I'm a huge Hanna Barbera fan, Bowery Boys fan and a fan of many TV shows they own so add that up and its not too hard to figure my loyalty. I get alot of info from visiting their Facebook page daily. My info. on the music rights is a little bit speculation mixed with alot of knowledge from being a musician. I just understand that aspect of business well from personal experience.

 

[DeWilson]

Music rights is a very valid issue and I'm just glad that Warners holds out trying to clear the music at a reasonable price for a DVD release rather than go the Paramount way of hiring a cheap keyboardist and replacing the music like they did on My Three Sons, The Fugitive and Gomer Pyle. .

What I don't get is why they just didn't lift cleared background music from other episodes and use that - either actual original recordings or new sound-a-likes, instead of "new" music that didn't fit,and in some cases, not properly mixed.

 

[Randy Korstick]

What I don't get is why they just didn't lift cleared background music from other episodes and use that - either actual original recordings or new sound-a-likes, instead of "new" music that didn't fit,and in some cases, not properly mixed.

Just a guess but probably since they weren't using the original music anyway, they just went the cheapest way possible which included a poor mix.

 

[shoeshineboy]

Barbary Coast? I haven't thought/heard about that one in ages... Shatner and Gary Cole (I think - pre-IMDB ing it... ) maybe with Shatner's popularity it gets a chance via MOD...

 

[HenryDuBrow]

That would be Doug McClure. I think with the right promotion Paramount titles like Barbary Coast (Bill Bixby directed a couple of episodes), The Magician, The Immortal and Petrocelli could easily find their audience today.

 

[DeWilson]

That would be Doug McClure. I think with the right promotion Paramount titles like Barbary Coast (Bill Bixby directed a couple of episodes), The Magician, The Immortal and Petrocelli could easily find their audience today.

Bixby Also directed the Barbary Coast pilot movie.

 

[JoshuaB.]

I've heard so many good things about Barbary Coast and The Magician (love Bill Bixby)--I'd buy them sight unseen. I'm quite impressed with the MOD concept at Warner (I enjoyed Harry-O immensely, despite the high cost from Amazon), so I hope CBS/Paramount follows their model.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I have some memory of seeing the movie versions edited from Barbary Coast. I like them, and I would be interested in the series DVDs.