One of the hottest segments of DVD ROM sales has to be the release of some of our favorite television shows in series box sets. Unfortunately, just as art imitates life (or is it the other way around) a lot of these shows feature popular music. This is causing problems for studios as they know they are setting on a product that the people want, but the problem is, due to the music tracks, it is unprofitable to try and produce and sell the DVD's at regular prices. Apparently, even if the music plays during a segment for even a couple seconds, the labels can and will enforce the copyright, demanding payment.
Past history has shown, that when people make a purchase of the shows they don't want a censored or modified version of the original episodes. In certain instances when studios have cut or replaced music, fans have complained bitterly about it. They want the show as it was and how they remember it. Top that off with the fact that there is no mention of the modifications on the package and the disappointment is magnified.
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"The fans don't want syndicated cuts. They don't want the songs replaced. They don't want anything censored for political correctness. They want to see it in the way they originally saw it broadcast, enjoyed it and fell in love with it," Lambert said. "You can almost always count on some music replacement. We've got entire theme songs being replaced." There are plenty of examples, he said. The original theme song for the show Married ... With Children -- "Love and Marriage" sung by Frank Sinatra -- was replaced on the third-season DVD. Fans also complained when the song "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues was missing from a critical scene in the Wiseguy DVD set. The second-season DVD sets of Quantum Leap and Northern Exposure both contain noticeable music replacements. And DVD distributors don't always reveal on the box cover that music has been replaced, either. Only selected episodes from the first season of Ally McBeal have been released in the United States because of the high cost of music licensing. But in the United Kingdom, where different licensing deals have been struck, viewers can order all five seasons of the show. "I think the studios are a bit shortsighted," Lambert said. "A lot of fans -- if they understood the situation -- would gladly wait a little longer and pay a little more to get the complete, original version." |
You can take a look at the entire article over at Wired. It is interesting, how important music can be to the overall enjoyment of a predominantly visual experience. But, we have to ask ourselves if we are willing to pay extra for the episodes, as they were, with all original music included. Or, is this going to be too high a price to pay? This is a problem that can't easily be answered and possibly will be a future consideration during production of new televison shows.
Source: Wired News
