I am just wondering what the popular opion on this subject is...

When a TV Show comes out on DVD and the music is replaces I always read complaints from people about the music being replaced. Usually the music doesn't really bother me (since it is the episodes that i really wanted), but I will admit that watching the DAwson's Creek Episodes of TBS in a completely different experience than watched the cutup DVD's.

If it's the episode you really want, then you should be bothered, as music is an integral part of many television series.

Personally, I think it's a disturbing trend that's every bit as bad as OAR violations. The only time I can accept this scenario is when there is no possibility of any release without changing the music. With newer shows, however, that are highly marketable and certain to be released anyway, it's unacceptable. I would much rather pay for the actual product than save a few bucks on something that has been negatively altered. The way shows like Quantum Leap have been hacked apart makes me sick.

I recognize that my opinion on this issue may be stronger than most, but this trend is just plain wrong.

das

I was going to write up an opinion, but it basically repeats what's above. I'll leave it at "what das said".

As others have noted, it all depends on the show. I don't give a rats ass that the background music for STAR TREK's "City On The Edge Of Forever" has changed; but when "Georgia" is missing from Quantum Leap, it's pretty upsetting, since the song was very important to the episode/series.

I would have gladly paid $50 for the first season of Greatest American Hero to keep "Rocket Man" in the pilot, but I'm guessing I'm one of the few who would have.

Then there are cases like Profiler, where an entire episode was deleted from Season One because The Police's "I'll Be Watching You" played throughout the episode. That's probably the worst instance of music rights affecting a box set release.

It's not that cut-n-dry.

How long is "no possibility"? As "Heavy Metal" has proven, nothing is impossible. It's just a matter of time and money. So it may come down to a matter of waiting 5 years and paying $20 more per season set to preserve the original music. Is THAT worth it?

Release it the way it initially aired.

for dawson's creek, if they put everything on more then 4 discs, and paid for rights, the discs could look better as well. (hell they put 6 45 minute episodes on one disc for christ sakes

I guess ignorance is bliss for me, as I buy most shows blind and never realize where the music replacements took place.

I say I would rather pay extra for the sets if that is a viable option, but for two TV series that are said to NEVER get a DVD release because of music rights issues, which are WKRP and Wonder Years, I say replace what you have to to bring the costs down. I'd rather have those two series on DVD with replaced music than not at all.

Of course, this is just the RIAA trying to squeeze as much money out of us. I guess suing college students, kids, and grandmas isn't paying the bills for them.

It has nothing to do with the RIAA. The laws that govern fair use of copyrighted material were passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court.

Blame them. Blame the people who own this stuff and want to be paid for its use. Blame the public which determines how much they're willing to pay for TV seasons on DVD. Blame George Bush (just because it's fun).

Or blame the producers of the series who were too cheap or short-sighted to clear the rights beyond broadcast.

The RIAA is not the Boogeyman.

RichC

you really cant blame the producers, because back in the late 70's early 80's no one even though about selling tv shows in any way shape or fourm. i say keep it the way it aired. i am also assuming this was poll is beacuse of Vice coming out today. the music is one of the main focus's of this show. the music is Irreplaceable

Well, the RIAA is a boogeyman, but not in this case : )

The license/royalty agreements for most of those old shows were written before DVD, and they failed to include DVD reproduction when getting the music rights for the episode. Conceivably they could ask the artists/owners of the work and they could say "Sure, why not?" but I don't begrudge them trying to profit again off their work, especially when a DVD release could possibly make more money than the original run or syndication.

I personally would prefer to have the original music, but if it comes down to 'pay X$ more, or get the music cut,' it would depend on the dvd release and the music. Some cases I wouldn't mind, some I would.

And possibly the recent news that music has been replaced on the upcoming Greatest American Hero set. Seems like a crapshoot lately when you buy a show... some are complete; some have crucial music ('Georgia' in QL) replaced.

Not that its the pinnacle of quality television, but the first season of The Real World is totally ruined on TV by the lack of the original music. It's all Casio BS. Plus they removed the voices from those parts too. Just horrible.

I understand wanting to see 'The Wonder Years', but I honestly can't imagine how that show could possibly work without the period music. I mean, so much of the nostalgia comes from the soundtrack... Anyway, too many fans would complain. I understand wanting the show, but it just seems like the show wouldn't work that way.

But maybe my memory is exaggerating, it's been years since I saw the show.

That's what I thought about Tour of Duty. It was missing something; still watchable, but some of the scenes/plots lost some power.

I disagree, the artists and all involved licensed the song to be used in a tv show and got paid for it. Whether that is on air, vhs, dvd whatever. They got theirs. Leave our shows alone! I mean really, we are talking about DVDs that contain around 20 episodes and they want more money for about 20 seconds of audio from 1 show from the whole season? Lame.

I'm not a fan of the show, but isn't the "love and marraige" song from Married With Children being replaced? That is as bad as QL.

There is an option for period shows like Wonder Years & QL. Use lesser known acts from the same time period. It still gets the point across, and is infinitely better than some generic music recorded yesterday. This would save on royalties immensely. They could have even done a little push/pull with it. Swap out some songs to save on royalties and use that money to pay for the big ones like "Georgia."

I want everything intact when it comes to DVD. On some shows the music is integral to the story.

I would perfer everything intact when it comes to dvd since thats the whole point of buying a show on dvd in the first place instead of just keeping my tapes. Also Columbia is really bad about cramming too much on a disc and cutting music such as theme songs.

For the most part, I don't really care. When it comes to the older TV shows, I haven't seen them in so long anyway, most of the time I doubt I would notice.

But if they have to take out a song, at least replace it with something that works. I was watching an episode of Quantum Leap S2 the other night - the one where Sam is a mommy - and where I'm pretty sure songs were replaced, what they used was pretty lousy. I would have preferred no music in those instances.

I respectfully disagree. The musical artists negotiated a contract for a specific thing -- television airings. Now that studios are 'repurposing' TV shows (and, it should be mentioned, making a shitload of money doing it), they need to pay up appropriately.

I know that it can be frustrating when a particular artist seems to be 'asking the world' for a song and it holds up a release. But the thought that these artists already "got theirs" when studios are now making major cash profits on these properties is absurd.

It depends how integral the music is to the show. If it's something like the Wonder Years, where the music is such a major part of the show, I think it's better not to release it unless the music is (mostly) intact. Other shows (WKRP comes to mind) I hardly remember the music (other than the theme song). I think, if they did it carefully (used the same "kind" of music) they could release this show with different music and it wouldn't be obvious at all.

I agree with this. It's too bad when I don't get something released that I want, but, if it's me, I'm gonna want to get paid.

My thoughts exactly.

It will definitely depend. Sometimes the music really added nothing to the story and sometimes it was vital.

That said I rarely pay more than $30-$40 for a season so I end up passing even if they do get the music in there. $80 for a season set is just too much.

I agree the artists need to be paid for the music in there, but there needs to be a set fee for every song. Its bullcrap what price some of these guys ask for a piece of their song to show up in an episode. The music costs should not be higher than the costs of royalties to the people that actually star in the series.

In case of some series like "Roswell" and "Dawson's Creek" the shows would not be produced because the music issues (I read somewhere that a season of Roswell would have an MSRP of $199.99 if all the originally music was kept) that seems way to much for me...

I am not saying cut all music from the show, but if they have to replace some period pieces with other period pieces, then I would rather have that then no series on DVD at all.