Oh the humanity!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you just tuning in, the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been BOMBED with live turkeys.

It's a little of both. Just remember that DVD producers get a budget and must work within that budget. They do the best they can and I'm sure it kills them to have to give up some music. Music rights can get real pricey. Some songs would go for $50,000 and up. Just multiply that by 10 songs and you're up to half a million dollars.

This is why, way back when, Michael Jackson asked for investment advice from Paul McCartney. Paul said buy music publishing rights. Michael then went and bought The Beatles catalog.... yeah, Sir Paul was not amused.

I shouldn't say this out loud, but if they change a lot of the music, I'll have to buy something other than the official release.

This is perhaps by all time favorite sitcom, and I really want it in its original form.

Some shows are ok with a few changed songs, but this is one series that, for me, needs the original music.

Johnny: Gripping music, huh?
Mr Carlson: Yeah, that's good all right. What's the name of that orchestra?
Johnny: Pink Floyd.
Mr Carlson: Oooh, is that Pink Floyd? Do I hear dogs barking on that thing?
Johnny: I do.

I would be EXTREMELY disappointed if they replaced that music.

And if that's a snippet that's just robbery.

I wish we had music rights laws like they have in the UK: if it's cleared for broadcast, the music can be used in any home video format release.

I'm sorry, but I can't quite figure out the logic posted above that says it's not okay to own copies of the show that replace the music, but it is okay to own copies that are missing one or two minutes? Huh? Amongst everything else inherently wrong with an incomplete show, how do you know the one or two missing minutes don't contain some of the precious original music you covet so much? Hardly a purist, this is really a case of the pot calling the kettle black. By this argument, you would be satisfied if Fox released cut prints of this series as long as the original music was left intact?

Incidentally, most syndicated prints of series are missing more than one or two minutes per episode.

Is this that hard to figure out? The guy has the best copies that currently exist. He wants perfect copies, not adding something back, then cutting out something different.

He never said it was acceptable to cut out minutes, but not music.

The holders of the music publishing rights are like the phone cops: They play hardball.

A lot of these rights reside with the actual artists/bands. I'm willing to bet some of them won't allow their music to be used no matter how much money they are offered. Not available. Non negotiatiable. Agreeing to something non tangible like a broadcast is one thing, relinquishing total reproduction rights by selling a license to manufacture and distribute is something else, even if it's just a portion of the song. Some of the movie studios are the same way, won't license obscure films to a third party like Anchor Bay, etc even though they have no intention of ever releasing the films themselves.
I'll eat crow if I'm wrong but I don't believe The Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd would allow their music to be included even if they were written a blank check.
Didn't some artists refuse to let their performances be used in the Live Aid dvd and made donations to the charity instead?

Yes, Led Zeppelin thought their set wasn't up to par so they only made a donation. There might be others but that was one of the big omissions.

This is why, way back when, Michael Jackson asked for investment advice from Paul McCartney. Paul said buy music publishing rights. Michael then went and bought The Beatles catalog.... yeah, Sir Paul was not amused.

My post indicated that neither edited version constitutes "the best copies that currently exist." Why would the versions missing footage be considered any better than the versions missing original music?

I for one would rather have snippets of music replaced than entire scenes edited out if those are the only choices available.

But I'm happy to agree to disagree and leave it at that.

It's anyone's opinion, of course, but seeing as how integral the music is to each program I believe that having original songs is better than the missing footage.

However, I found that while watching the syndi versions on Nick one day and comparing them to my tapes, they had made the cuts in different places during the show. I started a compilation tape a while ago and found that when I edited together the footage from both versions the whole thing was nearly if not complete now. Too much work though.

Is there an echo?

Has the Senator ever been able to explain his nudity?

I found TV Shows on DVD's stance on this release rather interesting. Normally they are the first ones to blast a company that makes changes to a TV Series when releasing it on DVD, but they had this to say about WKRP:

"Hopefully fans will keep an open mind and consider purchasing this set even with some of the music being replaced"

And hopefully nothing major is replaced. Maybe they know something we don't? There's always hope.

They may just assume it's not possible to have all of the music intact in this case.

As for cracksky having the syndicated versions taped, I think the difference is that he didn't have to pay for them. He doesn't want to spend money on an altered version, and that's understandable.

It's really safe to assume there will be some sort of problem with at least one artist or song somewhere down the line with so many songs to clear. There's bound to be an artist that either refuses to allow their song to be used or their fee is way too high. Or, an artist cannot be located.

I seem to recall reading that it was much cheaper licensing the music for the show since it was shot on tape and not film but they, of course, had no thought of a video release back then.

I don't want to spend money on an altered version, yes. I'd rather spend more money on a better product if that's what it takes with the extra cost in licensing fees to get all the songs used.

Yeah, that's my understanding as well. When WKRP was being produced, they were able to license music cheaply and easily because it was shot on videotape. I'm not sure why, but it seems that that was the deal the industry had in place at the time.

And, regarding the music publishing, the artists aren't necessarily the ones who own the publishing rights. So it's not even a matter of dealing with artists directly; in some cases the rights are held by corporations that might be difficult to deal with.

Depending on how much music there is that needs to licensed, the fees could climb into millions of dollars very quickly which would then force the cost of the set up which would then reduce the number of units sold. It's a vicious circle.

I can sympathize with something like WKRP, in which case there was really no expectation that they would ever need music rights beyond the initial broadcast. And, at the time, it was probably inconceivable that anyone would ever be buying televsion programming on pre-recorded media. The whole "TV on DVD" phenomena really took everyone by surprise a few years ago.

On the other hand, something like "My Name is Earl" which is a new program, should have had the home video rights to music written into the contracts. That situation is really inexcusable. But WKRP has to deal with a situation that nobody could've anticipated twenty-five years ago.

I'll reserve my judgement until I see what the changes are.

I know is a different show but the above still upsets me greatly.

Why assume it isn't possible? People made the same assumption about Miami Vice , but I understand that came out intact. Everyone said that would never happen. If I assumed anything it would be that Fox simply chose not to spend the money to clear the songs because they chose not to cut into their profit.