Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 24, 1992 TAG: 9201240358
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DEBORAH HASTINGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
TV PRODUCERS PAYING THE PRICE FOR THEME SONGS YOU'LL RECOGNIZE
CBS' "Northern Exposure" is an eclectic series, with music to match. Sample range in one episode: Beethoven's "Pathetique" to Chet Atkins' "Gotta Travel On.""Murphy Brown," stars Candice Bergen as the Motown-loving TV journalist, and nearly every segment has at least one Supremes or Temptations classic. ABC's "The Wonder Years" is kicked off each week by Joe Cocker's gravelly version of "With A Little Help From My Friends."
And the opening theme to ABC's "Life Goes On" is a cast rendition of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."
In prime-time viewing hours, it is impossible to flip through the dial without hearing well-known versions of pop and classical songs - even jazz and opera - that function as crucial purveyors of mood and nuance.
Music is not new to television. But using original or well-known performances that require paying costly rights fees is a relatively recent phenomenon in TV production.
Prodded by MTV and the defunct series (that some called an extended rock video) "Miami Vice," television is increasingly looking to the music industry for programming help.
It is an expensive boost. As demand has risen for music rights, so has the cost, say television executives.
"At first it was only securing the rights to a song for free [network] television," said Doug Frank, vice president of the music division at Warner Bros. Television. "If you have a show that goes on to cable, you need cable rights. If you do episodes on home video, you need video rights."
What that means in dollars and cents, Frank said, is "let's say a popular song costs $3,000. With video and cable that price will be $10,000."
The end result, Frank said, is less bang for a show's music budget buck. "We're not spending less," he said, "but because we need broader rights, we end up getting less music."
When ABC's now-canceled "China Beach" was sold to cable's Lifetime channel last year, Warner Bros. first had to pay music rights fees of $12,000 each for more than 60 episodes. And that covered only the Vietnam War drama's theme song - "Reflections" by Diana Ross and the Supremes.
In the case of 2-year-old "Northern Exposure," the series spends between $2,000 and $5,000 for each tune. Some episodes have as many as 14 songs.
"We spend a lot of money on music," said associate producer Martin Bruestle. "But there have been times when we haven't been able to use a song because it was too expensive."
For instance, Bruestle said, the record company for heavy-metal band Warrant wanted "something like $10,000 to use one of their songs. We said no."
How much a song costs depends to a large extent on how famous the performer is. It also depends on who controls the rights - which can be held by any or all of a group that includes the record company, the song's publishing house and the artist.
The rights holder can also control how a song is used.
John McCullough serves as a music consultant to "Northern Exposure" as well as music supervisor to "The Wonder Years" and "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill."
The recent use of a John Mellencamp song on "Northern Exposure" met with strict scrutiny from its record company, McCullough said. "They're very careful about how it's being used, which I don't blame them. We make it very clear that `no, no one is getting killed, no one is getting raped' while the song is playing."
How prominently a song is used also determines its cost. A piece used as background music is far cheaper than a song used to illustrate a montage shot or as the focal point of a scene.
On "Murphy Brown," the series producers struck a bulk deal with Motown to use any of a long list of old hits for between $3,500 and $7,000 a song.
In trying to convince record companies to sell song rights (or to lower their asking price), television executives try to drive home the point that a TV audience is much more vast than that of a radio station or record store.
"We tell them `we're giving you exposure to 20 million people,' " said McCullough. "If they had to pay for that kind of marketing, it would cost them a fortune."
Not only does a Motown record heard on "Murphy Brown" increase sales within a week, executives said, it introduces such music to a whole new generation of potential buyers not well versed in the rhythms of Martha and the Vandellas or Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.