I read somewhere that there was a song replaced in this episode. Can anyone confirm if this is true? Thanks.
No, it's "Lifesigns". It's the song that was playing in the car on the holodeck program when the Doc was romancing Denora Pel. The original was "I Only Have Eyes for You" by the Flamingos but was later changed for the DVD. I remember this cause "I Only Have Eyes..." is one of my all time favorite songs. It was changed because when you use a song in a show and then take that show and sell it, like on a DVD. You have to pay the record company for it(I believe you have to pay for each printing, so every DVD containing that song has to be paid for) and it was more than Paramount wanted. So the other option is to replace it with another cheaper costing song. I'm wondering if shows like "Glee" get around it but not playing the original recordings of the songs in the show but I'm not sure..............or they choose artists who's songs don't cost allot.
^ Pretty sure Glee gets around the issue since its not the actual recordings by the original artists but cover versions done by the cast.
At least with Lifesigns, they switched it for a like-minded period song, not some generic crap they had lying around, which is what happens often. Also worth noting, the region 2 DVD release still uses "I Only Have Eyes For You", not the replacement. (The rights issues don't always cross borders, which is why Quantum Leap went more musically unharmed in R2 compared than R1.)
I've always figured cover versions/replacement tracks must cost less money because they are just paying for the use of the song itself, not for a specifically recorded performance of it by the original artists. Use of the original track probably costs more because the artists themselves would have much higher fees negotiated by their agents, on top of having to pay the record company/copyright holders for the rights to use the track in the first place. I've got TV shows on DVD where a piece of licenced music heard in the background of a scene on original broadcast has been replaced by a cover version of the same song on DVD. I assume the people who wrote the song get paid the same either way, it's just they have to pay more for the original artists singing it.
This reminds me of pro wrestling, which is infamous for it's use of incredibly blatant rip-offs of songs.
A show like Mad Men must have to pay out a small fortune for each series. Example: I understand that in Season 5 when they used the Beatles 'Tomorrow Never Knows" it cost something like $250,000. I suppose this must have covered the cost of DVD use as well because I was very surprised to hear the song on the season 5 DVD. I believe another case is WKRP Cincinnati. On the original telecasts they used real music, but on the dvd's the songs are replaced by generic music.
Most contemporary television programs today license their music for home video as well as for first-run (and re-run) broadcast. Programs in the pre-DVD era didn't do this because the producers, production companies, and studios involved didn't expect their programs to have much of a life on home video.
Thanks for the information. Are the extras identical on the Region 2 release? I came across this on Memory Alpha for the episode "Alliances": What's the story behind this?
There are a few popular shows collecting dust in dim and dark studio vaults due to music licensing issues. "The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd" would probably sell really well on home video - but is unlikely to see a release at this point.
interesting. what was the song used to replace the flamingos track on the DVD release? i very clearly recall the "flamingos" scene from the episode's original airing, it was quite memorable.