Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2016 12:50:47 GMT
Was on BBC4 recently, I recorded it but only watched the beginning with Roy Orbison doing Pretty Woman so here's a review of the show from the Daily Telegraph.
Watch on BBC iPlayer
Er, so what's in the list?
And finally, at number one it's...
So, with three festive songs in the ten it didn't bode well - what would be your personal best from this list?
’Tis the season to vegetate in front of mind-numbing list shows, because you didn’t get the quality drama DVD box set you wanted. Fortunately, not all list shows are dross – The Richest Songs in the World (BBC Four) was far more enlightening than the tacky title suggested.
It can feel like the only way to make obscene amounts of money from music is to get Simon Cowell involved, but there are equally manipulative methods that have been working a treat for years. In fact, most of the songs Mark Radcliffe revealed had made it into the top 10 biggest money-spinners of all time were written when Cowell hadn’t yet traded in short trousers for high-waisted ones. Some of them even racked up their first half a million through sheet music, rather than ringtones – imagine!
Radcliffe discovered that there are a couple of cunning ways to guarantee wealth and longevity from a piece of music, and the first is to write a brilliant Christmas song. Three of the top 10 (White Christmas, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and The Christmas Song, better known by its opening line, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire”) were festive, as they accumulate royalties year after year when they’re covered by everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga and lazily shoved onto party compilations. It’s truly the most wonderful time of year for novelty song heirs like James Tormé, whose late father Mel Tormé composed The Christmas Song, making him the living embodiment of Hugh Grant’s character – a layabout who lives off the royalties of a single Christmas song composed by his father – in the film About a Boy.
According to the talking heads on the show, the other way to make a killing is to write a song that ladies like. As a woman who owns CDs that aren’t all by Adele and Michael Bublé, I take slight offence to the insinuation that people with ovaries only like soppy songs, but the presence of Unchained Melody, Every Breath You Take and Yesterday (“a Beatles song for people who didn’t like The Beatles”) on the list did appear to confirm this theory. The film factor helps too – that’s why Ben E King, at number six, is possibly the world’s happiest man. His song, Stand By Me, was a US hit when it was originally released in 1961, but became hugely lucrative when it was used on the film of the same name in 1987. “If it wasn’t for Stand By Me I’d probably be driving a cab,” he mused, grinning.
As the countdown approached its climax, I found myself wondering which overplayed mega-hit would grab the top spot. I Will Always Love You, perhaps? Candle in the Wind? My Way? But no, the number one song was one that we’ve all sung dozens of times… Happy Birthday. Originally written in 1893 by two sisters in Kentucky, it “went viral” via word of mouth and was snapped up by Warner Chappell in 1990, meaning that it’s technically illegal to wail it to your loved ones without paying royalties. See you all in court.
It can feel like the only way to make obscene amounts of money from music is to get Simon Cowell involved, but there are equally manipulative methods that have been working a treat for years. In fact, most of the songs Mark Radcliffe revealed had made it into the top 10 biggest money-spinners of all time were written when Cowell hadn’t yet traded in short trousers for high-waisted ones. Some of them even racked up their first half a million through sheet music, rather than ringtones – imagine!
Radcliffe discovered that there are a couple of cunning ways to guarantee wealth and longevity from a piece of music, and the first is to write a brilliant Christmas song. Three of the top 10 (White Christmas, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and The Christmas Song, better known by its opening line, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire”) were festive, as they accumulate royalties year after year when they’re covered by everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga and lazily shoved onto party compilations. It’s truly the most wonderful time of year for novelty song heirs like James Tormé, whose late father Mel Tormé composed The Christmas Song, making him the living embodiment of Hugh Grant’s character – a layabout who lives off the royalties of a single Christmas song composed by his father – in the film About a Boy.
According to the talking heads on the show, the other way to make a killing is to write a song that ladies like. As a woman who owns CDs that aren’t all by Adele and Michael Bublé, I take slight offence to the insinuation that people with ovaries only like soppy songs, but the presence of Unchained Melody, Every Breath You Take and Yesterday (“a Beatles song for people who didn’t like The Beatles”) on the list did appear to confirm this theory. The film factor helps too – that’s why Ben E King, at number six, is possibly the world’s happiest man. His song, Stand By Me, was a US hit when it was originally released in 1961, but became hugely lucrative when it was used on the film of the same name in 1987. “If it wasn’t for Stand By Me I’d probably be driving a cab,” he mused, grinning.
As the countdown approached its climax, I found myself wondering which overplayed mega-hit would grab the top spot. I Will Always Love You, perhaps? Candle in the Wind? My Way? But no, the number one song was one that we’ve all sung dozens of times… Happy Birthday. Originally written in 1893 by two sisters in Kentucky, it “went viral” via word of mouth and was snapped up by Warner Chappell in 1990, meaning that it’s technically illegal to wail it to your loved ones without paying royalties. See you all in court.
Watch on BBC iPlayer
Er, so what's in the list?
10. Mel Torme – Christmas Song. (1944)
The tenth spot was held by the Christmas Song written by Mel Torme and it was made famous by the great Nat King Cole. The song introduced two theme’s that ran throughout the list.
Estimated Earnings – £12.5 million.
The tenth spot was held by the Christmas Song written by Mel Torme and it was made famous by the great Nat King Cole. The song introduced two theme’s that ran throughout the list.
Estimated Earnings – £12.5 million.
9. Roy Orbison & Bill Dees – Oh Pretty Woman.(1964)
Roy Orbison and Bill Dees were apparently struggling for song writing ideas when Roy’s wife walks in on them and announced she was going shopping and thus the opening lines “Pretty Woman walking down the street” were born. The rest of the song followed, and so did a no 1 hit in the USA and UK and elsewhere.
The Richard Gere / Julia Roberts film Pretty Woman brought a substantial boost to the song’s earning potential, as well as introducing it to a whole new generation, so much so that in late 1998 Bill Dees was reportedly earning $100,000 a year.
In the USA the song was the subject of a legal case that established the doctrine of parody. When rap artist Luke Campbell and his 2 Live Crew sampled the song into a somewhat salacious version the copyright owners objected.
The US supreme court ruled the version was a parody and exempt from royalty payments establishing a legal precedent that exists in the US till today. It may have made a small dent in revenues but not enough to stop the song from being a money spinner.
Estimated Earnings – £13 million
Roy Orbison and Bill Dees were apparently struggling for song writing ideas when Roy’s wife walks in on them and announced she was going shopping and thus the opening lines “Pretty Woman walking down the street” were born. The rest of the song followed, and so did a no 1 hit in the USA and UK and elsewhere.
The Richard Gere / Julia Roberts film Pretty Woman brought a substantial boost to the song’s earning potential, as well as introducing it to a whole new generation, so much so that in late 1998 Bill Dees was reportedly earning $100,000 a year.
In the USA the song was the subject of a legal case that established the doctrine of parody. When rap artist Luke Campbell and his 2 Live Crew sampled the song into a somewhat salacious version the copyright owners objected.
The US supreme court ruled the version was a parody and exempt from royalty payments establishing a legal precedent that exists in the US till today. It may have made a small dent in revenues but not enough to stop the song from being a money spinner.
Estimated Earnings – £13 million
8. The Police – Every Breath You Take. (1983)
This is the UK’s first entry in the list. It’s the 80′s super group, The Police, greatest ever song contributing a quarter of the revenue that their entire catalogue ever made. This song throws up another theme that crops in discussions about song revenue, who actually owns the rights. This song is credited to Sting (Gordon Sumner) but in the interview for this programme Andy Summers recounted how he had provided the guitar riff for the song.
So successful was the song that it grosses about $2000 a day. A lot of that is due to P Diddy’s incredibly successful sample of the song in memory of the late rapper Notorious BIG. Ironically the main part that was sampled was Summer’s iconic guitar riff.
Estimated Earnings – £13.5 million
This is the UK’s first entry in the list. It’s the 80′s super group, The Police, greatest ever song contributing a quarter of the revenue that their entire catalogue ever made. This song throws up another theme that crops in discussions about song revenue, who actually owns the rights. This song is credited to Sting (Gordon Sumner) but in the interview for this programme Andy Summers recounted how he had provided the guitar riff for the song.
So successful was the song that it grosses about $2000 a day. A lot of that is due to P Diddy’s incredibly successful sample of the song in memory of the late rapper Notorious BIG. Ironically the main part that was sampled was Summer’s iconic guitar riff.
Estimated Earnings – £13.5 million
7. Haven Gillespie & Fred J Coots – Santa Claus is coming to town. (1934)
So popular has this song been that is covered pretty much anyone who’s anyone from the soulful rendition by the Jackson 5 to hard rocking version by Alice Cooper, and there is even a version by Justin Bieber. And look, it's on an old 78! Well, 1934, it would hardly be available as a digital download.
Estimated Earnings – £16.5 million
So popular has this song been that is covered pretty much anyone who’s anyone from the soulful rendition by the Jackson 5 to hard rocking version by Alice Cooper, and there is even a version by Justin Bieber. And look, it's on an old 78! Well, 1934, it would hardly be available as a digital download.
Estimated Earnings – £16.5 million
6. Ben E King, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller – Stand By Me. (1961)
Ben brought the song initially to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who were working out of the famous Brill Building in New York. They added to it’s composition and also agreed to a royalty split of 25% to Leiber and Stoller and 50% to Ben E King, an unusually amicable agreement in an industry where back stabbing over royalties is a way of life.
Stand By me was successful in its own right but the River Phoenix film of the same name amongst other reuses of the song have seen its commercial success soar
Estimated Earnings – £17.5 million
Ben brought the song initially to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who were working out of the famous Brill Building in New York. They added to it’s composition and also agreed to a royalty split of 25% to Leiber and Stoller and 50% to Ben E King, an unusually amicable agreement in an industry where back stabbing over royalties is a way of life.
Stand By me was successful in its own right but the River Phoenix film of the same name amongst other reuses of the song have seen its commercial success soar
Estimated Earnings – £17.5 million
5. Alex North & Hy Zaret – Unchained Melody. (1955)
Written for a prison movie ‘Unchained’ in the 50′s it was originally about about a prisoner yearning for freedom. The song was made famous by two guys with most perfectly sculptured chins in show business The righteous Brothers and in the UK by two less sculptured British blokes Robson and Jerome. In between the song has been covered at least an amazing 650 times.
Estimated Earnings – £18 million
Written for a prison movie ‘Unchained’ in the 50′s it was originally about about a prisoner yearning for freedom. The song was made famous by two guys with most perfectly sculptured chins in show business The righteous Brothers and in the UK by two less sculptured British blokes Robson and Jerome. In between the song has been covered at least an amazing 650 times.
Estimated Earnings – £18 million
4. John Lennon and Paul McCartney – Yesterday. (1965)
When the song was originally written the final lyrics had not been worked out so Paul McCartney used in its place were an homage to scrambled eggs until he came with the now famous lyrics. Despite it seeming simplicity the song is the most successful of the Beatles’s compositions.
Estimated Earnings – £19.5 million
When the song was originally written the final lyrics had not been worked out so Paul McCartney used in its place were an homage to scrambled eggs until he came with the now famous lyrics. Despite it seeming simplicity the song is the most successful of the Beatles’s compositions.
Estimated Earnings – £19.5 million
3.Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Phil Specter – You lost that loving feeling. (1964) [
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil a legendary Husband and Wife song writing team working out of the famous Brill Building music factory. They worked with Phil Specter on this song and when interviewed on the programme stated he famously added the line “and he is gone, gone, gone, Whoa, whoa, whoa”, much to Mann and Weil’s skepticism . The addition along with Phil Spectre’s wall of sound production worked and helped make the song the most played on radio ever.
Couldn't find the original on Youtube so here's the Righteous Brothers version - be better than Robson & Jerome I reckon.
Estimated Earnings – £20.5 million
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil a legendary Husband and Wife song writing team working out of the famous Brill Building music factory. They worked with Phil Specter on this song and when interviewed on the programme stated he famously added the line “and he is gone, gone, gone, Whoa, whoa, whoa”, much to Mann and Weil’s skepticism . The addition along with Phil Spectre’s wall of sound production worked and helped make the song the most played on radio ever.
Couldn't find the original on Youtube so here's the Righteous Brothers version - be better than Robson & Jerome I reckon.
Estimated Earnings – £20.5 million
2.Irving Berlin – White Christmas. (1940)
“I am dreaming of a white Christmas”. This song bundles up all your nostalgic memories of Christmas into soft heavily sentimental wrapping, the ultimate Christmas Song. It was Irving Berlin’s masterpiece and in the hands of all American crooner Bing Crosby it sold an amazing sold 40 million copies and has since gone one to sell over 100 million units netting the man who started as a poor jewish immigrant from Russia a fortune.
Interesting Irving Berlin was a leading light in the creation of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) the body that first adopted a unified approach for the collection of song royalties and arguably laid the foundation for the fortune of many others on the list.
Estimated Earnings – £24 million
“I am dreaming of a white Christmas”. This song bundles up all your nostalgic memories of Christmas into soft heavily sentimental wrapping, the ultimate Christmas Song. It was Irving Berlin’s masterpiece and in the hands of all American crooner Bing Crosby it sold an amazing sold 40 million copies and has since gone one to sell over 100 million units netting the man who started as a poor jewish immigrant from Russia a fortune.
Interesting Irving Berlin was a leading light in the creation of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) the body that first adopted a unified approach for the collection of song royalties and arguably laid the foundation for the fortune of many others on the list.
Estimated Earnings – £24 million
And finally, at number one it's...
1.Hill Sisters – Happy Birthday. (1893)
No not the Stevie Wonder one. The one you sing at home when it is a birthday, yes that one. You might think of it a ditty, a rhyme, a kids song, but if it is musical and can been copyrighted it will generate royalties. When you consider that every one of the 6 billion people on earth has a birthday you can begin to see the earning potential.
Kindergarten teachers Patty and Mildred Hill created it as a song for their kids with the words originally ‘Good Morning to You’ along the way it morphed to Happy Birthday and into an incredibly popular song. So much so that Warner Brothers bought the rights to the song for 25 million dollars. Happy Birthday reportedly costs 25,000 dollars for use in a TV or Movie and despite its age remains under copyright in the USA till 2030. In the EU the copyright ends in 2016.
Estimated Earnings – £30 million
No not the Stevie Wonder one. The one you sing at home when it is a birthday, yes that one. You might think of it a ditty, a rhyme, a kids song, but if it is musical and can been copyrighted it will generate royalties. When you consider that every one of the 6 billion people on earth has a birthday you can begin to see the earning potential.
Kindergarten teachers Patty and Mildred Hill created it as a song for their kids with the words originally ‘Good Morning to You’ along the way it morphed to Happy Birthday and into an incredibly popular song. So much so that Warner Brothers bought the rights to the song for 25 million dollars. Happy Birthday reportedly costs 25,000 dollars for use in a TV or Movie and despite its age remains under copyright in the USA till 2030. In the EU the copyright ends in 2016.
Estimated Earnings – £30 million
So, with three festive songs in the ten it didn't bode well - what would be your personal best from this list?
