Music Follow-Up

By Scott Keith on August 3, 2018

Hey Scott–

A little while ago, you gave a reader a great crash-course about how licensed music works on WWE broadcasts, and why most of it has been eliminated on the Network.

Do you have any idea what the deal is with music they produced in-house? I'm working my way through old SummerSlams, and Rick Rude's original music has been completely scrubbed. Wasn't that tune created by Jim Johnson (I think that was old boy's name)?

There have been times Demolition's song has been scrubbed, "Jive Soul Bro", the Bossman's theme, Koko's "Bird Bird Bird"… is there a reason beyond "Vince gonna Vince"? He can't possibly be paying that close attention to old footage on the Network, can he…?

No, I've talked to actual lawyers about this and they can't figure out the exact reasoning behind the choices, either. Basically there's a lot of moving parts in play that affect what music can be played and how:

1. Who wrote the song

2. Who currently owns the rights

3. What show it was on.

4. What media you're watching the show on (DVD v. streaming)

5. Who produced the masters (WWE v. Coliseum Video)

6. What service digitized the show (WWE 24/7 v. WWE Network)

7. Who's involved in the match and/or commentary

And on and on and on. I swear they must have a whiteboard flow chart in Titan Towers to keep track of whether or not "Demolition" can appear on a given show.

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