The Richest Songs in the World

0:00:02 > 0:00:06Since popular music became a global industry, a handful of songs

0:00:06 > 0:00:09have outshone, outperformed and outlasted all the others...

0:00:09 > 0:00:14MUSIC: "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve

0:00:14 > 0:00:19That song has so much magic that it's scary.

0:00:19 > 0:00:23These songs have sold more copies, had more cover versions,

0:00:23 > 0:00:26and been played more often, in more places

0:00:26 > 0:00:29than any other songs in the world.

0:00:29 > 0:00:33It has been played 10 million times on American radio.

0:00:33 > 0:00:3610 million times.

0:00:37 > 0:00:40I'm going to reveal for the first time the ten songs

0:00:40 > 0:00:43which have earned the most money for the people who wrote them.

0:00:45 > 0:00:48That's a lot of money.

0:00:48 > 0:00:51Where's it all gone?

0:00:53 > 0:00:54Ten great songs,

0:00:54 > 0:00:58each with its own extraordinary story of how it was created...

0:00:58 > 0:01:01I finished the guitar part and everybody stood up

0:01:01 > 0:01:04and cheered and clapped. That was it.

0:01:04 > 0:01:08Behind these songs is the untold story of music royalties and how

0:01:08 > 0:01:13music industry deals have sometimes made songwriters multi-millionaires

0:01:13 > 0:01:16whilst leaving others fighting for their share in court.

0:01:16 > 0:01:19Always happens, every band, they look round and they notice

0:01:19 > 0:01:24that one of them has got a bigger house than the other ones.

0:01:24 > 0:01:28And they think, "Why them? A-ha, you wrote the songs."

0:01:28 > 0:01:30Because that is where the money is.

0:01:31 > 0:01:38# Cos it's a bittersweet symphony this life... #

0:01:38 > 0:01:42We're at the beginning of a journey to find the world's richest songs,

0:01:42 > 0:01:45the songs that have earned the most money in royalties.

0:01:45 > 0:01:48Industry analysts have looked at the available data

0:01:48 > 0:01:50and we have compiled a top ten countdown.

0:01:50 > 0:01:53Some of these songs will be the ones you'll expect.

0:01:53 > 0:01:56But there will be big surprises along the way, as well,

0:01:56 > 0:01:58I can promise you that. So let's get cracking, shall we?

0:01:58 > 0:01:59Here's number ten.

0:02:08 > 0:02:12This song was written in California in the 1940s.

0:02:12 > 0:02:14It's one of the oldest songs on the list.

0:02:14 > 0:02:17I first heard it as a child and have heard it every year since.

0:02:17 > 0:02:19I reckon most of us have.

0:02:19 > 0:02:23But not so many people know the unlikely circumstances

0:02:23 > 0:02:25in which this global hit was written.

0:02:25 > 0:02:29On a blisteringly hot day in July 1945,

0:02:29 > 0:02:33songwriter Mel Torme drove to Toluca Lake, near Los Angeles,

0:02:33 > 0:02:36to the home of his writing partner, Bob Wells.

0:02:36 > 0:02:39And found a surprise in the sitting room.

0:02:39 > 0:02:43There on the piano stand on a spiral path is this chestnuts

0:02:43 > 0:02:48roasting on a open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose,

0:02:48 > 0:02:54Yuletide carols sung by a choir and folks dressed up like Eskimos.

0:02:54 > 0:03:00And eventually, Bob appears from the background, you know,

0:03:00 > 0:03:05and I held up the paper and said, "What is this?"

0:03:05 > 0:03:10and Bob Wells said, "You know what, Mel? I just can't cool down today.

0:03:10 > 0:03:14"And I just thought if I could write a few lines like this it

0:03:14 > 0:03:18"would just somehow mentally cool me down."

0:03:18 > 0:03:21And that's really all it was.

0:03:21 > 0:03:26My dad was the one who said, "No, no, there's something here."

0:03:26 > 0:03:32And literally 24 minutes later, The Christmas Song was written.

0:03:32 > 0:03:34Ladies and Gentlemen, Mel Torme.

0:03:37 > 0:03:41# Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

0:03:44 > 0:03:49# Jack Frost nipping at your nose... #

0:03:51 > 0:03:56As well as writing songs, Mel Torme was a hugely successful singer.

0:03:56 > 0:04:00He recorded four versions of The Christmas Song himself

0:04:00 > 0:04:03between 1954 and 1992.

0:04:03 > 0:04:06Torme revealed the secret of his success to Parky.

0:04:07 > 0:04:10Thank you. Thank you very much.

0:04:10 > 0:04:15You are incredibly musical, you conduct symphony orchestras, even,

0:04:15 > 0:04:18- and yet you never had a music lesson in you life?- No. Never did, no.

0:04:18 > 0:04:22- It was just easy, was it?- No, it wasn't easy, it was...learning to

0:04:22 > 0:04:27arrange was done by some process of... I guess you could call it

0:04:27 > 0:04:32musical osmosis. I grew a very large pair of ears, much larger than these,

0:04:32 > 0:04:37and listened to and admired the people that absolutely

0:04:37 > 0:04:39blew my mind away, musically.

0:04:42 > 0:04:45One of these people lived not far from where Bob had written

0:04:45 > 0:04:50the lyrics, and Mel the music, on that sweltering summer's day.

0:04:50 > 0:04:56Literally that afternoon, my dad took the song and drove over the hill

0:04:56 > 0:05:00to Hancock park, to the home of Nat King Cole,

0:05:00 > 0:05:02and played Nat the song.

0:05:02 > 0:05:07Played the song for Nat once and Nat said, "Play that again."

0:05:07 > 0:05:11So he played it one more time and before he was done with the

0:05:11 > 0:05:16final chord Nat was already saying, "That's my song, that's my song."

0:05:16 > 0:05:21# Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow

0:05:21 > 0:05:28# Will find it hard to sleep tonight

0:05:28 > 0:05:34# They know that Santa's on his way... #

0:05:34 > 0:05:39By the mid-'40s, Cole was a major star, performing pop-orientated

0:05:39 > 0:05:41songs for mainstream audiences.

0:05:41 > 0:05:45He recorded The Christmas Song in 1946.

0:05:45 > 0:05:51Now, between 1945 and 1947, demobilised American servicemen

0:05:51 > 0:05:54returned from the battlefields of World War II.

0:05:54 > 0:05:57And this song became part of the soundtrack to

0:05:57 > 0:06:00Christmas in peacetime.

0:06:00 > 0:06:02A picture of what Christmas is supposed to look like.

0:06:02 > 0:06:05Now, with my family, that's not what Christmas looked like, you know.

0:06:05 > 0:06:07In my family, somebody is getting drunk

0:06:07 > 0:06:09and, those days, sometimes it was me.

0:06:09 > 0:06:12There was an uncle that didn't get on with a cousin

0:06:12 > 0:06:13we had to sit them in separate places,

0:06:13 > 0:06:15Am I doing enough for my kids?

0:06:15 > 0:06:16Somebody tells me you're doing too much,

0:06:16 > 0:06:18somebody else tells me I'm not doing enough.

0:06:18 > 0:06:20And then you hear...

0:06:20 > 0:06:23# Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. #

0:06:23 > 0:06:27And you go, "Yeah, that's what this is supposed to feel like."

0:06:32 > 0:06:36The song reached number three in the US charts, and the idealised

0:06:36 > 0:06:39vision of Christmas it helped create has stayed with us ever since.

0:06:39 > 0:06:43For a songwriter, a successful seasonal song is an annual gift.

0:06:43 > 0:06:47Each year it gets more radio plays, is heard in shopping centres,

0:06:47 > 0:06:51appears on Christmas compilations and sells more units.

0:06:51 > 0:06:56# Yuletide carols being song by a choir... #

0:06:56 > 0:07:02Cole recorded The Christmas Song twice more, in 1953 and 1961.

0:07:02 > 0:07:06I think my dad had that sort of sixth sense that he could

0:07:06 > 0:07:11have a hit with it but that if he gave it to Nat, it would be a smash.

0:07:11 > 0:07:15And that's exactly what happened, you know,

0:07:15 > 0:07:18and the rest is history, thank you very much.

0:07:18 > 0:07:21and I was able to go to college, you know what I mean?

0:07:24 > 0:07:27Mel Torme once said, "The royalty cheques were staggering,

0:07:27 > 0:07:29"absolutely staggering.

0:07:29 > 0:07:32"Each time one comes in, Bob Wells calls me and says,

0:07:32 > 0:07:35"'My God! Have you looked at this one?'"

0:07:35 > 0:07:38According to our calculations, The Christmas Song has earned just over

0:07:38 > 0:07:42£12.5 million in songwriting royalties.

0:07:43 > 0:07:46Yeah, that's a lot of money, you know, you have to remember

0:07:46 > 0:07:50that's over quite a lot of time and you have a lot of mouths to

0:07:50 > 0:07:55feed so to speak, so I don't ever remember seeing it as one chunk.

0:07:55 > 0:07:57HE LAUGHS

0:07:58 > 0:08:05# Although it's been said Many times, many ways,

0:08:05 > 0:08:09# Merry Christmas

0:08:09 > 0:08:14# To you. #

0:08:18 > 0:08:20So, how does a song earn royalties?

0:08:20 > 0:08:24Well, a songwriter gets paid for every performance of a song,

0:08:24 > 0:08:28for every copy sold, every time it appears on TV or radio.

0:08:28 > 0:08:31In fact, by rights, if you hear a song,

0:08:31 > 0:08:35someone, somewhere, should be earning royalty payments from it.

0:08:35 > 0:08:41There is a set rate payable for that usage, and that is collected

0:08:41 > 0:08:45on behalf of the writers, by a central collection society

0:08:45 > 0:08:50and then it is distributed four times a year out to the writers.

0:08:50 > 0:08:53One of them is timed to arrive just before Christmas, which is lovely,

0:08:53 > 0:08:57so it gives everybody just a little bit extra cash just before Christmas

0:08:57 > 0:09:00Of course, this isn't restricted to just one country.

0:09:00 > 0:09:03Collection societies exist across the world,

0:09:03 > 0:09:06taking care of royalties for songwriters who might not know

0:09:06 > 0:09:09their music was even being used in that territory.

0:09:09 > 0:09:12In the '90s, my band, The Shirehorses, was played on Japanese

0:09:12 > 0:09:17radio, and then out of the blue I just received a cheque, for £15.32.

0:09:17 > 0:09:19Might not sound a lot now, but...

0:09:19 > 0:09:23Well, it wasn't a lot then, to be honest, but, every little helps, eh?

0:09:25 > 0:09:28Reliable royalty figures in Britain are very hard to access.

0:09:28 > 0:09:31But as a rough estimate, songwriting royalties

0:09:31 > 0:09:35account for 7-8p for every track on a CD sold and half that

0:09:35 > 0:09:38on an averagely priced iTunes download.

0:09:40 > 0:09:43Radio play royalties vary widely,

0:09:43 > 0:09:47but at the moment BBC Radio 1 pays around £16 a minute per song.

0:09:47 > 0:09:51If you have a hit much bigger than mine was, it's all going to add up.

0:09:51 > 0:09:53There are more profitable areas too,

0:09:53 > 0:09:55where the fee rates are negotiable.

0:09:55 > 0:10:00I would say a growth area has been use in synchronisation

0:10:00 > 0:10:04with visual images. Sync rights, as we call them.

0:10:04 > 0:10:09These would be the obvious ones of use in a feature film,

0:10:09 > 0:10:15or a TV advert, and more recently on websites.

0:10:15 > 0:10:19So we have, if you like, a new mini growth area.

0:10:19 > 0:10:22They pay a license fee for the right to use that.

0:10:26 > 0:10:30OK, here we go with song number nine, and a bloke who did as much

0:10:30 > 0:10:34as anyone to integrate rock 'n' roll enter the mainstream in the '60s.

0:10:34 > 0:10:36In 1964, he was the only American

0:10:36 > 0:10:39to have two number ones in the UK charts.

0:10:39 > 0:10:41And this is one of them.

0:10:41 > 0:10:43In 1964, I was only six, a mere stripling,

0:10:43 > 0:10:47and yet I can remember hearing this riff punching out of the radio.

0:10:47 > 0:10:50An indelible riff, once hear never forgotten.

0:10:50 > 0:10:56SONG: "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison

0:11:05 > 0:11:08# Pretty woman walking down the street

0:11:08 > 0:11:12# Pretty woman The kind I like to meet

0:11:12 > 0:11:14# Pretty woman... #

0:11:14 > 0:11:17I don't know exactly where the genius in the song is.

0:11:17 > 0:11:20Is it in the guitar lick?

0:11:20 > 0:11:22Is it in the growl that Roy does?

0:11:22 > 0:11:25Is it his unique way of saying mercy?

0:11:25 > 0:11:27# Mercy! #

0:11:28 > 0:11:31So here's the story. One afternoon at Roy Orbison's,

0:11:31 > 0:11:33he's with his writing partner, Bill Dees, they're trying

0:11:33 > 0:11:36to come up with stuff, not particularly getting anywhere.

0:11:36 > 0:11:39At that point, Roy's wife, Claudette, comes in.

0:11:39 > 0:11:41"Roy!" she says, "Want to go out shopping."

0:11:41 > 0:11:43He says, "I suppose you want some money?"

0:11:43 > 0:11:46And Bill Dees says, "Pretty woman don't need no money."

0:11:46 > 0:11:48And they think, "Hmm."

0:11:48 > 0:11:51Start riffing on it. Words come. The music comes.

0:11:51 > 0:11:54A piece of history is born from that chance encounter.

0:11:54 > 0:11:57A wonderful moment. The only downside is that Claudette went out

0:11:57 > 0:12:00without any money and then later that day was done for shoplifting.

0:12:00 > 0:12:01I made that up.

0:12:01 > 0:12:04But Bill Dees did say that whenever he hears this riff,

0:12:04 > 0:12:08he's reminded of a woman in high heels walking down the street.

0:12:14 > 0:12:16# Pretty woman Don't walk on by... #

0:12:16 > 0:12:19A pretty woman may not need no money,

0:12:19 > 0:12:23but the song certainly made lots. As late as 1993, Bill Dees said

0:12:23 > 0:12:28it made up most of his yearly income, over 100,000.

0:12:28 > 0:12:3150% of the royalties went to their publishing company,

0:12:31 > 0:12:32Acuff-Rose Music,

0:12:32 > 0:12:36and the other half was divided between Dees and the Big O.

0:12:36 > 0:12:40I have a swimming pool in the living room, my drawing room,

0:12:40 > 0:12:43and six baths. And that's just for convenience,

0:12:43 > 0:12:46if you're on a certain level. There are three levels.

0:12:46 > 0:12:48And...

0:12:48 > 0:12:52I have a couple of waterfalls beside the staircase

0:12:52 > 0:12:55that go under the swimming pool. And this is for a pretty sound.

0:12:55 > 0:12:59Rather than for show. Like I say, I don't have that many guests.

0:12:59 > 0:13:02So, it's sort of...my cave, you know?

0:13:06 > 0:13:10This is James Burton, the master of the telecaster.

0:13:10 > 0:13:14James played Pretty Woman with the Big O at a concert in 1987.

0:13:14 > 0:13:17Orbison died in 1988 but the performance won him

0:13:17 > 0:13:19a posthumous Grammy.

0:13:19 > 0:13:23That's the same thing with Pretty Woman. You get a great simple riff

0:13:23 > 0:13:25- and you're half way there aren't you?- Absolutely.

0:13:25 > 0:13:28I mean, it is one of the great riffs, isn't it?

0:13:28 > 0:13:33I think it is, and the song is fun to play, and it's a great song.

0:13:33 > 0:13:34Good feel and everything.

0:13:34 > 0:13:37And when we kicked it off, we just did...

0:13:37 > 0:13:39PLAYS PRETTY WOMAN RIFF

0:13:39 > 0:13:41Three, four.

0:13:47 > 0:13:49So it works really good. It's really nice.

0:13:49 > 0:13:52Yeah. I mean, it's one of those riffs that you just hear it

0:13:52 > 0:13:54and you're in the zone straightaway, aren't you?

0:13:54 > 0:13:57And the drum kicks it off, and you know, it's cool.

0:13:57 > 0:14:01But, you know, when we did the Black And White Night

0:14:01 > 0:14:04and we did Pretty Woman...

0:14:04 > 0:14:09That was...you and Springsteen trading licks.

0:14:09 > 0:14:11Yeah, man, it was great.

0:14:13 > 0:14:16Roy's looking around and he's, like, admiring everybody

0:14:16 > 0:14:19out there in the audience. He's diggin' it.

0:14:20 > 0:14:24I asked Elvis, I said, "If you had to pick one of your favourite

0:14:24 > 0:14:25"singers, who would it be?"

0:14:25 > 0:14:30And he thought for a second and he said, "Roy."

0:14:30 > 0:14:34# Whoa, whoa, pretty woman. #

0:14:35 > 0:14:37Thank you.

0:14:37 > 0:14:41But the Pretty Woman story has a tragic twist in the tale.

0:14:41 > 0:14:45It happened in 1966, and concerns Orbison's wife, Claudette,

0:14:45 > 0:14:47the muse behind his biggest hit.

0:14:48 > 0:14:53That song, Pretty Woman, that was... Claudette, that was his first wife.

0:14:53 > 0:14:58Yeah, you know, it's so sad that...

0:14:58 > 0:15:02You know, cos Roy and his wife, they loved to ride motorcycles.

0:15:02 > 0:15:07So they went out for a ride one day, a very nice day and so they

0:15:07 > 0:15:12were sitting at this stop light, this intersection, stop light, and

0:15:12 > 0:15:16so the light turned green and she takes off and Roy's still sitting

0:15:16 > 0:15:21at the light and, unfortunately, a car ran the red light and hit her

0:15:21 > 0:15:25and killed her on the motorcycle and that broke his heart.

0:15:28 > 0:15:30It was a pretty sad thing, you know?

0:15:33 > 0:15:37Roy Orbison, a majestic singer and a career that spanned the decades,

0:15:37 > 0:15:38and yet it was on the slides,

0:15:38 > 0:15:42Traveling Wilburys notwithstanding, towards the end of his career.

0:15:42 > 0:15:45But Pretty Woman, the Roy Orbison song,

0:15:45 > 0:15:48got a real kind of shot in the arm and went all around the world again

0:15:48 > 0:15:52when it was used in the film...what was the name of that film?

0:15:54 > 0:15:57It was Pretty Woman, wasn't it?

0:15:57 > 0:16:00The song was used in the 1990 global hit movie

0:16:00 > 0:16:03starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.

0:16:03 > 0:16:05Synchronisation fees are confidential

0:16:05 > 0:16:09but a song over a movie's end titles is said to bring in anything

0:16:09 > 0:16:14between £50,000 and half a million pounds. Mercy!

0:16:14 > 0:16:18The fact that someone thought enough of the song and felt it was

0:16:18 > 0:16:22so important that they sort of married it together,

0:16:22 > 0:16:24I think insures a little more life for that song.

0:16:27 > 0:16:31In 1989, a Florida hip-hop posse used Pretty Woman

0:16:31 > 0:16:33in a more controversial way.

0:16:33 > 0:16:37Do you think you're nastier than the average rap band?

0:16:37 > 0:16:40Well, we do sexual, we do explicit lyrics,

0:16:40 > 0:16:43our lyrics are explicit, we talk about sex.

0:16:44 > 0:16:482-Live Crew released a rude rap version of Orbison's classic.

0:16:49 > 0:16:522-Live Crew decided to do what rappers generally do

0:16:52 > 0:16:55when they do derivative works which is to make it more street.

0:16:55 > 0:16:59Pretty Woman was a nice, poppy, catchy, you know,

0:16:59 > 0:17:01family-oriented, you know, song,

0:17:01 > 0:17:06and they turned it into a song talking about women's bottoms.

0:17:06 > 0:17:08For several reasons, we can't bring you

0:17:08 > 0:17:10the 2-Live Crew version of this song.

0:17:10 > 0:17:13But here's a taste of the inspired lyrics.

0:17:13 > 0:17:17"Big, hairy woman, you gotta shave that stuff. Big, hairy woman,

0:17:17 > 0:17:22"you know, I bet it's tough. Big hairy woman, all that hair,

0:17:22 > 0:17:25"it ain't legit because you look like Cousin It."

0:17:25 > 0:17:27Well, move over, Noel Coward.

0:17:30 > 0:17:32Bill Dees despised this version.

0:17:32 > 0:17:36Around this time, rap groups were plundering back catalogues

0:17:36 > 0:17:38for samples from other songs.

0:17:38 > 0:17:412-Live Crew were refused permission to sample Pretty Woman.

0:17:41 > 0:17:44They did it anyway. So lawyers got involved.

0:17:44 > 0:17:47And 2-Live Crew's case went all the way to

0:17:47 > 0:17:49the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.

0:17:50 > 0:17:53They ended up winning the case because the Supreme Court

0:17:53 > 0:17:58decided that 2-Live Crew's version of Pretty Woman, which they called

0:17:58 > 0:18:00Oh, Pretty Woman, was a parody.

0:18:00 > 0:18:05That means it was a version of the song that made fun of the

0:18:05 > 0:18:10original version of the song and because we value the First Amendment

0:18:10 > 0:18:15in the United States, we feel that when you make fun of something,

0:18:15 > 0:18:17you shouldn't be restricted in your ability to do that,

0:18:17 > 0:18:20You shouldn't have to pay for the right to do that.

0:18:22 > 0:18:25A similar law has been considered over here in Britain.

0:18:25 > 0:18:28It's not popular among songwriters, as you can imagine.

0:18:28 > 0:18:31But despite the US Supreme Court ruling,

0:18:31 > 0:18:34Pretty Woman has still made lots of money for Orbison and Dees.

0:18:36 > 0:18:40If you're specifically talking about the writer's share,

0:18:42 > 0:18:45I'm sure that it's millions of dollars.

0:18:45 > 0:18:51But as to what amount, I'm not prepared to jump on.

0:18:51 > 0:18:56But a lot of people have made a lot of money off a song

0:18:56 > 0:18:58such as Pretty Woman.

0:18:58 > 0:19:01Our research shows that over the years, Pretty Woman

0:19:01 > 0:19:05has raked in nearly £13 million in royalties.

0:19:05 > 0:19:11# Whoa, whoa, pretty woman. #

0:19:11 > 0:19:12As far as we know,

0:19:12 > 0:19:15this is the first time a survey like this has been attempted.

0:19:15 > 0:19:17Notoriously difficult to pinpoint with precision

0:19:17 > 0:19:20what certain songs have earned, not least because it's changing

0:19:20 > 0:19:22all the time - records are being sold,

0:19:22 > 0:19:24things are being played on the radio.

0:19:24 > 0:19:28There are people in the industry who'd rather you didn't know what they've earned.

0:19:28 > 0:19:30There may be songwriters who are not entirely sure themselves.

0:19:30 > 0:19:34So, in many ways, it's one of the industry's best kept secrets,

0:19:34 > 0:19:38but our analysts have compiled all the publicly available data

0:19:38 > 0:19:41over the last 60 years, and so it might not be precise,

0:19:41 > 0:19:43but it's as precise as anyone's going to get.

0:19:43 > 0:19:45We are in the right ballpark, certainly.

0:19:50 > 0:19:53The eighth song on our list is our first British entry.

0:19:53 > 0:19:56It's also our youngest song, dating from 1983.

0:19:56 > 0:19:59It was recorded by The Police, and is credited to one of our

0:19:59 > 0:20:03most successful songwriters and artists, Sting.

0:20:03 > 0:20:07And at an award ceremony in London in 2007,

0:20:07 > 0:20:09it was marked for nine million radio plays.

0:20:09 > 0:20:13Don't worry, we're only going to play it once.

0:20:13 > 0:20:16MUSIC: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police

0:20:27 > 0:20:30# Every breath you take

0:20:30 > 0:20:33# Every move you make... #

0:20:33 > 0:20:37Every Breath You Take stormed charts all over the world.

0:20:37 > 0:20:42Number one in the USA, UK, South Africa, Ireland, Italy...

0:20:42 > 0:20:44Everywhere, really.

0:20:44 > 0:20:46That's many millions of records sold.

0:20:46 > 0:20:50Certain songs come at a time in an artist's life

0:20:50 > 0:20:52when the world is ready.

0:20:52 > 0:20:56I mean, that song was seared into everybody.

0:20:56 > 0:21:00I think Police was at a special spot in their career.

0:21:00 > 0:21:04This, of course, was in a time of video, and the video,

0:21:04 > 0:21:06the black and white of Sting doing that,

0:21:06 > 0:21:11everything had a tremendous impact.

0:21:11 > 0:21:15# Since you're gone I've been lost without a trace

0:21:15 > 0:21:18# I dream at night I can only see... #

0:21:18 > 0:21:22This was celebrated by the first MTV Awards in 1984.

0:21:22 > 0:21:28MTV made music global, and boosted song sales massively.

0:21:28 > 0:21:31# I keep crying, baby, baby

0:21:31 > 0:21:36# Please... #

0:21:36 > 0:21:40Every Breath You Take is damn near perfect. It is.

0:21:40 > 0:21:42It's an absolute masterpiece.

0:21:42 > 0:21:46And people talk about, you know, '80s studio sounds,

0:21:46 > 0:21:48"Oh, the terrible tinny drums" and all that. No!

0:21:48 > 0:21:50Go and listen to Every Breath You Take.

0:21:52 > 0:21:56I think it's my most successful song

0:21:56 > 0:21:59and probably better known than any others.

0:21:59 > 0:22:02And yet, it's not in the least bit original.

0:22:02 > 0:22:06It has a standard chord sequence...

0:22:10 > 0:22:12# Every breath you take

0:22:14 > 0:22:17# Every move you make. #

0:22:18 > 0:22:20If that's your opening line and that's the title of the song,

0:22:20 > 0:22:22you've locked in where you're going.

0:22:22 > 0:22:25And Every Breath You Take, I mean that, really,

0:22:25 > 0:22:27I want to know about what he's going to tell me now.

0:22:27 > 0:22:30Sting's basic melody was developed into the famous

0:22:30 > 0:22:32guitar riff by Andy Summers.

0:22:32 > 0:22:36We went into the studio and Sting said to me,

0:22:36 > 0:22:40"Go on, make it your own. Just... OK, the drums and bass are there,

0:22:40 > 0:22:44"do whatever you want to it, I don't care anymore."

0:22:44 > 0:22:46That's really throwing down the gauntlet.

0:22:46 > 0:22:49But, you know, I was able to rise to the occasion,

0:22:49 > 0:22:53and put in that lick, you know, that riff all the way through the song,

0:22:53 > 0:22:56that just made it sound immediately like The Police.

0:22:56 > 0:23:00I remember the moment clearly. I was out in the studio,

0:23:00 > 0:23:02this large studio, completely alone.

0:23:02 > 0:23:04I finished the guitar part and everybody stood up

0:23:04 > 0:23:07and cheered and clapped. That was it.

0:23:07 > 0:23:13# Every smile you fake, every claim You stake, I'll be watching you... #

0:23:13 > 0:23:16Massively successful song and played at lots of weddings

0:23:16 > 0:23:19and things and deemed to be a kind of big romantic classic.

0:23:19 > 0:23:21Oh, every breath you take, I'll be watching you.

0:23:21 > 0:23:25And in fact, it has more to do with divorce than weddings because Sting

0:23:25 > 0:23:28wrote this around the time he was splitting up with his first wife.

0:23:28 > 0:23:31And he has said this song is not about adoration,

0:23:31 > 0:23:35it's about kind of watching, borderline stalking,

0:23:35 > 0:23:36it's about control.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39I always thought that rather than it being a, you know,

0:23:39 > 0:23:42toasting someone with a glass of champagne, it was

0:23:42 > 0:23:46glaring at them menacingly through the bottom of a drained pint glass.

0:23:49 > 0:23:51And weirdly, maybe this is the song's appeal.

0:23:51 > 0:23:54After all, in the '80s, the divorce rate in Britain

0:23:54 > 0:23:55went through the roof.

0:23:55 > 0:23:58Every Breath You Take caught the tone of the times.

0:23:58 > 0:24:00It's a very modern love song.

0:24:00 > 0:24:04It's estimated by his publisher that the

0:24:04 > 0:24:09revenues from Every Breath You Take, were a quarter to a third

0:24:09 > 0:24:14of the entire song publishing catalogue of The Police.

0:24:14 > 0:24:16Just one song.

0:24:16 > 0:24:19And that happens with so many people,

0:24:19 > 0:24:23hugely popular artists, actually, if you drill down,

0:24:23 > 0:24:26it's three or four songs, if you drill down a bit further,

0:24:26 > 0:24:28it's one song.

0:24:28 > 0:24:31But, you know, that's hell of a day's work, that is.

0:24:36 > 0:24:38Recording Every Breath You Take,

0:24:38 > 0:24:41and the rest of the Synchronicity album, was, by all accounts,

0:24:41 > 0:24:43a painful process.

0:24:43 > 0:24:45In particular, relations between Sting

0:24:45 > 0:24:50and drummer Stewart Copeland were reaching breaking point.

0:24:50 > 0:24:52So do you think there's going to be Police around

0:24:52 > 0:24:56- for quite a long time yet?- We'll probably break up again next week.

0:24:58 > 0:25:02In 2003, two decades after he wrote the song,

0:25:02 > 0:25:07Sting was raking in 2,000 a day from Every Breath You Take,

0:25:07 > 0:25:09a song, which like most of the big Police hits,

0:25:09 > 0:25:12he took sole credit for.

0:25:12 > 0:25:14By then, a big slice of these royalties weren't

0:25:14 > 0:25:16coming from the original recording.

0:25:16 > 0:25:19MUSIC: "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans

0:25:19 > 0:25:22P Diddy, or Puff Daddy as he was known then, sampled the song

0:25:22 > 0:25:26on a 1997 tribute to his late friend Notorious B.I.G.

0:25:26 > 0:25:29One thing I think that was very, very bright,

0:25:29 > 0:25:34it certainly increased the value to the writer and the publisher,

0:25:34 > 0:25:39when they came for the licence, and they said, "We're changing lyrics,

0:25:39 > 0:25:43"we're doing this, we're doing that, we would like to have permission

0:25:43 > 0:25:46"to do it and we would like certain portion of the writer's credit

0:25:46 > 0:25:50"and the publishing because we're adding so much new work."

0:25:50 > 0:25:52The publisher said,

0:25:54 > 0:25:57"We'll let you do that, but you're not getting any credit.

0:25:57 > 0:26:01"This song is still going to be 100% Gordon Sumner, Sting."

0:26:04 > 0:26:07I'll Be Missing You takes its vocal melody

0:26:07 > 0:26:10and some lyrics from Every Breath You Take.

0:26:10 > 0:26:12And the distinctive sample?

0:26:12 > 0:26:15Well, that was Andy Summers' guitar lick.

0:26:15 > 0:26:18Sampling arrived in a big way with hip-hop.

0:26:18 > 0:26:22Very often the bit that they're taking is the bit of sound,

0:26:22 > 0:26:27the riff, the little hooky bit...not necessarily...they don't want

0:26:27 > 0:26:32the sense of the song, they want the taste and the texture of the thing.

0:26:34 > 0:26:37One of my little kids said, "Ooh, Dad there's a guy, on the radio

0:26:37 > 0:26:41"who sounds like you." It was playing on his little radio

0:26:41 > 0:26:46in the bedroom, and I went, "All right, let me hear...hang on."

0:26:46 > 0:26:47# When it's real Feelings hard to conceal

0:26:47 > 0:26:49# Can't imagine all the pain I feel

0:26:49 > 0:26:51# Give anything to hear Half your breath... #

0:26:51 > 0:26:53Puff Daddy's track was a global hit,

0:26:53 > 0:26:57estimated to have sold around seven million copies.

0:26:57 > 0:27:00At the time it didn't seem such a big deal, you know, of course,

0:27:00 > 0:27:04he went and sold 50,000, then 100,000, then 200,000, 500,000, then

0:27:04 > 0:27:08a million, and then 2 million, and it just went on and on and on.

0:27:08 > 0:27:10And I certainly felt responsible for part of that

0:27:10 > 0:27:13but I don't think I ever got due recognition for that.

0:27:13 > 0:27:15The sampling of just one element of a song,

0:27:15 > 0:27:18in this case, Summers' guitar riff,

0:27:18 > 0:27:20raises interesting questions about ownership.

0:27:20 > 0:27:24That becomes part of the record but not part of the copyright.

0:27:24 > 0:27:26The song is the copyright.

0:27:26 > 0:27:30It's hard to say how that should really be arranged

0:27:30 > 0:27:34but I think we can leave that to the people in the studio

0:27:34 > 0:27:37and the people in the band, so to speak.

0:27:37 > 0:27:40Sting didn't write the guitar line, I wrote that.

0:27:42 > 0:27:46But, you know, it gets complicated, you see.

0:27:46 > 0:27:49This is the part where it gets involved with money, royalties,

0:27:49 > 0:27:53intellectual property, who gets the credit for songwriting.

0:27:53 > 0:27:56We had our own specific arrangement in The Police.

0:27:56 > 0:28:00But, in this case, Sting came in with that song

0:28:00 > 0:28:02so he's credited as the writer.

0:28:02 > 0:28:07As the arranger, if you like, with me pulling the guitar part,

0:28:07 > 0:28:09and I didn't get a credit.

0:28:09 > 0:28:11So...

0:28:11 > 0:28:14Anyway, we have internal arrangements, which we won't go into

0:28:14 > 0:28:16right now, about the filthy lucre.

0:28:16 > 0:28:20Overall, we estimate that this song has earned a breath-taking

0:28:20 > 0:28:23£13.5 million in filthy lucre.

0:28:26 > 0:28:28Can I have mine now?

0:28:31 > 0:28:34At least The Police reached some kind of arrangement.

0:28:34 > 0:28:39Songwriting royalties can cause all kinds of tensions within bands.

0:28:39 > 0:28:41Always happens, every band.

0:28:41 > 0:28:45They become enormously successful, they go on the road for five years,

0:28:45 > 0:28:50they go crazy, they take a few years off and then they look round

0:28:50 > 0:28:53and notice that one of them's got a bigger house than the other ones.

0:28:53 > 0:28:56And they think, "Why has that happened?

0:28:56 > 0:28:58"A-ha! You wrote the songs."

0:28:58 > 0:29:00Because that is where the money is.

0:29:00 > 0:29:05You will probably find that behind most splits of bands

0:29:05 > 0:29:07there is a songwriting issue somewhere.

0:29:07 > 0:29:11It may not be the total reason for the split but it will be

0:29:11 > 0:29:16there somewhere, it will be itching away at them at some level.

0:29:18 > 0:29:21Sometimes these disagreements end up in a court of law.

0:29:21 > 0:29:23# So true... #

0:29:23 > 0:29:26Spandau Ballet and The Smiths went through complex

0:29:26 > 0:29:29and expensive court cases over royalties.

0:29:31 > 0:29:33# It's cold outside... #

0:29:33 > 0:29:38This is precisely why some bands, among them, U2 and Coldplay,

0:29:38 > 0:29:41are reported to have band agreements, which split the

0:29:41 > 0:29:44songwriting royalties between all members,

0:29:44 > 0:29:47regardless of their contribution to individual songs.

0:29:47 > 0:29:50They might be at each other's throats sometimes,

0:29:50 > 0:29:52that's rock and roll, isn't it?

0:29:52 > 0:29:54But at least it's not about royalties.

0:29:56 > 0:29:57Thank you, everybody.

0:30:03 > 0:30:06Being smart, you probably guessed from where I am

0:30:06 > 0:30:09that the next song on our list of the world's richest songs

0:30:09 > 0:30:10is another Christmas number.

0:30:10 > 0:30:12If you are budding songwriter, it might be worth

0:30:12 > 0:30:15knuckling down to write one of these, because if you get it right,

0:30:15 > 0:30:18it's like the gift that keeps on giving. This next one was

0:30:18 > 0:30:21written by a New York songwriting duo of

0:30:21 > 0:30:26Haven Gillespie and J Fred Coots, and as clearly, we're in New York,

0:30:26 > 0:30:30let's have one of its celebrated versions by Bruce Springsteen,

0:30:30 > 0:30:32who's over the river in New Joisey.

0:30:32 > 0:30:36# You better watch out You better not cry

0:30:36 > 0:30:41# You better not pout I'm telling you why

0:30:41 > 0:30:45# Santa Claus is coming to town... #

0:30:45 > 0:30:49The Boss's live concert version was released in 1981,

0:30:49 > 0:30:53and still features on Christmas compilations today.

0:30:53 > 0:30:57But the story of this song begins half a century earlier

0:30:57 > 0:30:59on a New York train.

0:31:00 > 0:31:03Haven Gillespie, a professional lyricist,

0:31:03 > 0:31:06had been ordered by his publisher to write a Christmas song.

0:31:06 > 0:31:08"What's the point?" he grumbled.

0:31:08 > 0:31:11"Who's going to listen to it the other 11 months of the year?"

0:31:11 > 0:31:14Gillespie sought inspiration from seasonal adverts

0:31:14 > 0:31:16on a Manhattan subway train.

0:31:16 > 0:31:18Then he remembered a warning from his mother,

0:31:18 > 0:31:21"If you don't wash behind your ears, Haven, Santa won't come.

0:31:21 > 0:31:23"You'd better be good."

0:31:23 > 0:31:26He began to scribble lyrics on an envelope.

0:31:26 > 0:31:29And during a short Manhattan subway ride he finished them.

0:31:29 > 0:31:33As with, I think, a lot of songs that have endurance,

0:31:33 > 0:31:41one of the elements they have is some kind of organic beginnings,

0:31:41 > 0:31:44you know, from coming from a real life situation.

0:31:44 > 0:31:47And when that happens, it's sort of otherworldly.

0:31:48 > 0:31:51It's an amazing gift for a song writer.

0:31:51 > 0:31:57And if a song, a new recording of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,

0:31:57 > 0:32:01is recorded by someone like Bruce Springsteen,

0:32:01 > 0:32:05you know that you're going to have a really good Christmas.

0:32:09 > 0:32:13Back in the 1930s, audiences appreciated a rather

0:32:13 > 0:32:17different sound. In November 1934, radio host Eddie Cantor had

0:32:17 > 0:32:21a live banjo version of this song on his show. It was a huge success.

0:32:21 > 0:32:24Back then, sales of sheet music were the main source

0:32:24 > 0:32:28of royalties income. The day after Cantor's show,

0:32:28 > 0:32:30Santa Claus had sold 100,000 copies.

0:32:30 > 0:32:33By Christmas, sales passed 400,000,

0:32:33 > 0:32:37making it number one in the sheet music hit parade.

0:32:37 > 0:32:40You didn't have the option then of buying a record

0:32:40 > 0:32:45so you buy the sheet music, and then once we did have records

0:32:45 > 0:32:49that were at a price the general public could afford,

0:32:49 > 0:32:52then sheet music becomes less.

0:32:52 > 0:32:58And so it goes, really. Each time the technology moves on a little,

0:32:58 > 0:33:03then you find what was the main source of revenue tends to die away.

0:33:03 > 0:33:05Santa Claus Is Coming To Town has been recorded

0:33:05 > 0:33:07over 200 different times.

0:33:07 > 0:33:10Each one of those is a bit of a present for the writers,

0:33:10 > 0:33:13cos for every cover version, all the songwriting royalties

0:33:13 > 0:33:15go to the people who wrote the song.

0:33:15 > 0:33:18So 200 versions, let's listen to all of them.

0:33:18 > 0:33:20No, I'll tell you what, let's just listen to a few.

0:33:20 > 0:33:23First off ,the unmistakable voice of Dolly Parton.

0:33:23 > 0:33:26# You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not... #

0:33:26 > 0:33:28And the Jackson 5.

0:33:28 > 0:33:32# Santa Claus is coming to town... #

0:33:32 > 0:33:34Brace yourselves now. It's Justin Bieber.

0:33:34 > 0:33:39# He sees you when you're sleeping He knows when you're awake... #

0:33:39 > 0:33:42And finally, Alice Cooper with Santa Claws Is Coming To Town.

0:33:42 > 0:33:46As in claws. Do you see what he did there? Brilliant.

0:33:46 > 0:33:52# Santa Claws is coming to town... #

0:33:53 > 0:33:56Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, like many seasonal songs

0:33:56 > 0:34:00from the mid-'20th century, avoids any religious references.

0:34:00 > 0:34:04When these songs became popular hits, they helped create our

0:34:04 > 0:34:08modern idea of a secular Christmas. Perhaps this isn't such a surprise.

0:34:08 > 0:34:11Many of them were written by songwriters who,

0:34:11 > 0:34:14for obvious reasons, left Christianity out of it.

0:34:14 > 0:34:19Jews always excelled at writing American songs.

0:34:19 > 0:34:21The real irony is that Christmas songs became

0:34:21 > 0:34:24the special property of Jewish songwriters.

0:34:24 > 0:34:28The Christmas Song, Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire,

0:34:28 > 0:34:32Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,

0:34:32 > 0:34:36Winter Wonderland - these are all written by Jewish songwriters.

0:34:36 > 0:34:38So what do you know?

0:34:39 > 0:34:42Well, what we know, with some degree of accuracy at least,

0:34:42 > 0:34:44is that Santa Claus Is Coming To Town has,

0:34:44 > 0:34:47in its various incarnations,

0:34:47 > 0:34:50good, bad and indifferent, made just over £16.5 million.

0:34:52 > 0:34:54So if we assume the publishing company have

0:34:54 > 0:34:56taken 50% of the royalties,

0:34:56 > 0:35:00then the other 50% has been split between Haven Gillespie

0:35:00 > 0:35:05and J Fred Coots. Therefore, that inspired 1930s New York subway ride

0:35:05 > 0:35:10has netted Haven and his heirs four million quid so far.

0:35:10 > 0:35:16# He's coming to town... #

0:35:24 > 0:35:28A 50/50 split is still common in the US,

0:35:28 > 0:35:33but nowadays, a very successful British writer can get 75% or more.

0:35:33 > 0:35:36And some songwriters, famous and not,

0:35:36 > 0:35:40are controlling their own publishing to maximise their returns.

0:35:40 > 0:35:43Before we move on to the sixth richest song in the world,

0:35:43 > 0:35:47here's a cautionary tale for budding songwriters about a song

0:35:47 > 0:35:50that just narrowly missed our chart.

0:35:50 > 0:35:53When Van Morrison was a little boy he was a cheery soul.

0:35:53 > 0:35:57He was good. He did go to sleep. He had marvellous Christmases.

0:35:57 > 0:36:00And yet these days, he has something of a truculent

0:36:00 > 0:36:01and grumpy reputation.

0:36:01 > 0:36:05What could have happened to change cheery little Van

0:36:05 > 0:36:07into the person we think we know today?

0:36:07 > 0:36:10Perhaps this story of the relationship between

0:36:10 > 0:36:13Van the songwriter and his record company holds the answer.

0:36:13 > 0:36:15Maybe.

0:36:20 > 0:36:25In 1967, 21-year-old Van the young man recorded in New York

0:36:25 > 0:36:29with Bert Burns, pop impresario and owner of Bang Records.

0:36:29 > 0:36:32One of the songs recorded was Brown Eyed Girl,

0:36:32 > 0:36:35which would become Morrison's most successful ever song.

0:36:35 > 0:36:38MUSIC: "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison

0:36:41 > 0:36:44# Hey, where did we go

0:36:44 > 0:36:47# Days when the rains came

0:36:47 > 0:36:49# Down in the hollow... #

0:36:49 > 0:36:53It has been played 10 million times on American radio.

0:36:53 > 0:36:5610 million times.

0:36:56 > 0:36:59I mean, even I was flabbergasted by that.

0:36:59 > 0:37:02# You my, you my brown eyed girl... #

0:37:02 > 0:37:06But this incredibly popular song is certainly not one of Van Morrison's

0:37:06 > 0:37:09personal favourites. And with good reason.

0:37:11 > 0:37:16One of Morrison's problems with Brown Eyed Girl is that he

0:37:16 > 0:37:21has hardly ever received any royalties for it.

0:37:21 > 0:37:25Partly because when he signed up with Burt Burns,

0:37:25 > 0:37:30like any 21-year-old, you're keen to just get in there

0:37:30 > 0:37:33and you'll sign whatever is put under your nose.

0:37:33 > 0:37:36And his royalty rate was extremely low.

0:37:36 > 0:37:40Well, it varied between extremely low to nonexistent on this material.

0:37:43 > 0:37:47We reckon that Brown Eyed Girl has earned just over £12 million.

0:37:51 > 0:37:54Thank you very much, thank you.

0:37:55 > 0:37:58So there you go, bit of a cautionary tale. Of course, Van the man being

0:37:58 > 0:38:03Van the man, he got his revenge in his customary way.

0:38:03 > 0:38:07He wrote some deliberately bad songs for the Bang label,

0:38:07 > 0:38:10and around that time he wrote a song called The Big Royalty Check,

0:38:10 > 0:38:12the words to which go something like,

0:38:12 > 0:38:16"I'm waiting for my royalty check to come in, it still hasn't come yet,

0:38:16 > 0:38:19"It's about a year overdue, oh, oh, oh, oh."

0:38:19 > 0:38:23I would say, if there is a moral, if there is a lesson in the story

0:38:23 > 0:38:28of Brown Eyed Girl for the young songwriter, it's hold on to

0:38:28 > 0:38:33the production, the publishing and the sound of it, if you can.

0:38:33 > 0:38:37And make sure it's your song, make sure that it stays your song.

0:38:40 > 0:38:43MUSIC: "Stand By Me" by Ben E King

0:38:51 > 0:38:55Brilliant bass-line. Classic intro to a classic song.

0:38:55 > 0:38:58Unmistakeable and one of the greats of American songwriting.

0:38:58 > 0:39:00Co-written by Ben E King

0:39:00 > 0:39:04and the legendary songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

0:39:04 > 0:39:08Some of our tunes so far have had a sense of loss, of regret,

0:39:08 > 0:39:10of guilt about them.

0:39:10 > 0:39:12But this one, a resolutely upbeat message,

0:39:12 > 0:39:14really lovely story behind it.

0:39:14 > 0:39:17Ben E King wrote it for his childhood sweetheart, Betty.

0:39:17 > 0:39:23I was sitting at home one day, I start strumming on my cheap guitar

0:39:23 > 0:39:25and my wife, I was newly married,

0:39:25 > 0:39:31and we were in a cheap one-room apartment and it came to life.

0:39:31 > 0:39:34# When the night has come

0:39:36 > 0:39:39# And the land is dark

0:39:39 > 0:39:44# And the moon is the only light we'll see... #

0:39:44 > 0:39:48Once completed, I knew that it was different to the other songs

0:39:48 > 0:39:52that I had written. And that it did have something stronger

0:39:52 > 0:39:56than what I thought it would end up being.

0:39:56 > 0:39:58It just seemed to flow.

0:39:58 > 0:40:01# Stand by me

0:40:01 > 0:40:06# So darling, darling Stand by me... #

0:40:06 > 0:40:08The year was 1960.

0:40:08 > 0:40:12King travelled from his home in New York to the Brill Building,

0:40:12 > 0:40:16a complex in Manhattan packed with writers churning out hit after hit.

0:40:16 > 0:40:21One of the duos there were Jerry Leiber - who passed away in 2011 -

0:40:21 > 0:40:23and Mike Stoller.

0:40:23 > 0:40:27Among their numbers were Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock for Elvis.

0:40:27 > 0:40:29Major talents, then.

0:40:29 > 0:40:34I kind of sussed out the chords of the piano while he was singing

0:40:34 > 0:40:37and I came up with a bass pattern.

0:40:37 > 0:40:41And Jerry yelled, "That's it, that's a hit."

0:40:41 > 0:40:45# Dum dum dum, dum Dum dum dum, dum

0:40:45 > 0:40:48# Dum dum dum, dum, da dum dum

0:40:48 > 0:40:51# Da dum dum. #

0:40:51 > 0:40:57Once you hear that line, and no other line is like that,

0:40:57 > 0:41:00other than My Girl by The Temptations.

0:41:00 > 0:41:06Close, but no cigar, the line of Stand By Me is right there.

0:41:08 > 0:41:10# I won't cry

0:41:10 > 0:41:16# I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear

0:41:16 > 0:41:18# Just as long

0:41:18 > 0:41:23# As you stand, stand by me... #

0:41:23 > 0:41:26Of course, we added the guiro and the triangle so it was...

0:41:28 > 0:41:32Bum, thwk, ding, thwk, ding.

0:41:32 > 0:41:39And... But we picked up with the bass pattern later in the strings,

0:41:39 > 0:41:42and then kept going higher and higher and higher.

0:41:44 > 0:41:47STRINGS PLAY MELODY

0:41:56 > 0:41:58You know, who doesn't love this song?

0:41:58 > 0:42:01I mean, a classic is a word that's bandied around too easily

0:42:01 > 0:42:03but this has everything.

0:42:03 > 0:42:06It's beautifully sung, it's impassioned, it's passionate,

0:42:06 > 0:42:08it has great melody.

0:42:08 > 0:42:10And it appeared at just the right moment.

0:42:10 > 0:42:13The late '50s and early '60s witnessed the birth

0:42:13 > 0:42:17of the civil rights movement in the USA. An African-American

0:42:17 > 0:42:21and two Jewish hep cats had composed a gospel-influenced anthem

0:42:21 > 0:42:25to tolerance and togetherness, that would become timeless.

0:42:26 > 0:42:30Stand By Me has a universal resonance.

0:42:30 > 0:42:32Just in its message, you know,

0:42:32 > 0:42:38we all want somebody or something to stand by us, to protect us,

0:42:38 > 0:42:46to support us, to be there for us, and this is a classic instance

0:42:46 > 0:42:52of a kind of gospel sentiment being transposed to a love lyric.

0:42:54 > 0:42:57The song's theme of togetherness was reflected in how Ben E King

0:42:57 > 0:42:59dealt with the royalties issue.

0:42:59 > 0:43:02It was a very amicable split between himself,

0:43:02 > 0:43:05Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

0:43:05 > 0:43:12Jerry said, "Well, you should be a part of this," and I agreed,

0:43:12 > 0:43:18and so I have 25% interest as a writer, and Jerry 25,

0:43:18 > 0:43:20because, in truth, Ben E did come

0:43:20 > 0:43:25with the initial idea both musically and lyrically,

0:43:25 > 0:43:28and it's worked well.

0:43:28 > 0:43:34Most of us that create music, we don't think money first,

0:43:34 > 0:43:36that's why most of us get hurt.

0:43:36 > 0:43:42But we do feel that if it happens with a great song or

0:43:42 > 0:43:47with some good people, we'll be financially fit. Yeah.

0:43:51 > 0:43:57Stand By Me was a hit in 1961 on both sides of the Atlantic.

0:43:57 > 0:44:01Then in 1986, it was used in the movie of the same name,

0:44:01 > 0:44:05a coming-of-age flick starring a young River Phoenix.

0:44:07 > 0:44:13And boom! It became a bigger hit 25 years later,

0:44:13 > 0:44:17the exact same recording, nothing was changed.

0:44:18 > 0:44:21So I guess it held up.

0:44:21 > 0:44:25A year after the movie, in 1987, Stand By Me

0:44:25 > 0:44:30was used as the soundtrack to a cult British TV ad for Levi's Jeans.

0:44:30 > 0:44:33Fees to use a hit song in a commercial are negotiable

0:44:33 > 0:44:38and can range from £50,000 to £750,000

0:44:38 > 0:44:41So if a creative really wants to use your song,

0:44:41 > 0:44:43don't sell yourself short.

0:44:44 > 0:44:46Dependability, Stand By Me.

0:44:46 > 0:44:50It's a great friend, it's someone you want to be with, it's..

0:44:50 > 0:44:53They're the right values and that's very important

0:44:53 > 0:44:56when a brand are doing advertising because they want you,

0:44:56 > 0:44:59when you go away, to associate with that

0:44:59 > 0:45:03so when you see their product, it makes you feel those things.

0:45:03 > 0:45:07In 1987 Stand By Me went to number one here in the UK.

0:45:07 > 0:45:10The '60s were cool again, and the combination of nostalgia

0:45:10 > 0:45:14and new technology proved to be a money-spinner.

0:45:14 > 0:45:20So those records, I wouldn't mind betting, sold a lot more on

0:45:20 > 0:45:24being revived in the '80s, than they would have sold in the '60s, because

0:45:24 > 0:45:29the record market in the '60s was quite small. You know, it was quite

0:45:29 > 0:45:33a specialist thing, buying records - not everybody had a record player.

0:45:33 > 0:45:36OK, fast forward to the '80s, everybody's got a CD player,

0:45:36 > 0:45:40everybody's got a tape player, you know, and so the revenues

0:45:40 > 0:45:44for a thing like that would be absolutely massive as a consequence.

0:45:48 > 0:45:50It all helps. We reckon that Stand By Me

0:45:50 > 0:45:55has brought in royalties worth just under £17.5 million.

0:45:55 > 0:45:58That's nearly 28 million.

0:45:58 > 0:46:03If it wasn't for Stand By Me, I'd probably be driving a cab.

0:46:03 > 0:46:06If it wasn't for Stand By Me...

0:46:06 > 0:46:10I wouldn't be as happy as I am

0:46:10 > 0:46:14with my family and my grandkids and my kids.

0:46:14 > 0:46:19Um, well, let's see, that means the publishers got 14...

0:46:23 > 0:46:29If the writers were treated properly,

0:46:29 > 0:46:31they would have divided up seven.

0:46:33 > 0:46:36Um...that's a lot of money.

0:46:38 > 0:46:40Where's it all gone?

0:46:40 > 0:46:44And here's another happy aspect of the Stand By Me story.

0:46:44 > 0:46:47Ben E King has put a lot of the money raised by this song

0:46:47 > 0:46:51into the Stand By Me Foundation, which gives kids who might

0:46:51 > 0:46:55not otherwise have got the chance to get scholarships to music college.

0:46:55 > 0:46:59So that's a lot of money, a lot of kids, and a lot of scholarships.

0:47:01 > 0:47:05OK, so now we get to number five.

0:47:05 > 0:47:09This song was written in 1955 by Alex North and Hy Zaret.

0:47:09 > 0:47:13Its most celebrated version is by the Righteous Brothers,

0:47:13 > 0:47:16but it's a ballad which both seasoned professionals

0:47:16 > 0:47:20and rank amateurs can't resist belting out again and again.

0:47:21 > 0:47:24It'll be very familiar to you, feel free to sing along.

0:47:24 > 0:47:25I know I will.

0:47:29 > 0:47:33# Oh

0:47:33 > 0:47:36# My love

0:47:36 > 0:47:39# My darling

0:47:39 > 0:47:44# I've hungered for your touch

0:47:47 > 0:47:52# A long, lonely time... #

0:47:52 > 0:47:57Bit of auto-tune wouldn't go amiss, there. Bit low.

0:47:59 > 0:48:03North and Zaret wrote Unchained Melody for a 1955 movie

0:48:03 > 0:48:06called, as you might be able to guess, Unchained.

0:48:06 > 0:48:09A prisoner dreams of his girl who is far away

0:48:09 > 0:48:12and hungers for her touch. Ah.

0:48:16 > 0:48:19# I need your love... #

0:48:19 > 0:48:23Unchained Melody comes out of a period of song-writing

0:48:23 > 0:48:28in the '50s when you couldn't have a Hollywood movie

0:48:28 > 0:48:32that didn't have a song in it, it was regarded... You couldn't do it.

0:48:32 > 0:48:36They'd have this ridiculous war film or cowboy film and there'd always

0:48:36 > 0:48:40be a set piece where somebody would sing a song, very often a ballad.

0:48:40 > 0:48:43The bloke who wrote the music, Alex North, didn't think

0:48:43 > 0:48:46much of it at the time and threw it in the office wastepaper basket.

0:48:46 > 0:48:49He had to hurriedly retrieve it when he heard the cleaning lady

0:48:49 > 0:48:52humming along to the tune they'd been working on.

0:48:52 > 0:48:54Thought he might have been a bit hasty. Good job he did retrieve it -

0:48:54 > 0:48:56massive, massive song.

0:48:56 > 0:49:00# Time goes by... #

0:49:00 > 0:49:04Put together with Zaret's dramatic lyrics, the song took off.

0:49:05 > 0:49:09In 1955, four other versions of it reached the top ten

0:49:09 > 0:49:11in the USA and the UK.

0:49:11 > 0:49:16# Still mine... #

0:49:16 > 0:49:21But the classic recording is the 1965 one by Bill Medley

0:49:21 > 0:49:25and Bobby Hatfield, better known as the Righteous Brothers.

0:49:25 > 0:49:32# Whoa, my love

0:49:32 > 0:49:36# My darling... #

0:49:36 > 0:49:39Some songs don't sound as if they were written,

0:49:39 > 0:49:44they sound as if they were found, like the Dead Sea Scrolls

0:49:44 > 0:49:47they were uncovered somewhere.

0:49:47 > 0:49:51And Unchained Melody's got that feeling about it.

0:49:51 > 0:49:53It sounds like, you know,

0:49:53 > 0:49:57every ballad you've ever heard melded in to one.

0:49:57 > 0:49:59No criticism at all.

0:49:59 > 0:50:05# I need your love, I need your love Godspeed your love to me. #

0:50:05 > 0:50:09You know, time goes by so slowly but time can do so much,

0:50:09 > 0:50:10if you're still...

0:50:10 > 0:50:14There's something about a song like Unchained Melody that is just this

0:50:14 > 0:50:21extreme plaintive need for you to be in my life because without you

0:50:21 > 0:50:26I'm nothing. As they say, really unhealthy thoughts, but beautiful.

0:50:26 > 0:50:31And there's something about that specific melody that gives itself

0:50:31 > 0:50:35to almost a biblical proportion of need.

0:50:35 > 0:50:41# I need your love... #

0:50:41 > 0:50:44As all of you who watch Mad Men will know,

0:50:44 > 0:50:49the '50s in the USA were a period of prosperity but stifling conformity.

0:50:49 > 0:50:52So maybe it's not surprising that all those pent-up feelings

0:50:52 > 0:50:56found their expression in this uber-ballad.

0:50:56 > 0:51:00Since 1955, there have been over 650 cover versions.

0:51:00 > 0:51:05One of the four that's become a UK number one was by Gareth Gates,

0:51:05 > 0:51:07which sold over 1.3 million copies.

0:51:07 > 0:51:12# I need your love... #

0:51:12 > 0:51:16It's one of those songs that any singer presented with the lead sheet

0:51:16 > 0:51:18would think, "I can do that,

0:51:18 > 0:51:22"I can belt may way through that no problem at all", you know.

0:51:22 > 0:51:25It's got that kind of X Factor, kind of, "Me, me, me!

0:51:25 > 0:51:27"Feel my pain!" thing about it.

0:51:28 > 0:51:33So over the years, it's had all manner of rough treatment,

0:51:33 > 0:51:36but, you know, it can take it.

0:51:36 > 0:51:43# Lonely rivers flow to the sea To the sea... #

0:51:43 > 0:51:47# To the open arms of the sea... #

0:51:47 > 0:51:49Are you watching, Simon Cowell?

0:51:49 > 0:51:54Pretty much note-perfect. Unchained Melody is a great karaoke favourite.

0:51:54 > 0:51:58And artists are very keen for their songs to be included

0:51:58 > 0:52:00in karaoke sets these days.

0:52:00 > 0:52:04Adele at a recent awards ceremony dedicated her success to

0:52:04 > 0:52:05everyone who sings karaoke.

0:52:05 > 0:52:09Companies like this have to pay a license which covers all

0:52:09 > 0:52:12the copyright on the songs they're using, and so when a song

0:52:12 > 0:52:16like Unchained Melody is played and sung and murdered by people like me,

0:52:16 > 0:52:20every time, then someone, somewhere is getting a royalty on it.

0:52:21 > 0:52:23Which is nice.

0:52:23 > 0:52:27Because karaoke has been hugely popular since the early '90s.

0:52:27 > 0:52:32If you're very lucky and if you have a very successful song, they have

0:52:32 > 0:52:37so many ways of making money and any one, karaoke may not be

0:52:37 > 0:52:41a major player in buying a brand-new car, but it all goes together.

0:52:41 > 0:52:46Our research shows that since Unchained Melody was let loose,

0:52:46 > 0:52:49it has made just over £18 million.

0:52:52 > 0:52:56Of course, not all songwriters make millions.

0:52:56 > 0:52:59Most struggle to make a living wage. On top of that,

0:52:59 > 0:53:02regular income streams like sheet music,

0:53:02 > 0:53:05and record and CD sales, are in long-term decline.

0:53:05 > 0:53:08And the internet is still in large parts unregulated,

0:53:08 > 0:53:11with piracy and downloading rife.

0:53:11 > 0:53:15It's happened so quickly, it's on such a grand scale, that it's enough

0:53:15 > 0:53:18to almost take your breath away and your livelihood at the same time.

0:53:18 > 0:53:21Bill Withers sat with a congressman and he said,

0:53:21 > 0:53:25"You know, congressman. I want you to appreciate something.

0:53:25 > 0:53:28"We need to be able to make a living with our songwriting,

0:53:28 > 0:53:31"and if we can't make a living writing songs,

0:53:31 > 0:53:33"then we're going to have to do something else for a living,

0:53:33 > 0:53:37"and, congressman, you do not want Ozzy Osbourne as your plumber."

0:53:37 > 0:53:40But it's not all doom and gloom out there.

0:53:40 > 0:53:43The 21st century is throwing up new challenges,

0:53:43 > 0:53:47but it's creating possibilities and openings for songwriters, as well.

0:53:47 > 0:53:51I'm very bullish on the future of the music industry in general.

0:53:51 > 0:53:54Song writers, artists, record companies, everybody in the future

0:53:54 > 0:53:57is going to be probably making a lot more money

0:53:57 > 0:53:58than they made in the past.

0:53:58 > 0:54:03There's film, television licensing, mobile apps, streaming music,

0:54:03 > 0:54:05streaming services,

0:54:05 > 0:54:09greeting cards and all kinds of music-producing devices.

0:54:09 > 0:54:12Even as you're listening to this broadcast,

0:54:12 > 0:54:18over 250,000 music producing devices are being manufactured.

0:54:18 > 0:54:20MUSIC: "Beautiful" by Eminem

0:54:20 > 0:54:24Not so long ago, Eminem joined Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber

0:54:24 > 0:54:29in racking up over a billion views on his YouTube Channel.

0:54:29 > 0:54:32And a video he made with Rihanna, for Love The Way You Lie,

0:54:32 > 0:54:35set a record for the most hits in one day.

0:54:35 > 0:54:39Rolling Stone Magazine estimates that a writer earns around

0:54:39 > 0:54:4260p per 1,000 YouTube plays.

0:54:42 > 0:54:45Eminem's songs have had a billion. You do the maths.

0:54:52 > 0:54:55Our next song is a classic of British songwriting

0:54:55 > 0:54:56from the greatest band of all time.

0:54:56 > 0:55:00It was written by Paul McCartney, who you've probably heard of.

0:55:00 > 0:55:03You may also be vaguely aware of the band he was in, The Beatles.

0:55:03 > 0:55:05And this was recorded in 1965.

0:55:05 > 0:55:08Our number four richest song is Yesterday.

0:55:14 > 0:55:17# Yesterday

0:55:17 > 0:55:22# All my troubles seemed so far away

0:55:22 > 0:55:26# Now it looks as though they're here to stay

0:55:26 > 0:55:31# Oh, I believe in yesterday... #

0:55:31 > 0:55:33Have you really thought where the song came from?

0:55:33 > 0:55:35Have you been able to work it out?

0:55:35 > 0:55:39I don't know, you know, as you say, I dreamed it,

0:55:39 > 0:55:42and woke up one morning with the tune in my head.

0:55:42 > 0:55:45Didn't believe it was mine, really. I just thought...well, it can't be

0:55:45 > 0:55:49cos I've got the whole tune, you know, it never happens like that.

0:55:49 > 0:55:52It is strange that it's sort of the most successful, that I didn't

0:55:52 > 0:55:55even write it really, in a way, but my subconscious wrote it.

0:55:57 > 0:55:59McCartney has said this melody came to him

0:55:59 > 0:56:03on a tour of France with The Beatles in 1964.

0:56:03 > 0:56:06So he could remember it, before he came up with the words

0:56:06 > 0:56:09to Yesterday, Paul McCartney remembered this by singing,

0:56:09 > 0:56:12"Scrambled eggs, oh, my baby, how I love your legs."

0:56:12 > 0:56:15The baby being Jane Asher with whom he was living at the time.

0:56:15 > 0:56:20Not bad for a song that had its beginnings humbly in scrambled eggs.

0:56:20 > 0:56:23# Scrambled eggs

0:56:23 > 0:56:27# Oh, my baby, how I love your legs

0:56:30 > 0:56:34# Not as much as I love scrambled eggs

0:56:34 > 0:56:40# Oh, we should eat some scrambled eggs... #

0:56:40 > 0:56:42From what I gather, that song was knocking around for ages.

0:56:42 > 0:56:44They were doing different things, they were working

0:56:44 > 0:56:47on a film and they had a piano to the side and McCartney

0:56:47 > 0:56:50kept going across and tinkling away and that song came up again and it

0:56:50 > 0:56:53became the joke of the band, here goes scrambled eggs again.

0:56:53 > 0:56:57The eggy lyrics were finally replaced in May 1965.

0:56:57 > 0:57:01With some pretty downbeat, if not depressing, new words.

0:57:01 > 0:57:04Looking back on it now, people have suggested that it might have been

0:57:04 > 0:57:07to do with the death of my mum.

0:57:07 > 0:57:11Cos it has got, "Why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say,

0:57:11 > 0:57:13"I believe in yesterday" and stuff.

0:57:13 > 0:57:16So it may have been subconsciously something to do with that.

0:57:16 > 0:57:18I'm trying to remember it, now.

0:57:23 > 0:57:25# Yesterday

0:57:26 > 0:57:30# All my troubles seemed so far away

0:57:32 > 0:57:37# Now it looks as though they're here to stay

0:57:37 > 0:57:42# Oh, I believe in yesterday... #

0:57:42 > 0:57:48It's hard to believe now, but in 1965 many found the Fab Four's music

0:57:48 > 0:57:52dangerously modern. McCartney's aching ballad was more acceptable.

0:57:52 > 0:57:55You could say it was a Beatles song for people

0:57:55 > 0:57:57who didn't like The Beatles.

0:57:57 > 0:57:59# Yesterday... #

0:57:59 > 0:58:02Yesterday went on to be a chart hit across the globe,

0:58:02 > 0:58:06the US, Australia, Germany, Norway, on and on and on.

0:58:06 > 0:58:09But a huge hit can be a curse as well as a blessing.

0:58:09 > 0:58:12Especially when it's written by one band member.

0:58:12 > 0:58:16Yesterday was the first Beatles song McCartney wrote alone,

0:58:16 > 0:58:19and John, George and Ringo didn't perform on it.

0:58:19 > 0:58:22You could say that Yesterday was the song that,

0:58:22 > 0:58:24in the end, broke up The Beatles.

0:58:24 > 0:58:28There was always immense creative tension between Paul McCartney

0:58:28 > 0:58:30and John Lennon.

0:58:30 > 0:58:34And so Paul McCartney is throwing off these tunes, you know,

0:58:34 > 0:58:39and John Lennon might not admit it but he must have resented it.

0:58:39 > 0:58:42There must have been part of him that thought "I could do that."

0:58:42 > 0:58:44And after The Beatles split up, Lennon did.

0:58:44 > 0:58:48One of the songs included a bitter reference to Yesterday.

0:58:49 > 0:58:52Later on in that horrible song How Do You Sleep?

0:58:52 > 0:58:56that he wrote about Paul McCartney, he'd say, one of the lines is...

0:58:56 > 0:59:04# The only thing you done was Yesterday... #

0:59:04 > 0:59:08That rankled with him for a long, long time.

0:59:08 > 0:59:12Yesterday was credited to Lennon/ McCartney, as most of The Beatles'

0:59:12 > 0:59:16songs were, which might seem odd, as McCartney wrote it alone.

0:59:16 > 0:59:18But then Lennon shared his royalties

0:59:18 > 0:59:19on Beatles' songs he wrote solo, too.

0:59:19 > 0:59:24When Yesterday appeared on the 1995 anthology, McCartney unsuccessfully

0:59:24 > 0:59:29attempted to have the credit changed to McCartney/Lennon.

0:59:29 > 0:59:33What you have to realise with The Beatles, is that the

0:59:33 > 0:59:41afterlife of the Beatles was longer, more complex, more tortured,

0:59:41 > 0:59:46more painful than the quite brief period that they were together.

0:59:46 > 0:59:49A lot of those arguments were people and their lawyers,

0:59:49 > 0:59:53their representatives sitting around boardroom tables in London and New York or whatever,

0:59:53 > 0:59:58trying to divvy up this massively lucrative legacy that these guys had

0:59:58 > 1:00:03knocked out when they were 23, 24, years old, at a time when there

1:00:03 > 1:00:06was no precedent, nobody had been there, you know.

1:00:06 > 1:00:09They were out there with no compass at all.

1:00:09 > 1:00:12And there was plenty of money to argue about.

1:00:12 > 1:00:16Yesterday is reported to be the most popular British song in the US.

1:00:16 > 1:00:19And it's also the most covered pop song in history.

1:00:19 > 1:00:22The Guinness Book of World Records estimates

1:00:22 > 1:00:24there are at least 3,000 existing versions.

1:00:24 > 1:00:29In fact, so many people have done it, it's easier to list some of the people that haven't done it.

1:00:29 > 1:00:33They include Kraftwerk, The MC5 and Throbbing Gristle.

1:00:33 > 1:00:36Some of the celebrated cover versions of this include

1:00:36 > 1:00:39Tom Jones, Tammy Wynette, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes,

1:00:39 > 1:00:44Elvis Presley, Andy Williams. I mean, the list just goes on and on.

1:00:44 > 1:00:47They know it's going to be enjoyed by the public in a sense

1:00:47 > 1:00:52if they enjoy their artistry at all, because it's so recognisable.

1:00:52 > 1:00:57It's a great way to fill albums with things you know the people

1:00:57 > 1:01:04are ready to accept, and, as I said, it helps the copyright immensely.

1:01:04 > 1:01:06HE HUMS YESTERDAY

1:01:11 > 1:01:13The troubles do indeed seem so far away

1:01:13 > 1:01:16when we tot up the song's earnings.

1:01:16 > 1:01:20We estimate it's made 19.5 million English pounds.

1:01:20 > 1:01:24- There might be all these versions, but that's THE version.- Oh...

1:01:24 > 1:01:26CROWD CHEER AND APPLAUD

1:01:27 > 1:01:30So let's have a look at our top ten, what do we notice?

1:01:30 > 1:01:31Two distinct groups of songs,

1:01:31 > 1:01:34that's what I noticed when I first saw this list.

1:01:34 > 1:01:37You've got the Christmas songs - understandable,

1:01:37 > 1:01:38we all love Christmas.

1:01:38 > 1:01:42But the other group of songs are on altogether darker themes -

1:01:42 > 1:01:47obsession, regret, paranoia, affairs, loneliness, longing.

1:01:47 > 1:01:50Even Stand By Me, which is our happiest song,

1:01:50 > 1:01:52has an element of "you and me against the world" to it.

1:01:52 > 1:01:54So why might this be?

1:01:54 > 1:01:57Why are these songs of sadness the songs that we cherish?

1:01:57 > 1:02:01They're disproportionately favoured among women.

1:02:01 > 1:02:05And women create the huge hits.

1:02:05 > 1:02:08Boys create the cult hits.

1:02:08 > 1:02:12If you want to sell records in huge quantities, you sell them

1:02:12 > 1:02:16to women, right across the population, as currently being

1:02:16 > 1:02:20borne out once again by the enormous success of Adele.

1:02:20 > 1:02:24# Throw your soul through every open door... #

1:02:24 > 1:02:27There's something almost empathic as well as cathartic about it.

1:02:27 > 1:02:32We feel like the singer and everybody involved with

1:02:32 > 1:02:36the record is expressing what we're feeling.

1:02:36 > 1:02:41And therefore making it bearable and almost sort of noble,

1:02:41 > 1:02:42and almost noble.

1:02:42 > 1:02:49We want to feel that our heartbreak isn't just completely insignificant.

1:02:49 > 1:02:50Which it usually is.

1:02:55 > 1:02:59And so we come to the top three of the world's richest songs.

1:02:59 > 1:03:02And the next one is a real classic of song-writer's art,

1:03:02 > 1:03:05composed by an American husband-and-wife team.

1:03:05 > 1:03:08And there's a really interesting tale behind this one.

1:03:08 > 1:03:11Two different versions by two different artists,

1:03:11 > 1:03:14vying for the top of the UK charts.

1:03:14 > 1:03:16This then, is our number three.

1:03:17 > 1:03:23# But, baby, baby, I know it

1:03:23 > 1:03:28# You've lost that lovin' feeling

1:03:28 > 1:03:34# Whoa, that lovin' feeling

1:03:34 > 1:03:40# You've lost that lovin' feelin' Now it's gone, gone, gone... #

1:03:40 > 1:03:43We've had a fair few ballads in our countdown so far.

1:03:43 > 1:03:47But this is the big one, the Mount Everest of heartbreak songs.

1:03:47 > 1:03:52You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' was probably one of the greatest

1:03:52 > 1:03:57combinations of song, production and artist, that I think we'd ever had.

1:03:57 > 1:03:59I think so too.

1:03:59 > 1:04:02And it was everything coming together that made

1:04:02 > 1:04:04the song as successful as it was.

1:04:07 > 1:04:10Mann and Weil worked in New York's Brill Building,

1:04:10 > 1:04:12along with Leiber and Stoller who

1:04:12 > 1:04:16wrote our number six richest song, Stand By Me.

1:04:16 > 1:04:20But to write this song, Mann and Weil were flown out to LA

1:04:20 > 1:04:22by legendary producer, Phil Spector.

1:04:24 > 1:04:28We were in California, and staying at the Chateau Marmont,

1:04:28 > 1:04:31rented a piano, we had our dog with us.

1:04:31 > 1:04:37We wrote most of the song and then we got stuck on the bridge

1:04:37 > 1:04:39and we called Phil and, Phil said,

1:04:39 > 1:04:42"Come on over. We'll finish it together."

1:04:42 > 1:04:44And he came up with that bridge part.

1:04:44 > 1:04:48The idea of doing the Hang On Sloopy bit. # Bum, dum, dum, dum. #

1:04:48 > 1:04:50That was his concept.

1:04:50 > 1:04:56# Baby, baby, I get down on My knees for you... #

1:04:56 > 1:05:00- And to do that call and response thing...- Right, right.

1:05:00 > 1:05:02- ..was very fresh for a pop song.- Yeah.

1:05:04 > 1:05:06- # Baby- Baby

1:05:06 > 1:05:09- # Baby- Baby... #

1:05:09 > 1:05:12Spector got a third of the songwriting royalties

1:05:12 > 1:05:15for Lovin' Feelin', but his contributions weren't always

1:05:15 > 1:05:17welcome at the time.

1:05:17 > 1:05:19I didn't know how to end the chorus,

1:05:19 > 1:05:22and this is going to sound funny. And he said...

1:05:22 > 1:05:26"Gone, gone, gone, woah, woah, woah,"

1:05:26 > 1:05:29which was his... He contributed that to the chorus,

1:05:29 > 1:05:34and it sounds ridiculous, but the truth is, it worked.

1:05:34 > 1:05:39And she felt, after that, any song that has whoa, whoa, whoa, in it...

1:05:39 > 1:05:40THEY LAUGH

1:05:40 > 1:05:44# Whoa, whoa... #

1:05:44 > 1:05:48Phil said, "This is going to be a very big song for all of us."

1:05:48 > 1:05:52I said, "Phil, any song with whoa, whoa, whoa, in it, can't be big,

1:05:52 > 1:05:55"or important."

1:05:55 > 1:05:57You know, I was kind of a Broadway star,

1:05:57 > 1:06:02and, I just thought, once he threw in whoa, whoa, whoa, and Barry liked it,

1:06:02 > 1:06:06and nobody would listen to me, that, you know, it could have...

1:06:06 > 1:06:09That's why we never listened to anything more.

1:06:09 > 1:06:12That's right, it was the end of my credibility.

1:06:12 > 1:06:14# There's no welcome look... #

1:06:14 > 1:06:16Spector was right.

1:06:16 > 1:06:19The record hit number one in the US charts.

1:06:19 > 1:06:23This song, like Yesterday, also has a strong connection to Liverpool.

1:06:23 > 1:06:28Because in the UK, someone else had already recorded it.

1:06:28 > 1:06:32Singers were often given, you know, big hits, records that had been big

1:06:32 > 1:06:37hits in America, and they recorded those and sometimes did quite

1:06:37 > 1:06:42a good job with them and sometimes didn't do quite such a good job.

1:06:42 > 1:06:47# You're trying hard not to show it... #

1:06:47 > 1:06:52Cilla Black sang a home-grown version of Mann and Weil's song.

1:06:52 > 1:06:55# Baby, I know it

1:06:55 > 1:07:00# You've lost that lovin' feelin'... #

1:07:00 > 1:07:05They just don't have the sort of cavernous majesty that

1:07:05 > 1:07:09Spector's Wall of Sound productions do.

1:07:09 > 1:07:14# Whoa, that lovin' feelin'

1:07:14 > 1:07:20# You've lost that lovin' feelin' Now it's gone, gone, gone... #

1:07:20 > 1:07:23Maybe not. But in the mid-'60s,

1:07:23 > 1:07:28Cilla Black was a big star in Britain. The chart for 24th January

1:07:28 > 1:07:341965 found her version at number 12, with Spector's lagging behind at 20.

1:07:34 > 1:07:36The only way to fight back was to

1:07:36 > 1:07:38bring the Righteous Brothers to Britain.

1:07:38 > 1:07:41From memory, I got on the phone and said,

1:07:41 > 1:07:44"Phil, if you want your record to happen you've got to send them over."

1:07:44 > 1:07:47# Baby, baby

1:07:47 > 1:07:51# I'll get down on my knees for you... #

1:07:51 > 1:07:55In the '60s, radio play was the key to chart success.

1:07:55 > 1:07:57And Cilla's manager, Brian Epstein,

1:07:57 > 1:08:00appeared to have the broadcasters on his side.

1:08:01 > 1:08:05It wasn't so easy on the BBC with the Righteous Brothers

1:08:05 > 1:08:08because one of the DJs on the Light Programme in those days

1:08:08 > 1:08:10was a former comedian.

1:08:10 > 1:08:14I called him up and asked him if he'd play the record and he

1:08:14 > 1:08:20was quite adamant that he wouldn't even play this record in his toilet.

1:08:20 > 1:08:23Cilla was number three in the charts.

1:08:23 > 1:08:27Brian Epstein bumped into Tony Hall at a party.

1:08:27 > 1:08:30"You don't stand a hope in hell," said Epstein.

1:08:30 > 1:08:32"Don't be so sure," said Tony Hall.

1:08:32 > 1:08:35Andrew Loog Oldham, The Stones' manager,

1:08:35 > 1:08:38then took out a full-page advert in the Melody Maker.

1:08:38 > 1:08:41"This", it said, "is Spector's greatest production,"

1:08:41 > 1:08:43"the last word in tomorrow's sound today,

1:08:43 > 1:08:47"exposing the overall mediocrity of the music industry."

1:08:47 > 1:08:52In America, you don't read the trade papers,

1:08:52 > 1:08:57as a buyer or as the record public.

1:08:57 > 1:08:59They don't read the trade. Here, they do.

1:08:59 > 1:09:02Here you have a limited number of stations.

1:09:02 > 1:09:07Of course, you can reach a very vast audience quickly.

1:09:07 > 1:09:10England was very kind to me, really, they were.

1:09:10 > 1:09:14You know, it's a big part of, kind of, how Phil Spector became

1:09:14 > 1:09:19hip was that he was really embraced here by the cool bands

1:09:19 > 1:09:23and the cool sort of string-pullers and behind-the-scenes managers.

1:09:23 > 1:09:29The week after we went to number one and, again from memory, I think Cilla

1:09:29 > 1:09:34just did a dive and disappeared without a trace, bless her heart.

1:09:35 > 1:09:39# Bring back that lovin' feelin'

1:09:39 > 1:09:44# Whoa, that lovin' feelin'... #

1:09:44 > 1:09:47For Mann and Weil, of course, the Cilla chart battle simply meant

1:09:47 > 1:09:49they were on double royalties.

1:09:49 > 1:09:53And You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' went on to become the most performed

1:09:53 > 1:09:56song of the 20th century.

1:09:56 > 1:10:03Overall, we reckon that this song has made nearly £20.5m in royalties.

1:10:03 > 1:10:07- Look at this house!- You could call this house the house

1:10:07 > 1:10:13that Lovin' Feelin' built. Cos I think there's been 250 versions.

1:10:13 > 1:10:16The house that bum-ba-bum-ba-bum built.

1:10:18 > 1:10:20And whoa, whoa, whoa.

1:10:20 > 1:10:22- And whoa, whoa, whoa. - We should get a doorbell that goes...

1:10:22 > 1:10:24Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah.

1:10:26 > 1:10:29# Bring back that lovin' feelin'... #

1:10:31 > 1:10:34This little studio is a piece of rock and roll history.

1:10:34 > 1:10:37Some extraordinary records have been made in this room.

1:10:37 > 1:10:41Buggles, Video Killed The Radio Star, recorded here.

1:10:41 > 1:10:44The Clash, London Calling, recorded here.

1:10:44 > 1:10:48Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, recorded here.

1:10:48 > 1:10:51Now, there may be lots of you expecting Queen

1:10:51 > 1:10:53and Bohemian Rhapsody to make the top ten.

1:10:53 > 1:10:55Indeed, there might be a lot of you who thought it would be

1:10:55 > 1:11:00number one. So what are the amazing songs that failed to make our list?

1:11:00 > 1:11:03# Goodbye, Norma Jean... #

1:11:03 > 1:11:06What about Elton John's Candle In The Wind,

1:11:06 > 1:11:10which shifted an amazing 33 million units?

1:11:10 > 1:11:12If you remember at the time, it was

1:11:12 > 1:11:16so many millions of copies of that single were just rushing out

1:11:16 > 1:11:19of the stores, they couldn't print them fast enough.

1:11:19 > 1:11:23I was slightly surprised not to see that in the list.

1:11:23 > 1:11:28But, I guess the reason for that is because a song to get into

1:11:28 > 1:11:31your top ten would have had to have had not just record sales,

1:11:31 > 1:11:35but have been used in all sorts of other ways, as well.

1:11:35 > 1:11:38And perhaps that is one of those songs that is so closely

1:11:38 > 1:11:42associated with one event that it hasn't been used to that extent.

1:11:42 > 1:11:46I mean, the obvious absence would be any Beatles records

1:11:46 > 1:11:47other than Yesterday.

1:11:47 > 1:11:51That would, I think, surprise most people.

1:11:51 > 1:11:55# There's a fire starting in my heart... #

1:11:55 > 1:11:59I guess, I mean, Adele would be the other one, of course.

1:11:59 > 1:12:03But that is so new that only time will tell.

1:12:03 > 1:12:07I expect those songs to have longevity.

1:12:07 > 1:12:10By February 2012, Rolling In The Deep

1:12:10 > 1:12:14had sold over 7 million copies in the USA alone.

1:12:14 > 1:12:17The highest-ever selling digital single by a female artist.

1:12:17 > 1:12:21Our countdown has revealed the magic ingredients

1:12:21 > 1:12:23that make a song truly rich.

1:12:23 > 1:12:26Huge sales and downloads, numerous cover versions,

1:12:26 > 1:12:29constant radio airplay in countless countries.

1:12:29 > 1:12:32# The scars of your love remind me... #

1:12:32 > 1:12:34And to introduce it to a whole new audience,

1:12:34 > 1:12:39an appearance in major movie or a TV ad campaign helps things along.

1:12:39 > 1:12:42Adele's Rolling In The Deep has already had several cover versions.

1:12:42 > 1:12:44And who knows?

1:12:44 > 1:12:46If we continue to pay for the music we consume,

1:12:46 > 1:12:48in ten or 20 years' time,

1:12:48 > 1:12:51that song, too, may become one of the world's richest.

1:12:51 > 1:12:57# Played it, you played it You played it to the beat. #

1:13:01 > 1:13:03And so we come to our number two richest song.

1:13:03 > 1:13:06And it is one of the classics of popular music.

1:13:06 > 1:13:08No question about that.

1:13:08 > 1:13:11It was written in 1940 by one of the 20th century's greatest

1:13:11 > 1:13:13and most prolific songwriters.

1:13:13 > 1:13:15Any idea what it is yet?

1:13:15 > 1:13:20Well, this lavish special effect sequence might give you a clue.

1:13:24 > 1:13:32# I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

1:13:32 > 1:13:37# Just like the ones I used to know... #

1:13:40 > 1:13:45Irving Berlin is one of a handful of great 20th-century songwriters

1:13:45 > 1:13:48who wrote his own words and music.

1:13:48 > 1:13:52Somebody was asked, "Where's Irving Berlin's place in American music?"

1:13:52 > 1:13:54And the answer was, "He IS American music."

1:13:54 > 1:13:59And White Christmas is the daddy, the big boss, of festive tunes.

1:13:59 > 1:14:04For decades it was the top-selling record of all time,

1:14:04 > 1:14:06Bing Crosby's version of it was the

1:14:06 > 1:14:10top-selling single recorded song of all time.

1:14:10 > 1:14:13A Merry Christmas, everybody. And good night.

1:14:16 > 1:14:20When you think of accumulative sales of sheet music,

1:14:20 > 1:14:24all its various, you know, untold hundreds and thousands of recordings

1:14:24 > 1:14:30in God knows how many languages, you know, it was a monster.

1:14:30 > 1:14:34Bing Crosby's version of that song has sold 50 million copies.

1:14:34 > 1:14:37It was number one in the USA in 1942.

1:14:37 > 1:14:40And '45. And '46.

1:14:40 > 1:14:43# ..Listen, and children... #

1:14:43 > 1:14:45But eventually, he had to re-record it

1:14:45 > 1:14:48because the master tape had been used so many times it

1:14:48 > 1:14:52eventually fell apart. And so many people have recorded this immortal

1:14:52 > 1:14:54song, that its total sales have now

1:14:54 > 1:14:58amassed a staggering 100 million units.

1:14:58 > 1:15:03I know that, was it last Christmas that Lady Gaga recorded it?

1:15:04 > 1:15:12# I'm dreaming of a white snowman... #

1:15:12 > 1:15:14I thought it was great.

1:15:14 > 1:15:19# With a carrot nose and charcoal eyes... #

1:15:19 > 1:15:24There are new recordings of White Christmas and it stays fresh

1:15:24 > 1:15:29and I suppose so long as it does, it's going to be played.

1:15:30 > 1:15:36# Oh! Quand j'entends chanter Noel... #

1:15:38 > 1:15:41White Christmas has been translated into numerous languages

1:15:41 > 1:15:43including Hungarian and Japanese.

1:15:43 > 1:15:46Incredibly, there's a version in Swahili.

1:15:46 > 1:15:50And in a nod to the writer's Jewish roots, there's one in Yiddish.

1:15:51 > 1:15:53Irving Berlin's irresistible rise

1:15:53 > 1:15:56isn't just most song-writers' fantasy.

1:15:56 > 1:15:58It's the American Dream writ large.

1:15:59 > 1:16:04# There may be trouble ahead... #

1:16:04 > 1:16:09He was that penniless, poor immigrant who arrived at Ellis Island

1:16:09 > 1:16:14from a Shtetl, in far-off Russia, and was a great, possibly apocryphal

1:16:14 > 1:16:17story that when he was a newspaper boy some bullies,

1:16:17 > 1:16:20some thugs threw him in to the East River where he nearly drowned and

1:16:20 > 1:16:23somebody had to jump in to save him and clutched in his hands were the

1:16:23 > 1:16:25three pennies that he had earned that day.

1:16:25 > 1:16:28So he really was that rags to riches.

1:16:28 > 1:16:30He definitely lived the rags part and then, of course,

1:16:30 > 1:16:33he became a great songwriter and lived the riches.

1:16:33 > 1:16:36During his career, Irving Berlin wrote over 1,000 songs.

1:16:36 > 1:16:40As well as White Christmas, he wrote such greats as Top Hat,

1:16:40 > 1:16:44Putting On The Ritz, and There's No Business Like Show Business.

1:16:44 > 1:16:47And when the money began to roll in through his gift and his graft,

1:16:47 > 1:16:50he was as keen to hang on to it as he had been when he was a kid.

1:16:50 > 1:16:54He helped form ASCAP, the American royalties collection agency,

1:16:54 > 1:16:58which laid the foundations of the royalties system we know today.

1:16:58 > 1:17:00Berlin was a very smart business man

1:17:00 > 1:17:04and very smart about protecting the writers' rights.

1:17:04 > 1:17:08And also, of course, collecting royalty, collecting revenue.

1:17:08 > 1:17:11He held on to his copyrights with an iron fist,

1:17:11 > 1:17:15he wanted squeeze every last dime out of them.

1:17:15 > 1:17:18Because Berlin had his own publishing company,

1:17:18 > 1:17:21he had much more control over what his work earned.

1:17:21 > 1:17:25But he was also very generous with some of the royalties.

1:17:25 > 1:17:29During World War II he also wrote God Bless America.

1:17:29 > 1:17:32All the royalties go to the Girl Scouts of America -

1:17:32 > 1:17:34around £6 million so far.

1:17:34 > 1:17:38But that's dwarfed by the money brought in by White Christmas.

1:17:38 > 1:17:42Our research reveals that Berlin's masterpiece has earned

1:17:42 > 1:17:44a staggering £24 million.

1:17:46 > 1:17:50I think he would be very happy but I don't know whether

1:17:50 > 1:17:54he would be very happy about losing out to number one place.

1:17:57 > 1:17:59Like our number ten, The Christmas Song,

1:17:59 > 1:18:03a huge part of White Christmas' success can be traced to

1:18:03 > 1:18:05the USA's involvement in World War II.

1:18:07 > 1:18:11I ask that the congress declare

1:18:11 > 1:18:17a state of war between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

1:18:20 > 1:18:28# I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... #

1:18:30 > 1:18:34With American fighting forces overseas,

1:18:34 > 1:18:39those American military thousands of miles from home, heard that song

1:18:39 > 1:18:42with the context of wishing they were home with their own families.

1:18:42 > 1:18:46And from the beginning, in a way that no-one possibly could have

1:18:46 > 1:18:49anticipated, but which in hindsight was completely expected,

1:18:49 > 1:18:56White Christmas became a nurturing anthem for soldiers

1:18:56 > 1:19:01throughout the Allied Forces all over the world.

1:19:02 > 1:19:04White Christmas became the most

1:19:04 > 1:19:09requested song on Armed Forces Radio, listened to over and over

1:19:09 > 1:19:11by homesick soldiers.

1:19:11 > 1:19:15It's not just a "isn't Christmas so nice and wonderful?" song.

1:19:15 > 1:19:18Nor is it a piece of wartime propaganda like the deservedly

1:19:18 > 1:19:22forgotten You're A Sap, Mr Jap.

1:19:22 > 1:19:25There's a longing to Berlin's song which comes from his own

1:19:25 > 1:19:28mixed feelings about the time of year.

1:19:28 > 1:19:31I think that Irvin Berlin brought to the creation of that song

1:19:31 > 1:19:36his own emotion, which was bitter sweet,

1:19:36 > 1:19:38life is joy and sadness mixed together,

1:19:38 > 1:19:42and there is a yearning in White Christmas,

1:19:42 > 1:19:47there is a combination of melancholy and sweet.

1:19:47 > 1:19:52The melancholy part comes from a tragic event in the Berlin family

1:19:52 > 1:19:56that took place on Christmas Day, 1928, over a decade

1:19:56 > 1:19:58before the song was written.

1:20:00 > 1:20:06My parents had a little boy and he would have been

1:20:06 > 1:20:14maybe two years older than me and he died on Christmas Day.

1:20:14 > 1:20:21He was four weeks old and he died from what is known as cot death.

1:20:21 > 1:20:27And my parents never spoke about him, they could not speak about him

1:20:27 > 1:20:31and I think that, for them, perhaps particularly my mother, it was very

1:20:31 > 1:20:36difficult to celebrate Christmas, though they never showed it,

1:20:36 > 1:20:41but it was a real trauma for them

1:20:41 > 1:20:46and so they never really got over it.

1:20:48 > 1:20:52# And may all your

1:20:52 > 1:20:59# Christmases be white... #

1:21:06 > 1:21:08Our nine songs so far have taken us

1:21:08 > 1:21:10on a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

1:21:10 > 1:21:14Amazing writing of music and lyrics, brilliant songs, financial reward

1:21:14 > 1:21:19beyond anybody's dreams and a hefty dose of tragedy along the way.

1:21:19 > 1:21:22So what possibly could the number one song, the song that has

1:21:22 > 1:21:27earned more money globally than any other possibly have to top that?

1:21:36 > 1:21:38- Happy birthday, Andrew! - Thanks, guys.

1:21:38 > 1:21:43Yes, our number one song has made significantly more money than

1:21:43 > 1:21:47any other on the list and around it is the saga of legal battles,

1:21:47 > 1:21:51money, more money and the rights being assigned despite no-one

1:21:51 > 1:21:54being quite sure what the origin of the song is.

1:21:54 > 1:21:58Brace yourselves, our number one is Happy Birthday.

1:21:58 > 1:22:01# Happy birthday to ya... #

1:22:01 > 1:22:03No, not that one.

1:22:05 > 1:22:08# Happy birthday, happy birthday... #

1:22:08 > 1:22:13Or that one, but it's a song no-one has any difficulty remembering.

1:22:14 > 1:22:17# Happy birthday to you

1:22:17 > 1:22:21# Happy birthday to you

1:22:21 > 1:22:26# Happy birthday, dear Andrew

1:22:26 > 1:22:29# Happy birthday to you. #

1:22:31 > 1:22:34Nice to see people enjoying themselves, isn't it?

1:22:34 > 1:22:36So here's the story behind the song.

1:22:41 > 1:22:43Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

1:22:43 > 1:22:46Back in the 1890s, in Louisville, Kentucky,

1:22:46 > 1:22:50there were two teachers - sisters called Patty and Mildred Hill.

1:22:51 > 1:22:54Two sweet little old ladies created a song to sing

1:22:54 > 1:22:56to their kindergarten class.

1:22:56 > 1:22:58# Good morning to you Good morning to you... #

1:22:58 > 1:23:01And the children used to sing it at assembly every morning.

1:23:01 > 1:23:03# Good morning, good morning Good morning to you. #

1:23:03 > 1:23:07And then somewhere along the line it morphed into Happy Birthday to you.

1:23:07 > 1:23:11# Happy birthday to you... #

1:23:11 > 1:23:15No-one knows when it happened or who came up with the words

1:23:15 > 1:23:17but this little ditty caught on fast.

1:23:17 > 1:23:23# Happy birthday, your Royal Highness

1:23:23 > 1:23:27# Happy birthday to you. #

1:23:29 > 1:23:31Was I surprised it was at the top of the list?

1:23:31 > 1:23:34I suppose so because it's...you think of it as a novelty song,

1:23:34 > 1:23:36it's not really a real song, is it?

1:23:36 > 1:23:39It's this little hook, little ditty, that everybody knows

1:23:39 > 1:23:41but, actually, it's such an ingrained part

1:23:41 > 1:23:43of our popular culture,

1:23:43 > 1:23:47not just popular, but from before, and it will always be there.

1:23:47 > 1:23:50Personally, I wish I'd written that and copyrighted it.

1:23:50 > 1:23:54It started appearing in film and TV things in the 1930s

1:23:54 > 1:23:55where it was uncredited.

1:23:55 > 1:23:59One of those was an Irving Berlin production called As Thousands Cheer.

1:23:59 > 1:24:02And the third Hill sister, Jessica, heard that and thought,

1:24:02 > 1:24:05"Hang on a minute, that sounds a bit like our tune"

1:24:05 > 1:24:08and it went to court and it was decided in their favour.

1:24:08 > 1:24:10Happy Birthday To You did sound like the Hills sisters' tune

1:24:10 > 1:24:13and they were assigned the copyright.

1:24:13 > 1:24:17And since then, every time it's been used, then copyright has to be paid.

1:24:17 > 1:24:20So not just film and TV, but Casio pays every time it plays on

1:24:20 > 1:24:22one of their digital watches.

1:24:22 > 1:24:27Cards, candles, and perhaps, most importantly, musical underwear.

1:24:27 > 1:24:29UNDERWEAR PLAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY

1:24:36 > 1:24:40Well, if I was the owner of the copyright of Happy Birthday,

1:24:40 > 1:24:45you know, my teams of lawyers would be energetically working very,

1:24:45 > 1:24:47very hard to make sure that it didn't slip

1:24:47 > 1:24:50out of copyright for whatever reason, they'd probably be

1:24:50 > 1:24:53looking at ways to slightly adapt the lyrics, y'know.

1:24:57 > 1:25:00The publishing rights to Happy Birthday were bought

1:25:00 > 1:25:04in 1988 by one of the world's largest music publishers,

1:25:04 > 1:25:09Warner/Chappell, for a reported price of 25 million. Lawyers have

1:25:09 > 1:25:14reported annual six figure royalty cheques, split between Warner Group

1:25:14 > 1:25:19and the Hill Foundation, set up to look after the sisters' family.

1:25:19 > 1:25:23If you hear Happy Birthday being sung in a movie or television show,

1:25:23 > 1:25:26the fee for that is about 25,000.

1:25:27 > 1:25:30All the authors of Happy Birthday are dead

1:25:30 > 1:25:34and have been dead for many years so why isn't that song public domain?

1:25:34 > 1:25:40It's because our copyright act was extended back in the '90s

1:25:40 > 1:25:43and Warner/Chappell bought the publishing catalogue which

1:25:43 > 1:25:48artificially, or in fact, extended the copyright up until 2030.

1:25:48 > 1:25:52So we'll be paying for Happy Birthday for the next 25 years.

1:25:56 > 1:25:58Here in the European Union,

1:25:58 > 1:26:02it's reported to be under copyright until the end of 2016.

1:26:02 > 1:26:06So if you'll excuse the visual pun, that means Happy Birthday

1:26:06 > 1:26:11keeps bringing in royalties. Lots and lots and lots of them.

1:26:15 > 1:26:17Well, that makes sense. You know, you own it,

1:26:17 > 1:26:20you're letting somebody use it, well, the people that publish

1:26:20 > 1:26:24Happy Birthday own it, they purchased it,

1:26:24 > 1:26:28you know, there's income for the publishers there's income for

1:26:28 > 1:26:30those little ladies or their heirs.

1:26:30 > 1:26:32These big entertainment companies,

1:26:32 > 1:26:35and all these things are owned by, lets not forget,

1:26:35 > 1:26:37BIG entertainment companies,

1:26:37 > 1:26:41which are in turn owned by BIG financial institutions.

1:26:41 > 1:26:46And, you know, this is...their bottom line is really affected by

1:26:46 > 1:26:49whether they can keep these things in copyright or not.

1:26:49 > 1:26:53So just how much has this little song written by

1:26:53 > 1:26:56two schoolteacher sisters actually made?

1:26:56 > 1:26:59Overall, we estimate that the song has earned

1:26:59 > 1:27:01an extraordinary £30 million.

1:27:03 > 1:27:08# Happy birthday to you

1:27:08 > 1:27:11# Happy birthday to you... #

1:27:11 > 1:27:14A very, very happy birthday indeed.

1:27:14 > 1:27:18# Happy birthday, dear viewer

1:27:18 > 1:27:22# Happy birthday to you. #

1:27:22 > 1:27:23And if it's your birthday today,

1:27:23 > 1:27:26we were singing that song especially for you.

1:27:26 > 1:27:28If it isn't, the next birthday you have

1:27:28 > 1:27:32someone's bound to sing it to you because Happy Birthday

1:27:32 > 1:27:37is the most frequently sung song in the world, and it's a record breaker!

1:27:38 > 1:27:43So what does a writer need to create one of the world's richest songs?

1:27:43 > 1:27:46Well, inspiration certainly, a good deal of hard work,

1:27:46 > 1:27:47and a big slice of luck.

1:27:47 > 1:27:48But success for songs has

1:27:48 > 1:27:51come different ways across differing eras.

1:27:51 > 1:27:53Throughout the 20th century the mediums have shifted

1:27:53 > 1:27:57from sheet music to radio, to taking record sales

1:27:57 > 1:28:00and CD sales and synchronized media.

1:28:00 > 1:28:03And now with the internet, the music industry is changing faster than

1:28:03 > 1:28:07ever, opening up new frontiers for songwriters, for better or worse.

1:28:07 > 1:28:11But some things seem certain - there will always be great songs,

1:28:11 > 1:28:14there will always be talented people to write them.

1:28:14 > 1:28:17Those great songs will be enjoyed by people for many, many years to come.

1:28:17 > 1:28:22And will earn someone an awful lot of money for many years to come.

1:28:22 > 1:28:24So, perhaps, the most important lesson from all of this is

1:28:24 > 1:28:28get yourself a good lawyer, strike yourself a very good deal.

1:28:41 > 1:28:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd