Midway through the 2001 jukebox musical film Moulin Rouge!, Ewan McGregor serenades Nicole Kidman on a rooftop. As McGregor woos Kidman, he cycles through a dozen popular love songs. While students in Music 22 (“Film Sound/Film Music”) recognized many song snippets in the four-minute medley, they did not know just how much it cost to acquire those musical rights: $1.5 million.
On Wednesday, songwriter and producer Robert Kraft ’76 guest lectured about the practical side of film music. From 1994 to 2012, Kraft served as the president of Fox Music, where he oversaw the music for more than 300 feature films ranging from Titanic and Avatar to Slumdog Millionaire and Moulin Rouge!. After screening Moulin Rouge! the night prior for the course’s students, he closely analyzed two musical numbers, unpacking how director Baz Luhrmann acquired the rights for the dozens of pop songs woven into the film.
Kraft opened the lecture with McGregor’s rooftop ballad, the “Elephant Love Medley.” As the scene played, he counted on his fingers how many song rights the filmmakers needed to acquire. For some, the title was spoken. Others had a single line sung. And a few had their key lines repeated. Each time, Kraft said, Fox had to pay for the rights. But acquiring permission to use a song isn’t like going to the grocery store. “Every time you see a movie or a TV show and there’s a song,” he said, “there’s a lot of negotiations taking place.”
A song, Kraft explained, has two copyright holders. The original songwriter retains the rights to the lyrics and tune, but the record company owns the actual recording of the artist singing. Any time a movie wants to use a song as performed by the original artist, they must negotiate with both the songwriter and the publisher. Covering a song only requires the permission of the songwriter.
Negotiations can be complicated. Prices vary based on the extent of use. When McGregor said—not sung—“love is like oxygen,” Fox had to pay the songwriters of Sweet’s 1993 disco-rock tune by the same name $1,000. Weaving in a line of a hit song cost Fox about $125,000 (half a million if they wanted to use the snippet in advertisements). And repeating a song costs more, too.
Predictably, working with superstars leads to some complex (and ridiculous) negotiations. Kraft shared a few stories from the process of acquiring music for Moulin Rouge!. The owner of the publishing rights to “Under My Thumb” by the Rolling Stones demanded his name be included in the film’s credits (they went with Sting’s “Roxanne” instead). Christina Aguilera’s agent demanded an extra $250,000 for “hair and makeup” moments before she was slated to shoot “Lady Marmalade” (she got the money). Michael Jackson’s young son, Prince, dripped snot on Luhrmann’s beautiful concept book (Jackson declined to license his music). “Anything in show business is possible. It’s a lot like gangsters. If they can get you, they do,” said Kraft, continuing. “You can probably tell from these tales, I love it. I think it’s really fun to watch people misbehave.”
Students were very interested in these practical tales. Kraft noted that most Harvard classes focus on the theoretical rather than the practical. “You need to understand the theory and the aesthetic,” he said, “but you can’t make anything if you don’t understand some aspect of the actual execution.”
In this first offering of Music 22, assistant music professor Yvette Jackson and Buttenwieser University Professor Carolyn Abbate had to turn away dozens of students. The 75-student lecture has athletes, musicians, and athlete-musicians. No music or film experience is required. Throughout the semester, five musicians and composers will give guest lectures (three of whom will screen and analyze their films). Students are instructed to watch and listen to films “in a state of absorption” both for enjoyment and for best learning.
After analyzing two scenes from Moulin Rouge!, Kraft took questions. Students asked about whether his musical background aids in negotiation (not really), whether commissioning an original song is cheaper than licensing one (depends on the artist’s popularity), and whether audio from filmed musical numbers is recorded live (pre-recording in a studio is much easier and cleaner). When the class ended, the students’ curiosity did not: a dozen undergraduates hung back, waiting up to an hour to ask Kraft how to jumpstart their careers in film or music.
“I just hope that next time you listen to filmed entertainment,” Kraft said in closing, “you listen, because someone is working very hard to make you feel a certain way.” He wandered over to a nearby piano and laid down a few chords from a Lady Gaga song—a much more cost-conscious rendition than the ones he helped orchestrate for Moulin Rouge!.
