Soundtrack joins Love/hate hit-list
Hendrix, Joplin and Marley are among the main casualties as Christmas DVD set features low-budget music instead
IT’S almost guaranteed to be a bestseller this Christmas but RTÉ has admitted that the Love/Hate DVD will once more feature some significant changes from the television version.
Hundreds of thousands of eager viewers are expected to tune in to the finale of the hit crime drama on RTÉ1 tonight to see who gets the bullet.
But what many fans don’t realise is that the DVDs of Love/Hate – Season Five will feature different music to the episodes broadcast on television. Due to different licensing arrange- ments, the brilliant music that features in the show must be changed for the DVD.
This means that the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Duke Dumont, Disclosure, Calvin Harris and Chris Malinchak, all of whom featured on the soundtrack this series, won’t make it to the DVD.
One of the most popular elements of Love/Hate is the excellent use of music throughout, be it Nidge losing the plot in a prison cell to the sound of The Sex Pistols, or Sinéad O’Connor’s haunting ‘This Is A Rebel Song’ while Dano was dying in series four.
The music had to be removed from the DVD as the licensing laws and rules for television differ from those for DVD sales.
For television, there are music collection societies, representing composers, record publishers and companies, that enter into blanket agreements.
These agreements give broadcasters the licence to broadcast music from the repertoire of
‘There is a different process involved’
music and recordings represented by collection societies.
This means RTÉ can use individual songs for shows broadcast on television but the rules are different for DVDs.
DVDs fall outside these music agreements so individual consent of the song’s composer or publisher and the record company is required, which is a lengthy and difficult process.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ said: ‘There is a different process involved in licensing music for television versus DVD.’
RTÉ did not say, however, if it tried to clear the soundtrack for the DVD release or whether the music was removed to save money and maximise profits from DVD sales. Andrew Walsh of the Irish Music Rights Organisation said it is rare that a DVD would have the same soundtrack as the television version because it ‘costs too much’. The RTÉ spokeswoman insisted: ‘The soundtrack for the DVD is chosen by the producers and director with the same due care and attention as the soundtrack for the television version.’
Last year, artists such as The Sex Pistols, Johnny Cash and Sinead O’Connor were replaced with unknown Irish bands.
Wedding singer Doug Sheridan also made it on the Love/Hate DVD soundtrack for series four, replacing 1960s band The Byrds, with his song Way Down Inside.
Fans of the show can breathe a sigh of relief, however, as RTÉ has confirmed that it has a ‘development deal’ in place with writer Stuart Carolan for a sixth series.
Last month he revealed he is already hard at work on the new season. ‘We are developing a sixth series at the moment so it’s not over, no. But RTÉ could turn around and say “We don’t want it” – you never know.’
THE nation will hold its breath tonight as another season of Love/Hate draws to a close. Will Nidge survive? Will Fran remain at large? One thing seems certain: this finale will have as many heart-stopping moments as any rollercoaster.
However, whatever else happens, all most of us want is the reassurance that this is not the last series and that, come next year, we will have Series Six to look forward to. Then, as Fran would say, everything will be coola-boola.