I enjoyed this BBC documentary immensely. I was expecting another boring "top 10" list, but it's fleshed out with a lot of interesting trivia and information about how money is doled out in the record industry. And how some get wealthy while others get screwed. For example, Van Morrison getting almost nothing for "Brown Eyed Girl", which has been played 10,000,000 times on American radio alone, with each play being worth a nickel or so to the composer. And who'd have pegged karaoke as a viable revenue stream?
 
Best line (by Paul Williams): "you do not want Ozzie Osbourne as your plumber".
 

 
 

afaic here in Europe 1 radio play is around 20 bucks to the one who owns the rights ?
 

sorry I got that wrong probably, would be 20 for TV and 5 for radio iic....don't shoot please

Sheanes
afaic here in Europe 1 radio play is around 20 bucks to the one who owns the rights ?
 

Bucks in Europe. Roe, red or sika?

no I'm mean Starbucks & Bucks Rogers bidibidi
 

 
 
Paul McCartney makes money from owning the rights to "Happy Birthday"?

All those nickles tend to add up when you get enough of them.

Great documentary, thanks!
It's rare to see something about the writers themselves.

98.876765876598765% of the list is what I expected.

But was it 20-40% better?