He also thought that Mary Rodgers, Richard Rodgers’s composer daughter, who died in 2014, “would have thought this is pretty kick-ass.”
Although it has long had a conservative reputation for protecting its copyrights, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization has a distinct history of making commercial deals. Rodgers, who died in 1979, even approved a Clairol ad that changed a famous lyric from “South Pacific”: “I’m gonna wash that gray right outa my hair.”
“The fact that Rodgers had agreed to that in his lifetime,” Mr. Chapin said, “gave all of us a little license to feel that we should keep an open mind on these kinds of things.”
Yet the license for “7 Rings” is especially favorable to Rodgers and Hammerstein. When Gwen Stefani used some of the yodeling “Lonely Goatherd” (also from “The Sound of Music”) for a 2006 song, “Wind It Up,” Rodgers and Hammerstein received only 50 percent of the royalties.
The difference between the two deals could reflect Concord’s greater negotiating power. Or, according to Lisa Alter, a lawyer who specializes in music copyright, it could just be that “My Favorite Things” is a more precious property.
“It probably implies that more of the song is being used, or how iconic the original song is,” said Ms. Alter, who was not involved with the “7 Rings” deal.
And what might Rodgers and Hammerstein themselves have thought of Ms. Grande’s song? Todd S. Purdum, the author of “Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution,” said the masters of musical theater enjoyed being in the thick of popular culture. But most important, he said, they were never ashamed of commercial success.
“They would love the ka-ching of it,” Mr. Purdum said.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/business/media/ariana-grande-7-rings-rodgers-hammerstein.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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