Back in October of last year the hit drama series Dawson’s Creek appeared on Netflix and has been streaming ever since. If you’ve watched the classic show on the streamer however you may have noticed something, the actual theme song from the series, Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want To Wait,” didn’t play over the opening credits. The reason for this is that when Sony Pictures Television licensed the song all those years ago they only paid for the on-air rights to the song, meaning it hasn’t been available on streaming or DVD releases of Dawnson’s Creek, that is, until now.
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“Dawson’s Creek fans, I’m thrilled to announce that — at long last — you will hear Paula Cole’s iconic song I Don’t Want to Wait when you watch the opening credits!,” Netflix tweeted earlier today. Cole tweeted about it as well, adding: “It’s true. I re-recorded ‘I Don’t Want To Wait,’ and they are using the master. All artists should be compensated for their intellectual work. Thank you @SonyTV @netflix and most of all the fans who made this happen. That’s the power of patience & persistence. Grateful.”
A write-up in The New York Times earlier this year got to the root of this issue, interviewing Cole herself about the problem who said at the time: “People really care and are really upset about it. They tag me in every post — so much tagging on the socials, fans tagging Netflix and Sony. It’s prolific.” It also worked!
It’s true. I re-recorded “I Don’t Want To Wait”, and they are using the master. All artists should be compensated for their intellectual work. Thank you @SonyTV @netflix and most of all the fans who made this happen. That’s the power of patience & persistence. Grateful. https://t.co/p8eUJ11r54
— Paula Cole (@paulacolemusic) September 3, 2021
That same NYT report breaks down the news more specifically, revealing that the “indefinite rights to a popular song” can be anywhere from “$30,000 to $40,000 on average” but that many network and cable TV shows have a music budget per episode that is “sometimes barely half that.”
Created by writer Kevin Williamson, best known for writing the Scream movies and other TV shows like The Vampire Diaries and The Following, Dawson’s Creek starred James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson, telling the story of four teenage friends in a small coastal town. The series began its six season run in 1998 and concluded in 2003.
