Last night episode of Mad Men included a lengthy scene soundtracked by The Beatles Revolver-era psychedelic song "Tomorrow Never Knows." (The scene directly contrasts an earlier scene where an advertiser can't afford to use a real Beatles song in his commercial.) The entire song plays, bringing the viewer from Don Draper's arm chair all the way to the end of the credits. So how much did that cost Matthew Weiner & Co.? According to Forbes around $250,000 (about $150,000 more than a song by another band would normally cost).
They remind that the show was delayed after a contract stand-off between Weiner and the network, which revolved around money. They also note that you almost never hear The Beatles in movies or television shows because "it’s prohibitively expensive to license them, and even then they’re not always for sale." Weiner reportedly got to use the song after making a personal appeal, and because Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are "huge fans of the show."
ArtsBeat talked to Weiner today, who told them, “It was always my feeling that the show lacked a certain authenticity because we never could have an actual master recording of the Beatles performing... It always felt to me like a flaw. Because they are the band, probably, of the 20th century.” Weiner says Mad Men's budget wasn't broken by the Beatles moment, adding that creatively, "I never, ever think... ‘Oh, let’s not have a song here so I can save some money.’”
