Because a movie’s music budget can get blown to pieces if the licencing fees are too high. For a song to appear in a feature film, it can cost the production anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000. The fees largely depend onthe demand of the music (like if it’s from an insanely popular band) or if there are contract negotiations that include the music ending up on the soundtrack album. If it’s also going to be in the album, it gets a LOT more expensive.
If it doesn’t appear on the soundtrack album it often because the production simply couldn’t afford the asking price (or because the artist’s label refused to prevent the soundtrack album from competing with album sales).
Eats_Crayons: That’s very interesting data, I never knew how much it cost for a movie to use a song. All things being equal however, I do wish House of Pain had made it onto the soundtrack instead of the oh-so-craptastic Moby song.
House of Pain was defunct and their relevent album was ten years old at the time Daredevil was released. I can only assume they asked for some ungodly amount of money for “Top O the Morning”.
On a reverse note, I was very disappointed that the soundtrack to the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon chose to include mostly generic pop oldies rather than the excellent orchestral theme music, other than the opening and closing theme.
I believe Cohen’s version opens the film.
Doesn’t the Rocky Horrow Picture Show soundtrack omit “Sword of Damocles”? But it does include “Superheroes” a song cut from most prints of the film. It’s been awhile since I’ve listened to it.
The former was cut from the album because it wouldn’t fit in the LP (the lyrics are still there) and the latter was cut from the movie but included in the DVD.
The Stones’ “Satisfaction” wasn’t on the Apocalypse Now soundtrack.
I was really disappointed that the Concert for George soundtrack CD left off the best song of the evening – Lead a Horse to Water performed by Sam Brown.
The soundtrack to “Monkeybone” didn’t have Lisa Zane’s Fall Away, which played during the credits, and was one of two good things about that movie. (Three things, if you give the movie credit for not actually burning the viewers’ eyes out of their sockets.)
The Garden State soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks ever made but it doesn’t include a few songs featured in the movie. The song “Orange Sky” by Alexi Murdoch is not on the soundtrack. It is the song that Natalie Portman’s character starts playing on her record player and is played as they walk towards the pet cemetary in her yard. It was on the OC soundtrack, so that is probably why it wasn’t included here.
“Hell Isn’t Good” by Metallica is in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (the scene were Kenny goes to hell) but does not appear on the soundtrack. Ironically, the only way to obtain that song is to download it.
What’s more vexing is when songs get changed or removed from movies when they appear on VHS or DVD. For example, the “girl in Corvette” scene from National Lampoon’s Vacation had the song “Little Boy Sweet” replaced by the excrable “I’m So Excited” in many home versions.
You do know the album’s not really a soundtrack, as it came out three years before the movie, right? “When The Tigers Broke Free” wasn’t even written until 1982, and “What Shall We Do Now?” was recorded but cut from the album at the last minute. (More info here.) It’s more logical to ask why “Hey You” doesn’t appear in the film at all (answer: cut for time.)
Now that I think of it, “(Once, Twice,) Three Times a Lady” would have worked fabulously well in the Psycho remake. What are they paying these music directors for, anyway?
