Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone:

One huge difference separates the two songs: a cover of “Uncontrollable Urge” soundtracks the comedy clip show Rob Dyrdek’s Ridiculousness, which can play on MTV for as much as 14 hours in a 24-hour period, nearly every day of the week. (At its peak in 2020, it played an astonishing 113 hours out of MTV’s entire 168-hour lineup, according to Variety) Over the past decade, through 42 seasons, 1,545 episodes and countless reruns airing every 30 minutes, the performance royalties on that song net Mothersbaugh around $1 million per year, according to an estimate from his wife and manager Anita Greenspan.

“I’ve written so many other songs for films and television shows,” Mothersbaugh, who’s composed the themes for Pee-wee’s Playhouse and Rugrats alongside multiple Wes Anderson films, tells Rolling Stone. “I would’ve been shocked [years ago] if you told me this is the one that would become this prime source of income.”

Absolutely fascinating article about the long tail value to musicians of the simple TV theme song.

Makes me wonder how much the guy from Seinfeld’s making from his mouth noises and bass playing.

Also: goddamn does MTV show a lot of Ridiculousness. I get it, it’s one of the perfect Hotel Room TV shows.