Bill Simmons calls his Music Box documentary series "IP that lives on"

Variety

Variety spoke to veteran documentary executives and filmmakers who believe each of HBO's Music Box documentaries costs between $2 million to $3 million to make, which is pretty cheap considering the cost of licensing music. But Simmons says record labels find that Music Box offers a "little bit of a revenue stream." For instance, he says, "Limp Bizkit, weirdly after Woodstock 99 (premiered) had a moment for the first time in a while. So documentaries have the power to do that because you’re watching them and then you immediately go to your phone — to Spotify — and you start listening. I did that with The Beatles: Get Back. I have a Beatles playlist now.” Simmons also believes that Music Box will have a long shelf life that will earn HBO money for years to come. “One of the reasons I was able to talk HBO into (doing this series) was I felt like it’s real intellectual property,” says Simmons. “IP that lives on. I saw it with 30 for 30. I saw all the different ways ESPN was able to extend this IP that we created for them. They sold it to Netflix. They sold it to Amazon. They made it a signature piece of ESPN Plus when they were launching (the streamer). It had a sustainability that extended beyond the premiere.”