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Harry Nilsson's estate is very happy with the tremendous popularity of "Gotta Get Up" thanks to Russian Doll

  • The 1971 song wasn't even Nilsson's most-streamed track on Spotify before Russian Doll put it on repeat. Its plays increased 3,300% in the week after the Netflix show's premiere. “I was very pleased that we were able to make the arrangement for them that everything came together," says Nilsson estate manager Lee Blackman. "The common goal when we put everything together on it way back in May was to be able to be a win-win on both sides. There were a lot of uses, so it was just trying to put together with a budget everybody could agree on. We are deal makers, not deal breakers, so we want it all to happen, as long as it isn’t a song that’s been overused or would be used somewhere that we think Harry wouldn’t feel it really fit.” Russian Doll music supervisor Brienne Rose says the Nilsson song was written into the script, and they kept going back to it even after considering other songs. "It’s such a unique song and it has so many characteristics that are so unique that when we would just try their pieces, nothing quite captured the complexities the way that that song did," she says. "Of course, it all worked out and we were thrilled. But I think initially there were a lot of unknowns — we weren’t certain how many times we needed it, and obviously it was a new show, first season, so to license the song so many times, from the standpoint of the label and the estate of Harry Nilsson, you’re really committing to that. So they took a chance on us, which was great."

    TOPICS: Russian Doll, Netflix, Brienne Rose, Harry Nilsson, Music and TV