A GOOD QUESTION

Ok i should know the answer to this question since im in film school but how the heck do wakeboard videos get the rights to the music. Like Album films and sidewayz, they have some popluar songs, besides spending big $$, how? Becasue i almost know for a fact that their budgets cant be that big. Becasue rights are $$$$ to some songs. Also why do they actually play the song at the end for the credits?

They don't always pay for the rights, wakeboard videos are small potatoes in the big scheme of things and there's not much chance they'll get in trouble over it. Now you get a section on TV or something with a mass audience that's different. The show producers will insist that you show you have obtained the rights for the soundtrack. I'm not going to name names but we've also heard this from "the horse's mouth" and the corral was one of those two you mentioned above. If you're using music from unknown and up and coming bands like we did in Delta Sessions they'll give you the rights for the exposure. Thats why were we able to produce our soundtrack on CD and sell that as well. (except for Depswa who allowed us to use their music on the DVD but not on the CD.)

basically what RD said:
sometimes the record companies dont care.
sometimes they make you pay
sometimes no rights are acquired at all.