She Spent Two Years Writing for an Acclaimed Album — and Made Only $4,000

[naval23]

So these songwriters get paid 0 if the artist decides not to include it in the album? Definitely a tough industry - it probably isn't realistic to rely on it as a sole source of income and rather hope you win big but prepare for the worst

[Reginald]

5 minutes ago, zoldyck said:

we been known, music industry isn't as lucrative as it should to be. Hence every girl except for Adele and Taylor have started side hustles like selling make-up, clothes or shoes. 

And this is the truth  It's a shame. 

[Truth Teller]

She also wrote Love Again by Brandy and Daniel Ceasar, which did very well. I'm surprised this song is not brought up at all in the article. Maybe she has a very small percentage there?

 

I'm also confused as to whether the article is only about Spotify or about all streaming platforms. Making 18k out of Better Off in 5 years makes sense (kind of) if it's just from one platform, since it wasn't a big single or anything, but if it's all services combined, it's a problem. And then she brings up radio for TUN which makes me think she's not referring to streaming royalties.

[Iaintsorry]

What do writers think they’re gonna get from Spotify tho  the company itself barely (if at all) makes a profit.

 

unfortunately that’s how the music industry is, so they either gotta work their way towards a better deal with their labels or try to get on as many artist’s albums as possible. 

[TaggedGalaxy]

Justice for songwriters

 

[Miley Cyrus]

58 minutes ago, beatinglikeadrum said:

She writes her own checks like she writes what she sings ? or something like that...

yeah it was a cringey lyric back then and it's even cringier now

 

[Truth Teller]

Btw, I 110% agree that streaming services should be paying higher royalties (and if they need to up their subsciption prices to do that, then so be it. Spotify Student is cheaper than a hot dog in my country). But I also think quite a lot of money goes back to the label, distributors, publishing companies (if the writer doesn't have their own), performing rights organizations, collective management etc. and this side of things doesn't ge talked about much.

 

Like... 128m streams on Spotify are supposed to generate about 400k in income. If she has 40% of the authorship and she ended up with 18,000 in her pocket, some money must have leaked somewhere between that pocket and Spotify casuse the math ain't mathing

[Blade Runner]

Reading these comments and you can ATRL is full of old people now. It feels like having a conversation with your boomer uncle. 

 

"Sorry, young lady, you need to work harder becaus-". 

[JustHoran]

Yeah, we know. There's no money in music rn. Streaming needs to pay more.

[Freakshowvato]

Music is not lucrative, we all know many artists get rich from tours and merch anyway where they can easily keep around half of the gross revenue they generate, which is much more money than what most music generates. The issue with music profits is you have to pay the label and the streaming services first. Then the artist, the songwriters, and the manager split up whatever is remaining. if the song is not a hit on spotify with 100M to 200M streams, it will not be generating much income for anyone.

 

having said that, artists have it better than songwriters because if they have a catalogue that does 1B streams a year across their entire discography, they can make a FEW million dollars a year off streaming royalties alone (around 2 million dollars). their touring and merch will give them even more millions of dollars, anywhere from several millions to many many tens of millions depending on how big the tour is.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Freakshowvato

[Mean Trees]

It's not 2010 anymore. ITunes quick hits don't bring in the revenue anymore.

[eleganceislearned]

The effects of streaming have pretty much put the final nail in the coffin for the music industry. It's like you go to have some other type of day job to be in it. It's really sad all around for all aspects of the arts rn.

 

3 hours ago, zoldyck said:

we been known, music industry isn't as lucrative as it should to be. Hence every girl except for Adele and Taylor have started side hustles like selling make-up, clothes or shoes. 

And even then, you got Adele doing a Vegas residency that she obviously didn't want to do, and Taylor putting the squeeze on Olivia for credits. 

 

[Soda Pop Queen]

8 hours ago, R`0`K`R said:

All of this pails in comparison to the hundred of thousands Beyoncé has thieved from songwriters over her career.

Beyoncé is likely not the top billed credit on any of her songs, especially in the last 12 years. That means she's getting the least percentage, not even 10% since there are so many co-credits. I know it's super easy for everyone to blame the artists, especially if they're household names, but these recrod labels and hit producers are making out like BANDITS off these small songwriters and no one is noticing. 

[Communion]

9 hours ago, Insanity said:

Where didbu find these numbers?

It's the publishing splits from the article. 

 

Kayden got 40%  Ariana got 10%. The three male producers then split 50% of the composition despite only Kaydence and Ariana writing the song. 

[Breathe On Moi]

10 hours ago, ALA said:

Hmmm idk a $2,000 check for an album song doesn't sound that bad to me maybe I'm just out of touch

when you compare it to what the singer is making off the song/album…it’s outrageous tbh  it should sound bad to you

 

OT: does this apply to ghostwriters? if so cardi is in trouble 

[Soda Pop Queen]

People need to start questioning these hit producers because I've been saying for years that producers have way too much power in the 21st century music and their loyalty is always gonna lie with either the label or the artist. Back then, I feel like there was more of a balance of power between the producer and songwriter because they formed duos or trios and stuck together. Now, with songwriting camps, all the checks are much smaller because most writers these days are just topliners/track-and-hookers. Add to the fact that the money the industry makes is much less than 20+ years ago and this is what happens. I imagine the only songwriters in pop making real dough are the ones that are singer-songwriters that write for others (Jack Antonoff, Ryan Tedder, etc.) or the ones that apprentice under Max Martin. He came from a songwriting factory and knew the game. Actually, it's kind of his fault that songwriting camps are the norm now in popular music lol.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Soda Pop Queen

[Anye]

That’s so unfortunate.

[loveisdead9582]

Record labels and producers really need to be fair with all those involved. Doing a flat percentage based on sales and streams would be the most fair. If you get a base fee and a percentage of all profits earned off sales/streaming then it does encourage you to promote or put forth your best work. It’s not fair to give someone a minuscule percentage or just say we’ll pay you a nominal amount on a song that goes multi platinum. 

[Snoopy]

10 hours ago, Tropez said:

$2k is nothing these days. That’s gone in like a month on just living expenses. 

well then she better write another  

[Letemtalk]

10 hours ago, KeirGrey said:

Why are they blaming spotify and not the label?

1. Because the record label is the one that can decide whether you get to work on the next album or not.

2. Safer than blaming another streaming company like Youtube owned by google, who might make you disappear from search results.

3. For most artists it's always going to be easier to blame a foreign company, than it is to blame an American one.

[Galah]

She got $20k from an Ariana album track and is complaining? Gurl push your pen and stop complaining.  How you think you're gonna be able to buy a house off one album track?

[suburbannature]

Some of y’all are truly braindead.

[FutureNostalgia]

[Delirious]

$250k = 100 million spotify streams

 

better off = 130m streams

 

total money = $257,500

 

40% = $100,000

 

She's supposed to receive $100,000 if she gets 40% of the revenue from Better Off

 

Im guessing her label snatches 60% of the profits

[Assassin]

Ariana is a thief!