Music business question: songwriting royalties
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 671
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Music business question: songwriting royalties
I've got the Dixie Chicks' Fly with me today. Now that I've heard it a few times, I realize that a couple of my favorites are written by Patty Griffin. I recently heard her 1000 Kisses, which was pretty good, got some critical acclaim, but probably was lucky to sell 1% of what the Chicks sold. So my question is this: How much money does a songwriter get per copy of CD sold? I mean, if Griffin got, say 5 cents per song per CD (she had 2 songs on the album), and Fly sold something like 10 million copies, does that mean she just cleared a cool million, far more than she probably earned on album sales?
I'm assuming that songwriting royalties are set for CDs (like they are for radio play), but don't know if I'm in the right ballpark. (Maybe it's 1 cent per song per CD.) I'm only looking for the simple answer to the simple question (what's the royalty per song per CD?), but more complex answers are fine, too.
Thanks.
I'm assuming that songwriting royalties are set for CDs (like they are for radio play), but don't know if I'm in the right ballpark. (Maybe it's 1 cent per song per CD.) I'm only looking for the simple answer to the simple question (what's the royalty per song per CD?), but more complex answers are fine, too.
Thanks.
#3
Mod Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Outside of the U.S.A.
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Originally posted by SAShepherd
anybody have an answer?
anybody have an answer?
Or: http://www.lyricalline.com/songwrite...iters9.html#85 ?
Also: http://www.musesmuse.com/mary-q&a-9.html
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 671
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by benedict
Maybe: http://www.wordworx.co.nz/Mechanical.htm ?
Or: http://www.lyricalline.com/songwrite...iters9.html#85 ?
Also: http://www.musesmuse.com/mary-q&a-9.html
Maybe: http://www.wordworx.co.nz/Mechanical.htm ?
Or: http://www.lyricalline.com/songwrite...iters9.html#85 ?
Also: http://www.musesmuse.com/mary-q&a-9.html
Seriously, thanks for the links. I think the middle link actually answers the question, at least for those of us Stateside. If I interpret her math correctly (her numbers only work out if it's 7.1 cents per song, not .071 cents song as she writes), Patty Griffin did indeed probably clear more than $1 million, possibly $2 million thanks to her 2 songs on Fly... Nice work if you can get it... and if you get it, won't you tell me how?
#5
Senior Member
Interesting. I always wondered about that.
I am no math whiz, but her numbers do look right, but so are yours, for in terms of dollars, .071 cents is just another way expressing 7.1 cents. You will both will come up with the same answer, but when computing your total you have to move the decimal point over to the left two places.
What was also of note is that the mechanical royalties are paid on every CD that is manufactured and not just on the ones that get sold.
I am no math whiz, but her numbers do look right, but so are yours, for in terms of dollars, .071 cents is just another way expressing 7.1 cents. You will both will come up with the same answer, but when computing your total you have to move the decimal point over to the left two places.
What was also of note is that the mechanical royalties are paid on every CD that is manufactured and not just on the ones that get sold.
#6
Mod Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Outside of the U.S.A.
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Originally posted by SAShepherd
Nice work if you can get it... and if you get it, won't you tell me how?
Nice work if you can get it... and if you get it, won't you tell me how?
Nick Lowe's most financially successful song is 'What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?'. He wrote it as a teenager and recorded it with his band Brinsley Schwartz in the early '70s. It was covered in the late '70s by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, but it made the big bucks in the '90s when some anonymous American male beefcake singer recorded it and it was included on the soundtrack album to the Hollywood blockbuster The Bodyguard.