Writing a song ain’t easy, but getting paid for the music you create is even tougher. Recording artists depend on hit songs to sell records and generate income, and when they sign a record contract, they usually get a 7 to 10 percent cut of their album’s profits. If they write their own songs, the payout is even larger, because songwriters and producers earn money every time a song is played in public, used on television, or recorded by another artist. For some people, that ends up meaning big bucks. But for every time a musician receives a fair share of the profits, there are stories of artists’ being cajoled and legally maneuvered out of their royalties by greedy record executives or unscrupulous music publishers. These five incredible stories illustrate how the inner workings of the music business have affected some of our favorite musicians and their work.
Happy Payday to You
Certain standard songs aren’t protected by copyright laws. You might think a song as ubiquitous as “Happy Birthday” would have become part of the public domain long ago, but you’d be wrong. The song we know as “Happy Birthday” was written in 1893 and was originally called “Good Morning to You.” It was used and played extensively in the 1920s and early ’30s without being licensed, until the writer’s sister secured the copyright in 1934. Changes in copyright law in the past few decades have extended the protection for the song until 2030. That means if you want to play “Happy Birthday” in public, you have to pay up.
The song generates about $2 million per year in licensing fees. Of course, lawyers won’t go after a family singing the song at home, but they will file suit against movies or television shows that feature the song without authorization, as well as any other public performance. If you’ve ever been in a restaurant and noticed the staff singing a different version of a birthday tribute, it’s because that establishment is trying to avoid paying for performance rights and prevent copyright infringement lawsuits.







TLC Goes Crazy
R&B act TLC was one of the top-selling acts of the 1990s. Their 1994 album CrazySexyCool sold over ten million copies, which should have translated into a huge payday for the three members of the group. Instead, their record company sent them each a check for a mere $50,000. The label had “recouped” its investment by charging the group for production costs and marketing fees associated with the album, as well as for the hugely expensive video for the band’s single “Waterfalls.” In October 2009 on The Mo’Nique Show, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins revealed that after this slight, she and the other members of TLC went to the home of record executive Clive Davis and used loaded weapons to bully him into giving them a bigger share of the album’s profits. It worked, and luckily, Davis didn’t press charges. As T-Boz explained, “You live and learn in the music business.”
C’mon, Get Sue-Happy
Retail stores and restaurants need to pay performance licenses to play any music for their customers, and a woman in Scotland recently discovered just how serious the rights holders are about collecting what they’re owed. After the store where she worked was threatened with a lawsuit if employees didn’t turn off the radio, Sandra Burt kept busy by singing quietly to herself as she stocked the shelves. To the Performing Rights Society, though, her “public performance” was illegal, too. The organization, which collects royalties on behalf of songwriters, threatened to sue Burt if she didn’t stop singing their songs without authorization. But after the BBC reported her story, PRS backed down and even sent Burt flowers to apologize for its litigiousness.
A Bittersweet Hit
For a time in the 1990s, it was nearly impossible to turn on a radio without hearing the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” Despite the fact that it was a massive hit and voted the 382nd greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone, the band members themselves have received no royalties from it. While writing their 1997 album, Urban Hymns, the Verve negotiated the rights to use a snippet of the melody of an obscure, instrumental Rolling Stones track from 1965, “The Last Time.” The original deal called for the Verve to split the profits evenly with ABKCO Records, the company that owns the publishing rights to Rolling Stones songs, but after the record was released, ABKCO filed a lawsuit alleging that the song used “too much” of the sample, and demanded 100 percent of the profits, as well as primary songwriting credits. The Verve had to either acquiesce or pull the song off the album. Even though “Bitter Sweet Symphony” features a mostly original melody and original lyrics by lead singer Richard Ashcroft, its entire profits now go to ABKCO, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards. The guys in the Verve even need permission to play the song at their own concerts now.





Stairway to the Bank
The most profitable song of all time, according to calculations by Portfolio magazine, is Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Released in 1971, it’s been on the radio an estimated 2,985,000 times, equal to about forty-five years of uninterrupted airtime. With public-performance fees, album and DVD sales, sheet-music sales, and royalties from other artists’ covers, it has generated an estimated $562 million. Songwriters Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, however, are notoriously protective about their work, usually refusing to license their songs for use in television and movies. Only since 2002 have they allowed selected songs to appear in commercials and made their albums available on iTunes. If the band took advantage of the song’s full licensing potential, the total profits could be millions more.
The music business is notoriously convoluted and litigious, threatening to sue just about anybody and everybody when there’s cash to be made. Few people realize just how little money their favorite artists make off their own music, and the industry is only more paranoid and controlling now that digital piracy is rampant. The next time you hear your favorite song on the radio or in a commercial, think of all the people who are making money off the artist’s work. And next time you sing “Happy Birthday” in a restaurant, make sure to lower your voice.


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