Even if they ’re not the ones on microscope stage belt out out their tunes , songster can make quite bit of John Cash from publishing royalties . If you write a smash birdcall , you ’ll pick up anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars any clock time it ’s played on TV , the wireless , or in a movie . Let ’s take a look at a few noteworthy tales of music royalty .
Jeopardy!Theme Makes a Non-Trivial Amount
Jeopardy ! ’s memorable theme song " Think!“ was originally composed by show Almighty Merv Griffin as a cradlesong for his son Tony ; in 2005 Griffin told theNew York Timesthat he had thrash about the melodic line together in less than a instant . It might have been the most lucrative minute on disc , though . In the same interview , Griffin estimated that the royalty from the base had put somewhere between $ 70 and $ 80 million in his pockets .
To put that figure in perspective , to make that much loot by playingJeopardy ! , Ken Jennings would have needed to win every game for about 10 years .
“Happy Royalties to You"
You probably already do it that " well-chosen Birthday to You" is still under copyright and that licensing the song for use in , say , a film is prohibitively pricey . ( Some sources estimate that the cost of using the tune in a movie is over $ 10,000 . ) Warner / Chappell Music , Inc. possess the copyright to the song , which allegedly earns in over $ 2 million in royalties each twelvemonth .
Here ’s something you might not fuck , though : it ’s not whole clear that the Song dynasty ’s copyright is valid . In 2008 George Washington University law professor Robert Brauneis published a paper called " Copyright and the World ’s Most Popular Song" that contended the copyright might not fend up to any legal challenges . grant to Brauneis , the right of first publication was surely expire due to failure to file right renewals and ambiguity over who wrote the original lyrics . Nevertheless , Warner / Chappell keeps garner royalties on the tune .
Elton John Can Afford Lots of Candles
It ’s knockout to pin down which song has earn the most royalties over the age since so many of the copyrights are in private hand . " White Christmas" would seem like a safe selection , but Irving Berlin ’s family has been pretty cagey about revealing any figures . The English press has their own guessing , though : Elton John ’s " Candle in the Wind . “
If you ’ve got to go out on a limb , " Candle in the Wind" is a fairly good wager . The song , which was originally compose for the 1973 albumGoodbye Yellow Brick Roadby John and lyricist Bernie Taupin , reached # 11 on the UK chart when it was released as a single in 1974 . In 1986 John loose an even more successful live single of the song that featured attendant from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra ; that interlingual rendition reached # 5 on the UK charts and peak at # 6 in the U.S.
The tangible sales agreement , though , came when Taupin and John revise the song following the 1997 death of Diana , Princess of Wales . Taupin deepen the lyrics from a protection to Marilyn Monroe to a tribute to Princess Di , and John rerecorded the track as " candela in the Wind 1997.“ The single shot to the top of the charts around the world , and John pledged all of the song ’s royalties to the Diana , Princess of Wales Memorial Fund . By the closing of the class , the song had earned $ 33 million for the fundament , and the Guinness Book of Records later on certified it as the best - betray single " since records began . “
The Video Beatles Rake It In
Just how valuable are the right to the Beatles ' catalog ? Consider this : when Viacom licensed the Fab Four ’s tunes for the video gameBeatles Rock Bandlast class , it cough up $ 10 million just in initial fee . Wiredestimated that if the plot sold as planned , the royalties for the Beatles ' rights holder would be over $ 40 million .
“Baker Street" Leads to Easy Street
It ’s not just mega - hits like the Beatles ' catalog that pack up heavy royalties . fit in to a 2006 report , Scots singer songster Gerry Rafferty pulls in over $ 100,000 a year in royal line from his 1978 individual " Baker Street . “ Not too shabby for a song that never stumble # 1 in the U.S. or the U.K.
“A Whiter Shade of Pay Me My Royalties"
British band Procol Harum tally a number - one hit with its 1967 path " A Whiter Shade of Pale,“ and after spending six weeks atop the chart , the song has enjoyed a prospicient animation on oldie stations . Most auditor would correspond that the electric organ part is the lynchpin of the Sung dynasty , but organist Matthew Fisher did n’t get a sniff of the royal family . Instead , the Johnny Cash went into the air pocket of frontman Gary Brooker , who tattle and toy piano on the song , and manager / lyrist Keith Reid .
In 2005 , Fisher decide he was due for some recompense and sued Brooker with the title that he had co - compose the song and deserved half of any royal house it had earned . In former 2006 , the court resolve that Brooker could have 40 % of the right of first publication and a corresponding parcel of any royalties going forwards . After several years of appeals by Brooker and Fisher , the case ended up before the House of Lords in 2009 . The U.K. ’s highest lawcourt ruled that Fisher ’s electronic organ job had been a all-important part of the song ’s success and throw Fisher a share of any next royalties the vocal earned .
