Pandora Paid Pharrell Just $6300 For 105 Million “Happy” Plays
It's easy to grow tired of reading stories that chronicle how little artists make from streaming music. On the one hand, streaming is reshaping the industry. On the other, the numbers are often incomplete and telling only part of the story. But sometimes the stats are just so outrageous (scary?) that we have to share.
Pharrell Williams was paid just $6300 for 105 million plays of his hit song ‘Happy,’ according to the Financial Times. The $6k was reportedly before Sony took its share.
While working on several fronts to reduce rates, Pandora currently pays about $.0014 per song play split among all rightsholders. "We’re projecting over a billion dollars of revenue next year," said Pandora founder Tim Westergren, "and we’re sharing that revenue very fairly with the artist community.”
“It’s easy to grow tired of reading stories that chronicle how little artists make from streaming music.”
Yes, it is. Do you know why? Because Pandora/Spotify/Everyone is paying rates that are 100% legal. They are not doing anything wrong or shady. Don’t be angry at companies for trying to be profitable, be angry that our government and legal system deemed $.0014 to be a perfectly acceptable rate for these type of plays.