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. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/06/pandora-paid-pharrell-just-6300-for-105-million-happy-plays.html]

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.”