As music consumption has evolved, the songwriting community have seen their income diminish despite playing a greater role in shaping emerging artists
How much do you get paid for writing today’s most popular song? Global smash Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo has racked up more than 581m streams worldwide. So far, Rodrigo and Dan Nigro and their respective publishers should have received less than £200k to share between them for writing the track (not including performance royalties). For most of us, that’s a sizeable sum, but when you consider that the record label’s share of earnings is likely to be four times that amount, the payout seems comparatively low.
The payment of music royalties in the streaming age is the subject of much discussion due to an ongoing parliamentary inquiry in the UK into their economic impact and sustainability. But members of the songwriting community are frustrated that their particular situation is being overlooked: how the transition in music consumption over the past decade has affected their bottom line and the disparity between how much they earn compared to record labels.
