Article written by Bridget Moncado
It is fairly common to think of most singers as millionaires, while some are actually millionaires, these singers are in the minority. Most singers actually struggle to pay their bills on time, and some have even squandered their wealth which all came from one song. Singers can make anything between €300 per song to virtually millions, the actual number will depend on how popular the song is and how the song is monetized like, live events, record label contracts, brand deals, streaming services, commercials, and royalties.
Most people think that singers make a lot of money with each song, however, this is not entirely true. The music industry is an extremely competitive sector, one in which each singer will try to have an edge in front of the others, often spending vast amounts of money during the process. Don’t get me wrong you can make a song for just a couple of hundred dollars by renting a studio for a couple of hours, however, usually, these singers do not have a large enough following to make an actual profit.
Recording Labels
One of the most important aspects of how much money a singer makes per song is their actual contract with the recording label. As the recording label’s main task is to generate profit very often singers with no experience in how actually the music industry works might find themselves trapped in an awful contract where they can simply no longer walk away as it would mean that they will have to pay massive fines to the recording company.
Live Events
A lot of singers go on tours around the country or even around the world singing at different events. Not only to promote their brand and name but to also make a good profit. Usually, when people think of a band or singer being on a tour they think of some big singer. The truth is that smaller bands and singers are often the ones who are more on the road in comparison to famous singers. This is mostly due to the fact that singers who are already famous can rely on their audience to make money.
Streaming Services
Spotify can increase how much an actual song makes by a lot. Just a few years ago, we didn’t have any music streaming technology other than what we had on TV. Streaming music is big money, the downside is that sites like Spotify pay only a few cents every time somebody listens to the song. However, the good news is that Spotify has millions of users and if the song is fairly ok then it will have no problem gaining thousands of listeners, which all adds up.
Royalties
When trying to calculate how much money a song makes for the singer, it is vital that we take into consideration the royalties. Royalties simply mean that singers who make their original songs will get paid every time somebody else performs that song, is played on the radio, the TV or online. The artist doesn’t directly collect money from these sources as they would be on the road forever. They sign up for organizations that collect these royalties on their behalf.
In conclusion
When it comes to how much money singers make per song, there are a lot of factors that you need to take into consideration. A couple of decades ago most songs would have made money for one or two years at best, but nowadays some songs have the potential to make money for decades if not longer. This is why it is so hard to calculate how much money a song makes, as the sum keeps on changing from one year to another.
