Ariana Grande’s Massive ‘7 Rings’ Royalties: Why She Won’t See Most of the Money
It's no secret that Ariana Grande's song "7 Rings" is a bonafide hit, but did you know that she reportedly signed away 90% of the songwriter royalties to other people?
It turns out, all the money she's earned from her single are going to Rodgers & Hammerstein, the composers of the song “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. In case you didn't know, "7 Rings" samples the melody from the famous musical. Instead of "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens/Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens," Grande sings the lyrics, "Breakfast at Tiffany's and bottles of bubbles/Girls with tattoos who like getting in trouble/Lashes and diamonds, ATM machines/Buy myself all of my favorite things."
The song credits a total of ten writers, including Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, so the pop star has to split the other 10% with her other co-writers. Plus, once you factor in all the money that's going to her label, Grande is only making a tiny percentage compared to the millions she could be earning. In other words, Concord—the music company that owns Rodgers’s and Hammerstein's song catalogs—are the real winners here.
Grande's label Republic Records reportedly went to Concord in January to make a licensing deal and they all agreed on these terms. Also, the company’s chief publishing executive Jake Wisely told the New York Times that Grande's song “wouldn’t exist in its current form were it not for ‘My Favorite Things.’”
According to NYT, this means the company "stands to make millions of dollars from the song, while Ms. Grande and her seven co-writers will each get just a fraction of what Concord makes."