Why Brenda Lee might not see a lot cash from her No. 1 Christmas tune

But right here’s a associated story that might come as a shock: Lee might stand to achieve comparatively little financially from her chart-topping success, based on a lot of entertainment-industry attorneys and specialists who spoke with MarketWatch.

David Schulhof, a veteran music-industry government who’s behind the MUSQ ETF MUSQ, an exchange-traded fund centered on the music enterprise, mentioned that Lee may take dwelling $250,000 at greatest straight from recording royalties by means of her label.

Not fairly the thousands and thousands of {dollars} you may anticipate, in different phrases. And definitely not the estimated $2.5 million to $3 million that Mariah Carey rakes in yearly from her vacation hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the tune that has given Carey the unofficial title of “Queen of Christmas.”

But Lee’s case just isn’t distinctive, Schulhof mentioned. “A lot of these artists appear to be richer than they are,” he mentioned.

MarketWatch reached out to Lee for remark by means of Universal Music, however didn’t obtain an instantaneous response.

Lee did situation a press release by means of the corporate, nevertheless, saying, “This is amazing! I cannot believe that ‘Rockin’ has hit No. 1 65 years after it was released, this is just so special!…The song came out when I was a young teenager and now to know that it has resonated with multiple generations and continues to resonate — it is one of the best gifts I have ever received.”

A label spokesperson didn’t have fast touch upon the latest royalties generated by the recording.

Not that Lee’s royalty earnings this yr could also be something to sneeze at — definitely, $250,000 just isn’t a foul payday. But basically, the massive cash within the music enterprise usually goes to songwriters, Schulhof and others clarify.

“The richer pot of the two is definitely the composer’s side,” Barry Chase, a Miami-based leisure lawyer, advised MarketWatch.

That is, songwriters are assured a strong chunk of royalties in most contractual preparations. Indeed, the explanation Carey does so nicely with “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is as a result of she helped pen the hit, which is claimed to have earned her $60 million since its 1994 launch. (That mentioned, Carey is now dealing with a $20 million copyright lawsuit linked to the tune.)

In the case of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” the songwriter is the late Johnny Marks, who additionally penned such vacation hits as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold” and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Marks’ catalog is now managed by his property, with the songwriter’s son, Michael Marks, serving to information the enterprise.

“Who would have thought?” Michael Marks advised MarketWatch in regards to the latest chart-topping success of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” But he didn’t wish to reply to different questions, saying, “This is a busy time for us.”

A key motive songwriters stand to learn a lot is that they obtain cash from radio play, whereas recording artists — and document labels — don’t, defined Chase. And whereas radio just isn’t as important within the period of Spotify and different digital shops, it nonetheless counts for one thing.

Chase says the radio association was set in movement a long time in the past and that document firms didn’t push for cash tied to airplay as a result of they have been anticipating the publicity, which they noticed as a solution to drive gross sales of the singles or albums.

Other points are additionally at play for recording artists that have an effect on their earnings, specialists clarify. That’s very true for older artists who signed contracts a long time in the past, when the {industry} was particularly recognized for making the most of singers.

Further complicating issues: The artist contracts again within the day didn’t anticipate the arrival of every thing from digital platforms like Spotify to ringtones, all sources of royalty income, specialists word. And whereas there might need been clauses that allowed for the potential of such future sources, there’s no saying these preparations have been honest.

Contracts might be renegotiated, in fact — and sometimes are, notably if a label is attempting to remain on good phrases with an artist in anticipation of conserving them signed and making extra hit information, {industry} professionals observe.

But with regards to one thing like Spotify, the royalties nonetheless might not quantity to a lot — reviews say they are often between $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. And even then, the artist is splitting that streaming income with the document label.

“It takes a lot of streams to make money,” Lisa Alter, a associate and leisure lawyer with the New York-based agency Alter, Kendrick & Baron, advised MarketWatch.

Schulhof throws one other wrinkle into the equation: Often, a contract renegotiation includes the recording artist getting an upfront cost from the label upfront of future royalties. So, in concept, an artist like Brenda Lee may very well be receiving nothing in 2023 from her label, with the cash having been paid out years in the past, Schulhof mentioned.

Lee can nonetheless mine her chart-topping success in different methods, nevertheless. Namely, by means of live performance engagements, private appearances and movie, TV and promoting alternatives. Schulhof mentioned that might simply add $100,000 to $150,000 in earnings this yr, however most likely no more.

But Holly Gleason, a veteran music journalist who is aware of Lee personally, mentioned Lee is each “cute-as-a-button crazy” and sharp and good — in different phrases, simply the components that may make her somebody in demand for quite a lot of alternatives and somebody who would know how one can mine them correctly.

And Gleason advised MarketWatch that these alternatives may very well be countless. “Maybe she’ll be on QVC selling Christmas trees,” Gleason mentioned.