“I don’t need quite a bit for Christmas / There is only one factor I want / An reply to only one query / An estimate of Mariah Carey’s music royalties, please?”
No, my makeshift lyrics aren’t as catchy because the opening traces of Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the 1994 jingle that grew to become virtually ubiquitous over the airwaves round vacation season.
But they do pose a query that probes into the black field of music-industry economics: How a lot cash does the music earn for Carey, the music’s performer and so-called “Queen of Christmas,” annually?
Revenue estimates by Billboard recommend she made maybe $2.7 million to $3.3 million in 2022, for instance, from music downloads and on-demand streaming. It excludes different probably profitable income streams like Christmas TV specials.
But it’s onerous to know a exact sum, largely as a result of contractual particulars between Carey, her music label and music publishers aren’t public, specialists stated. The pop star’s publicist, Chris Chambers, didn’t return a request for remark submitted to his agency, The Chamber Group, about her royalties.
“Whatever it’s, it’s some huge cash,” stated Natasha Chee, a music, leisure and mental property legal professional at legislation agency Donahue Fitzgerald.
The music could have earned $103 million since 1994
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a yuletide juggernaut.
Spotify announced this month that the anthem was the first-ever vacation music to surpass 2 billion international streams. It has been the No. 1 music globally on Christmas Day annually since 2016, Spotify stated.
The tune’s reputation has solely grown: Total U.S. audio streams rose to 249 million in 2023, up about 49% from 167 million in 2019, in response to Luminate, which tracks music {industry} knowledge.
(As of Dec. 12, whole U.S. streams of the music this yr have been down 8% relative to 2023, Billboard estimated. That’s partly a perform of the shorter vacation season from a late Thanksgiving, specialists stated.)
The music “is a cash machine,” stated George Howard, a professor on the Berklee College of Music and former president of Rykodisc, an impartial file label. “It’s an actual phenomenon,” he stated.
Howard, who additionally does consulting work to worth music copyrights, estimates the chart-topper makes $2 million to $4 million in annual gross income.
Similarly, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which focuses on music {industry} legislation, estimates the hit generates $3.4 million a yr.
Over its 30-year existence, the music has made about $103 million in earnings, the legislation agency estimates. The projections embody international streaming and non-streaming income sources, in response to Manatt, which created Billboard’s royalty calculator.
The music’s 2 billion international Spotify streams alone earned $9.8 million in royalties, in response to the calculator.
But Carey solely will get a portion of these earnings.
Why Carey is probably going getting paid ‘six methods to Sunday’
The ecosystem of music royalties is notoriously convoluted.
Money flows to many contributors, like writers, performers, producers, sound mixers and file labels. Payouts to every particular person can range from music to music, relying on contractual phrases, specialists stated.
The phrases of Carey’s royalty offers aren’t public data.
The singer is probably going getting a “larger chunk” of income than most artists, Howard stated. That’s due to Carey’s a number of credit on the music: She’s listed as the only real performer, in addition to its co-writer and co-producer. (Walter Afanasieff is the opposite co-writer and co-producer.)
Such a large number of credit is uncommon to see, Howard stated. And it’s an necessary consider Carey’s final take-home pay.
Music royalties are completely different from these of different works like books or pictures.
That’s as a result of there are two distinct royalty streams — one for music composition and one other for sound recording, stated Jordan Bromley, accomplice and head of Manatt Entertainment. Think of the previous just like the sheet music sitting in your piano (the songwriting), and the latter because the recorded music that you simply hear, he stated.
Each has its personal royalty construction. The royalties for music composition are acquired by songwriters and publishers, whereas these for sound recording are paid to music performers and their labels, Howard stated.
Carey “has each the copyright to the music and the sound recording, so she’s getting paid on either side,” Howard stated.
“She’s getting paid six methods to Sunday,” he stated.
A music’s writers and publishers — and never its performers — get the royalties when a music performs in a public house, resembling on TV and radio, or in eating places and retail shops, specialists stated. The U.S. is among the few international locations to have such a rule, Howard stated.
This implies that Carey (and Afanasieff, her co-writer) will get royalties each time a canopy model of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” performs within the public area. Over 150 performers have lined the music, according to ASCAP, a performing rights group.
Carey and Afanasieff cut up their writing credit with publishers together with Universal Music, Sony Music and Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, according to ASCAP.
However, music recording usually brings in 4 to 5 instances the income of songwriting, Bromley stated.
“If you’re a songwriter with no file income, it’s onerous to make a residing even should you’re making hits,” he stated.
The artist’s take of the recording income relative to the label’s can swing broadly, wherever from 20% as much as 90%, relying on the contract, Bromley stated. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was launched by Columbia Records, which is owned by Sony Music.
Afanasieff, Sony Music and Kobalt Songs Music Publishing didn’t return requests for remark. Universal Music Publishing Group declined remark.
Why Carey could have revamped $2.7 million in 2022
Experts observe that earnings from file gross sales and licensing can range vastly from yr to yr, whereas income from streaming and efficiency is extra predictable.
Of the aforementioned estimated $8.5 million in international income and publishing royalties that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” earned in 2022, the Carey grasp recording introduced in $5.3 million and publishing royalties accounted for the remaining $3.2 million, Billboard stated.
What was Carey’s minimize?
She made about $1.9 million of the grasp recording income, Billboard estimated, whereas her label, Sony, saved the opposite $3.4 million.
Carey additionally earned an estimated $1.6 million of the publishing, assuming she and Afanasieff cut up the writing 50-50. But her take-home pay would have been much less, relying on her publishing deal — maybe starting from about $795,000 to $1.4 million, Billboard stated.
All instructed, these estimates recommend Carey could have made about $2.7 million to $3.3 million from recording and publishing in 2022.
This excludes income from any monetary preparations for soundtracks from Christmas TV specials, that are seemingly profitable, in response to Billboard. It additionally excludes cowl variations of the music.
“There’s a ton of income that opens up” for a pop star who is nearly “co-branded” with Christmas, together with offers for model endorsements, reside performances, cosmetics, dwelling items and attire, Manatt Entertainment’s Bromley stated.
The reward that retains giving
The music is the reward that may maintain carry on giving for years, specialists stated.
The copyright for works revealed after Jan. 1, 1978, usually stays intact for the writer’s lifetime, plus 70 years after the writer’s dying, in response to Chee of Donahue Fitzgerald.
In the case of a joint work with two or extra authors, resembling “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the rule applies to the final surviving writer.
That means Carey’s property will seemingly rake in royalties for many years, till the music finally passes into the general public area, she stated. When that occurs, the music would be a part of the ranks of Christmas classics like “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which might usually be freely shared and adapted.
