This factoid came across the transom today:
Youtube has paid Rick Astley only $12 for his hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" despite the video having almost 100,000,000 views.
— What The F*** Facts (@WhatTheFFacts) September 3, 2014I don't know how factual that "fact" is (ed: research is old media), but I do know the general math and, yes, $12 seems quite low for ad revenue for 100 million views.
Except, what if 99,999,999 of those views were Rick Roll memes that obnoxious users created via their own rogue uploads? Then it seems like a pretty good chunk of change. And the only ones to blame for Rick's lack of royalties are ones who ran up that view count all in the name of a bad joke.
Or maybe Rick Astley has a really crappy deal. Or learned the hard way that it's good to own your copyrights and write your own songs. Or maybe the math here is just totally wrong — there's a 2010 Register article that quotes the $12 performance royalty in regards to its then 39 million plays, which means updating is in order. Or, maybe the answer is really complex and murky and really, wouldn't you rather just dance to a sweet '80s jam?
