Can a singer live, comfortably, for the rest of their life off of one hit song?

The answer is yes. It probably wouldn't work if you thought you had to live in NYC, London or LA, and you couldn't spend money like water.

I know a songwriter who hit pay dirt when a group recorded one of his songs on a mega-hit album. He bought a nice but relatively modest house and invested the rest of the money. He's a low-key kind of guy who has lived comfortably since then. He doesn't spend much money on toys or cars but he's traveled some. It's probably not a life that would satisfy everyone, but he's been happy.

If a songwriter can do it, surely an artist can too.

If it's Harper Valley PTA, you can. Movies, TV series, etc.

God knows, OP.

Especially if it's a Christmas song that becomes a classic.

R1, does he live solely off the song money?

R1 Just tell us who he is.

No way in hell, R6. He's a personal friend and I want to keep it that way.

How much did Robert Miles make off "Children"?

Getting a head start on 1996 Nolstalgia😏

R7 But why would his identity need to be a secret? You didn't share any gossip. You said he wrote a hit song. That means that millions of people know who he is, but you can't say who he is here? Tell us the song, then.

Wouldn't it be a lot harder now? Royalties from album sales and airplay were a lot easier to rack up when people bought physical albums and listened to the radio. But a decade or more ago, people could. Nick Lowe has been able to keep his career going as a niche artist with low sales because a cover of one his songs was on the Bodyguard soundtrack twenty years ago.

20 years ago- yes. Now- forget it.

I agree with R1 ........... if you don't expect to support a huge group of managers, agents, PR people, etc .... you should be able to live comfortably with a hit or two .........nostalgia tours, autograph conventions, reality TV, etc .......... hell, you can probably do small public speaking gigs, parties, etc.

You'd have to be willing to shamelessly milk it and have no pride about earning a living. And you'd have to know that, not only are you not A-list (living that lifestyle), you're not even on the list at all.

I'd think most of them are always working to get another hit and release new music to keep their singing appearances more relevant ........... they'd also drawer a bigger crowd if they did what Kelly Clarkson (obviously still a big hit) does now ...........incorporates current covers of popular artists in her act.

Also if it was a really big hit, getting your song picked up for a TV show or movie that is set in your era could help re-light interest.

[quote] Also if it was a really big hit, getting your song picked up for a TV show or movie that is set in your era could help re-light interest.

Here's the problem with that, though- no one is paying for music anymore. Everyone expects it to be free and available. And we all know that it takes 8-9 figure streams to even come close to making a living from that alone. Nostalgia tours can help (though again, consider the ticket prices, the cost to travel and the split with everyone else on the bill), but nostalgia is on the way out. 70s acts will always have the affluent boomer set to follow them around until they both die. 80s acts partner up and can still have a somewhat smaller lucrative piece (unless you're really a headliner like Def Leppard, who can go out with one or two other 80s acts to co-headline and still make buck). But a one hit wonder is going to get a very small slice of that, and by the time, say, someone like Carly Rae Jepsen is ready for the nostalgia tour circuit, there likely won't be one.

The money is in producing.

Ben E King did good for himself, and he had to share royalties with Leiber and Stoller.

How much money does "Afternoon Delight" pull in every year? Or "Feelings"?

Katrina from Katrina and the Waves makes over $1million per year from "Walking On Sunshine." I forget where I read this, but that's pretty damn good for one song.

[quote] Katrina from Katrina and the Waves makes over $1million per year from "Walking On Sunshine." I forget where I read this, but that's pretty damn good for one song.

I find that incredibly difficult to believe, especially as she didn't even write it.

My partner knows the guy who wrote that stupid "Who Let The Dogs Out?" song. He was able to quit his day job and live very comfortably off the royalties.

Dan Hill was already an established singer/songwriter long before Celine Dion recorded his song "Falling into You" (which was also the title of the album it came from) made $2 million from the royalties.

I read an article that attempted to work out how much Gotye made from Somebody That I Used To Know and they figured $3 to $5 million. But his song went viral so he probably didn't need to outlay much for marketing.

I suspect the Riptide guy will be a one hit wonder, but they are marketing him to death so I wonder how much he'll end up with after the record company has taken their cut.

Dolly made more from I Will Always Love You than Whitney

I wouldn't know about such things.

I knew the former of wife of the guitarist for REO Speedwagon. He wrote one of their minor hits and she said that he pulled in about 200,000 grand a year from that song alone (this was around 2000). So, I guess the answer is yes.

Usually only if the singer is also the or one of the songwriters. You may get some money occasionally when your particular recording is used in something, but the long-term royalties are usually paid to the songwriters.

R17, how much money do you think she gets paid every time it plays on the radio? But you got to realize, there's '80s radio stations all over the country, the world in fact, and that particular song is a staple on '80s radio.

Martha Wash OWNS this thread!

Thomas Dolby IS a close second.

First you have to be the songwriter. Then it probably pays to have a deal with a publishing house who'll suss out anytime your song is played so they can collect royalty for it. For instance if someone plays your song as exercise music, or maybe even in karaoke bars. I can imagine a nice living from that one song.

Rick Springfield has only that one hit song and he's always making appearances if only for city festivals or 4th of July holidays. He probably gets a decent pay out of it.

[quote] For instance if someone plays your song as exercise music, or maybe even in karaoke bars. I can imagine a nice living from that one song.

Those instances fall under general ASCAP/BMI licenses, and are not reported every time a song is played in such instances.

How much have Kander and Ebb made just from New York, New York?

Yes. Patrick Hernandez did that with Born to be alive.

Santa's Super Sleigh!

Not that I am a fan and feel the need to defend him, but is r28 the same person who has made now the third reference on DL this week to Rick Springfield being a one hit wonder??

He had SEVENTEEN Top 40 songs. I wouldn't call that a one hit wonder.

Isn't that the plot of "About A Boy" (Nick Hornsby) - that the protagonist's father wrote one-hit wonder Xmas song and as a result, he does not have to work.

I think they can if they milk it.

But sit home and wait for the royalty checks, not so much.

Look at Chris Montez, he had one hit fifty years ago and he's still on the circuit. Does masses of tours in places like England with The Herman Hermits and Tommy Roe. I'm not sure but I think he's never done anything else. He probably has some sort of sidekick.

But it seems even the big current stars have to tour and go on the road to make money now. The recorded music cow has been milked, record-wise.

Ask the guy who wrote, "Happy Birthday To You". He should know.

[quote] Ask the guy who wrote, "Happy Birthday To You". He should know.

Actually, that was 2 sisters who maligned the "copyright" to that song, but their family cash bonanza is about to end.

I met a songwriter once who had made a fortune off of a huge country song.

But he spend a lot of it on coke and meth

Robert Altman's teen-aged son wrote the lyrics for Suicide Is Painless for the film MASH. The song was used as the theme for the TV show, and the kid made millions--much more than his father did off the film.

And the lyrics were not even heard in the TV theme...

I've met three gospel singer/song writers in 12 step groups. One gets a quarterly McCheck. The other two were "robbed"- probably smoked away the rights.

I wrote, sang and recorded this song in my parents' house using a Commodore Amiga.

Dolly Parton made bank on I Will Always Love You when Whitney released it and then made even more when Whitney died.

I had two hit songs. One was grammy-winning, one was not. In the winter of '98. Then the telephone rang. It was Kevin Williamson. Will it be yes or will it be….sorry? HELL YES!

I remember years ago reading an interview with Patty Smyth of Scandal where she said that, though the album of The Warrior went platinum, she herself only got $100,000 from those sales (which breaks down to 10 cents per album). Now, of course, that's one aspect of it. I don't know how many (if any) of the songs she also wrote. She also had band members to split it with.

Years ago, OPs question would have been a resounding yes. For someone like, shit I don't even know any one hit wonders today other than Gotye or Carly Rae Jepsen, music these days is crap, I doubt that one hit will be able to sustain them well into the future.

But there's one factor not yet mentioned. If the copyright suit that's going on right now which, if it goes through will restore all copyrights to songwriters after 35 years (stripping them completely from the labels), then songwriters will see way more money without having to move so many units (or streams, or clicks)

Marianne Faithfull has said that her co-writing of the Stones song 'Sister Morphine' kept the wolf from her door for years and she was only getting a third of an album track...but, those were the days of big money for the Big Guys.

The big rock stars of the '70s live like kings.

My Way must have made Paul Anka a fortune.

In addition to My Way, Carson's Tonight Show theme.

Whoever wrote/performed the song used as the 'Friends' theme song is probably living comfortably.

Think how much Casey(KC) made off of "Boogie Shoes" on the Saturday Night Fefer Soundtrack.

Now think how much the Bee Gees made

The Beatles until Sgt. Pepper made a fifth of a PENNY a piece of the royalties of the records. Brian Epstein was the fifth. Lol Lennon/McCartney received more from The songwriting

Katrina and the Waves make a ton off that song because it's been fucking placed everywhere.

The poster child for this is Bobbie Gentry and Ode to Billy Joe. She had other country hits that cracked the top twenty and her albums with Glenn Campbell sold in the millions worldwide. But Ode to Billy Joe kept her in mink and Cadillacs. It's one of the biggest money makers ever.

KC smartly kept his copyrights and producers royalties. Rick Finch, his partner, squandered his, like with the 100 grand they made apiece from a $15 investment, "Rock your baby". He bought his non-driving mother a 60,000 car. He sold his copyrights and now is bitter with KC because he is well off. (They recorded the song on used tape, and the only expense was the $15 for the guitar solo).

Dolly never once sold any of her songs. Smart.

R39 whatever. I wrote the theme to my OWN SITCOM and it’s STILL A HIT.

Yes you can, if the song gets radio play.

[quote]And the lyrics were not even heard in the TV theme...

Gene Roddenberry did the same thing with the theme to Star Trek. The lyrics were never used, but he was credited as one of the composers so he got a piece of the royalties.