Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour was released in May and is already one of the most-streamed albums of the year. Though most of the album’s response was generally positive, many Taylor Swift and Paramore fans pointed out some similarities in Rodrigo’s music. Indeed, those artists have made an eye-catching amount of money from being retroactively credited on certain tracks.
According to a report from Billboard, the songwriting credits have led to nearly $2 million being awarded to Swift and Paramore’s teams. The bulk of the royalty money comes from Rodrigo’s track “Good 4 U,” which was influenced by Paramore’s “Misery Business.” To date, the single has raked in at least $2.4 billion from streaming, sales, licensing, and airplay worldwide. After being awarded songwriting credits, Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro now hold a collective 50 percent ownership of the composition, meaning they’re making the same amount of money from the song as are Rodrigo and her producer Dan Nigro.
Rodrigo’s other hit song “Deja Vu” gave songwriting credits to Taylor Swift, which has earned at least $1.3 million to date. Swift’s team also holds 50 percent of the song, meaning Swift herself has 25 percent and her producer Jack Antonoff has 20. That means Swift herself has earned at least $325,000 from influencing Rodrigo on the song, while Rodrigo and Nigro have both pocketed at least $500,000 from publishing revenues.
Read Billboard‘s full report on Sour royalties here.
Sour is out now via Geffen/Interscope. Get it here.
Paramore is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.