Even though the world will be a better place once this obnoxious plagiarism case of Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ ‘Blurred Lines’ versus the estate of Marvin Gaye and ‘Got To Give It Up’ is over, there are some pretty interesting bits and pieces to emerge from the hearings.
When we say interesting, we definitely aren’t referring to Thicke performing a medley of songs as his defence, there have been financials surrounding the revenue, profit and costs of ‘Blurred Lines’ that have emerged, providing a unique insight into how much a smash-hit pop song makes – something that is usually concealed from the public, as Stereogum reports.
The court case has detailed that the revenue generated from ‘Blurred Lines’ sits at a staggering $16,675,690, of which Thicke pocketed $5,658,214 and Williams $5,153,457 whilst T.I notably received $704,774 for his contribution. From here, the labels involved that includes Interscope, UMG Distribution, and Star Trak divided the remainder of the funds, totally to $5,159,245.
These big numbers obviously make being a pop-star sound lucratively attractive, right? Well, according to Universal Music, the song actually cost more than what it made. Universal claim that ‘Blurred Lines’ actually cost, wait for it, $6.9 million to make. Yep, apparently that’s the price you pay to create one of the biggest songs of the year, which was the case for these guys in 2013.
It seems unbelievable that that much money could be waxed on one measly song, the guys from Forbes unsettled by such statistics reached-out to industry professionals to investigate how so much money could be spent on the track.
Apparently, a huge amount of funds went toward the creation of Thicke’s failed album, to Williams as production fees, whilst the bulk of the funds were said to be used on international promotion that sent Thicke and Co. around the globe to perform the song.
Should the Gaye estate win their case, damages that could be owed are said to be around the $40 million mark, the Gaye family are seeking funds from the aforementioned profits, as well as tour revenue as well as a compensation for “a reduction of the fair market value” of licensing ‘Got To Give It Up’.
According to Billboard, the case could come to a close as early as Friday 6 March.
