Olivia Rodrigo Pays Millions In Royalties To Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams
Olivia Rodrigo ended up paying a fortune in royalties to Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams for their writing.
Olivia Rodrigo is giving credit where it’s due, but it’s not going to come cheap. The pop star reportedly must pay millions of dollars in royalties to Taylor Swift and Paramore’s Hayley Williams after giving them writing credits following accusations she copied their music.
Olivia released her debut album Sour on May 21, 2021, after revealing several singles to much critical success, including Driver’s License, Déjà vu, and Good 4 U. However, fans have since noticed that several of her songs bear striking similarities to other popular hits.
Even before the release of her album, social media users noticed a similar sound between Good 4 U and Paramore’s 2007 single Misery Business. A YouTube video posted on May 14th aimed to prove Olivia’s song borrowed from the Paramore hit by mashing the songs up together in order to reveal their similarities. The clip has been viewed over 3 million times.
Finally, earlier this week, it was reported that Olivia agreed to give Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Joshua Farro retroactive songwriting credits. “Our publisher is wildin rn,” Hayley wrote on Instagram in response to the news Buzzfeed reports.
This wasn’t the first-time Olivia offered retroactive song-writing credits. It was previously reported in July she acknowledged the influence of Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent on her hit “Déjà vu.” Olivia reportedly used an interpolation of Taylor’s 2019 song “Cruel Summer.”
She’s also admitted to using an interpolation of Taylor’s 2017 tune New Year’s Day in her song 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back and credits the pop star as well as Jack Antonoff in the song. Olivia later opened up about the song in an interview with Zach Sang, explaining she wrote the lyrics in the car while listening to Taylor’s hit.
“ I was lucky enough to get that approved, and it's on the record ,” she said, explaining she got permission to use the song on her album ahead of time.
But it’s not as simple as giving public songwriting credit. Olivia and her team must also give a large portion of the royalties for her hits to the artists that have been given retroactive songwriting credit. According to Billboard, this will cost the singer millions in publishing royalties.
For instance, Hayley Williams and Joshua Farro are entitled to 50% of the royalties for Good 4 U, which could be upwards of $1.4 million as of now, the outlet estimates.
It’s also being reported that Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent will split 50% of the royalties for Déjà vu, which Billboard suggests is near $1 million combined, while Olivia and songwriter Daniel Nigro will keep the remaining profits. Similarly, Olivia will also share the royalties for 1 Step Forward, 3 Step Back with Taylor and Jack.
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