Whitney Houston and the Billion Dollar Estate: Who Owns The Publishing?

Here is a video by Forbes, featuring Zach O'Malley Greenburg. The name of the video is A Look at Whitney Houston's Financial Life After Death.

Whitney Houston was  the greatest singer to ever sing. My opinion......... I believe that we can’t take away what Whitney Houston has has given us, which is the gift of her beautiful voice. Her catalog is one that will make Sony Music a billion dollars in the future.

In one week since her death, Whitney Houston’s catalog has sold 900,000 downloads and CD sales. She has 41 songs in the iTunes top 100. I have looked at Billboard charts in just about every country that has a top 100, and Whitney Houston has at least 5 to 15 songs in the top 100.  

My thoughts on Whitney Houston’s royalties are the biggest concern for me. What kind of structure was set in place for Houston as far as her contract is concerned? Did she own a portion of the publishing even though she did not write the songs she sung?  Did she get publishing due to her status and record sales history? 

Let’s look at what we can assume about her contract. Houston for her part, most likely had a superstar royalty rate clause in her contract, which generally pays anywhere from 18% to 25% of the sales price minus the label’s fixed costs, depending on how her representatives negotiated the final agreement with Sony BMG. (RapRehab, 2012)

The value to Houston, or rather her estate is somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 to $500 million, depending on whether she owned her catalog or was signed as a regular artist as it is believed. When you own your catalog, you license it to the major companies like Sony BMG Music and you can retain 80% to 90% of the revenue.   When you are signed simply as an artist, the record label pays you a royalty rate and sometimes gives you an advance against royalties. (RapRehab, 2012)

Had she owned her masters (the final finished project recorded), she would have seen five times as much because her estate would then just license the songs or masters to Sony.

This post was inspired by an interview I saw on CNN with James L Walker Jr., speaking about Whitney Houston’s estate and how much money it will make. She was an international treasure and I personally loved al of her music. No matter what people say about her, “You take away her dignity” as she stated in the song “The Greatest Love Of All”. She had a beautiful funeral and I will miss her and most definitely support her estate by buying her music and movies.

(n.a.)(February 25, 2012) Top 100 Music Hits. Retrieved from:

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100 - /charts/hot-100

(Walker Jr., James L)(n.d.) Sony Could Earn A Billion Off Whitney Houston’s Catalog And Movies. Retrieved on February 19, 2012 from:

http://raprehab.com/2012/02/sony-could-earn-a-billion-off-whitney-houstons-catalog-and-movies/

 (Nakashima, R.)(February 5, 2012) Whitney Houston Estate to Gain; Questions Remain. Retrieved from Associated Press on February 19, 2012 from:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/whitney-houston-estate-gain-questions-remain-15613213#.T0FUAsrxobQ

How Advertising Killed the Radio

            The advent of digital downloads has forever changed the way that musicians, songwriters, and composers start their music careers. There is a new medium that has allowed artists and composers the opportunity to revamp their careers without even having to go the conventional record label deals of the 90’s. Advertising is the new way that artists are marketing their talents to the masses and audiences are taking notice.

            There is an artist by the name of Ingrid Michaelson that has completely given a new meaning to the word ”Advertising”.  Ingrid Michaelson has many songs that we all have heard through advertising on many commercials. This has parlayed her discovery of newfound fans through an unconventional channel, which she does not get through iTunes, radio, music and music videos. She has many new fans that have found her through many of her works on television.

            You might've seen an Old Navy commercial featuring the 32-year-old's lilting “The Way I Am," a song that seems almost too perfect for selling sweaters. Or the Google Chrome ad with an instrumental version of her song “Sort Of. (All About Jazz, 2012)

            Last year, worldwide licensing revenue from synchronization—a fancy term for pop music in ads—hit an all-time high at $2.5 billion, according to Heartbeats International, a music-branding agency. The tangled relationship between popular music and advertising has evolved over the past decade. Many in rock 'n' roll long believed that any artist helping to sell something was “selling out." Today, our consumerist culture has fallen in love and married our most popular art form—and the old arguments about using pop music to sell a product don't seem to matter in an era when profits for musicians have fallen away. The idea that licensing music is somehow different from selling music through iTunes isn't taken seriously anymore. (All About Jazz, 2012)

To all aspiring artists, songwriters, and composers there is a new sheriff in town and it does not consist of selling your soul to a record label that will not make you anymore famous that you already are. Take the time to re-evaluate the new set of options that are available to you. Move in the direction of advertising, it will payoff in major ways than chasing the old dream of the elusive record deal.

Check out these examples of what advertising can do for you: