Madonna

[BodyShop]

Yes,this is a great set.
it's all on her now

[maroon]

I still don’t get why “Music” (song) has such dreadful and tragic streaming performance.

A total of over 55 million Spotify streams and constantly in Madonna's Top 20 most streamed tracks is hardly "dreadful", let alone "tragic".

[Angeman]

For being the most successful song of 2000 worldwide and one of her biggest hits 55 million on Spotify is indeed tragic

[autumnwind]

Omg this is definitely fun

[britneylinda]

Music was a big hit, probably faded away over the years because of newer acts but 55M is indeed tragic considering how much of a WW hit it was but then I really don't understand how streaming business works as well, maybe it's good but doesn't seem like it.

[MrLeonix]

Music was a big hit, probably faded away over the years because of newer acts but 55M is indeed tragic considering how much of a WW hit it was but then I really don't understand how streaming business works as well, maybe it's good but doesn't seem like it.

All of her biggest hits like “Holiday”, “Like A Virgin”, “Material Girl”, “La Isla Bonita”, “Like A Prayer”, “Vogue”, “Hung Up” and even “4 Minutes” are pulling from decent to quite decent numbers.

”Music” (song) is her only smash / mega hit that is pulling those subpar numbers.

[Zeph]

I don’t understand your point. Are you really suggesting Madonna is opting to sing Music because she’ll make more in royalties? From a single performance?

Not merely suggesting but implicitly stating and it wouldn’t be the first time M has chosen songs based on royalty formula. She’s frugal, buddy. That’s not a secret.

[Zeph]

Well, not quite. I don’t believe Madonna pays ABBA for using the sample, which is why B&B are credited as songwriters (whereas other Madonna songs where she has sampled something, don’t get writing credits). So it shouldn’t be any different to performing Music, which means she has to pay Mirwais as co-writer.

The deal she made with B & B included a very expensive royalty it wasn’t 50/50. Remember when she performed Hung Up on a recent tour without the ABBA sample on a high wire. That was definitely a part of the thought process between Guy O and M.

[BodyShop]

The deal she made with B & B included a very expensive royalty it wasn’t 50/50. Remember when she performed Hung Up on a recent tour without the ABBA sample on a high wire. That was definitely a part of the thought process between Guy O and M.

I think you're right and that's quite simple to see. When was the last time she performed the original Hung Up arrangement with the ABBA sample ?
Live Earth in 2007?
I do think she has to pay them and a lot.

[BodyShop]

I agree that given how enormously huge Music was and how she has constantly played it live in basically every little opportunity she has (including the SuperBowl) , its streaming total is indeed tragic .
It should be around Hung Up's numbers at least.

[maroon]

First of all "Music" wasn't THAT huge as some portray it to have been. The fact that Mediatraffic put it as number 1 of the whole year 2000 in some sort of a points based system chart combining airplay and god knows what else, doesn't mean it was the year's best seller. Compared to "Hung Up", "Frozen" or even "4 Minutes" it definitely felt like a smaller hit overall, even on the charts it failed to go to number 1 in many countries. Its streams are quite low indeed (as well as Youtube views) but surely not "tragic", perhaps 5 million streams could be described like that. The drama that you're all creating is more tragic to be honest.

[Angeman]

Lol I thought ive seen everything

[BodyShop]

First of all "Music" wasn't THAT huge as some portray it to have been. The fact that Mediatraffic put it as number 1 of the whole year 2000 in some sort of a points based system chart combining airplay and god knows what else, doesn't mean it was the year's best seller. Compared to "Hung Up", "Frozen" or even "4 Minutes" it definitely felt like a smaller hit overall, even on the charts it failed to go to number 1 in many countries. Its streams are quite low indeed (as well as Youtube views) but surely not "tragic", perhaps 5 million streams could be described like that. The drama that you're all creating is more tragic to be honest.

Music was absolutely HUGE no matter what.
It was a mammoth hit all over the world, including the United States.
It didn't feel smaller compared to any of her other super sized hits, Vogue included.
I don't see any drama here, everyone is just politely discussing Music's numbers based on how big of a hit It was .
Judging by the way your replies are always so aggressive, it kinda feels you're always dealing with enemies -rather than fellow people who are also interested in discussing all things Madonna here.
Why are you always so harsh to everyone?

[Artoo]

I think you're right and that's quite simple to see. When was the last time she performed the original Hung Up arrangement with the ABBA sample ?
Live Earth in 2007?
I do think she has to pay them and a lot.

Coachella. She also performed it last year at that Pride event with the blue hair.

I genuinely can’t believe fans think Madonna doesn’t perform one of her biggest hits because someone else gets a decent chunk of the royalties. Madonna has never not performed one of her own songs because of royalty issues. Madonna would never agree to use the sample in the first place if her royalties outweighed those Benny and Bjorn got from the song and it ended up costing her to perform or use her own song.

Additionally, whilst the sample wasn’t used on the MDNA tour Benny and Bjorn are still credited as the songwriter - it makes no difference whether she uses the sample or not, they still get credited and paid for the song. Just check the MDNAT album credits. I personally don’t think she pays for the use of the sample at all, but gives them songwriting royalties instead. Most songs that sample a song don’t do that.

[Artoo]

Music was a monster hit in 2000. Ray of Light was a return to commercial and critical acclaim, but Music was just a massive moment for Madonna. It elevated her status much higher than ROL era had (though that era was absolutely the foundations for that. 2000 was probably the peak of Madonna’s second ‘prime’.

[InFamous]

Music was definitely huge. It was also very very fresh and different for that time.

[BodyShop]

Coachella. She also performed it last year at that Pride event with the blue hair.

I genuinely can’t believe fans think Madonna doesn’t perform one of her biggest hits because someone else gets a decent chunk of the royalties. Madonna has never not performed one of her own songs because of royalty issues. Madonna would never agree to use the sample in the first place if her royalties outweighed those Benny and Bjorn got from the song and it ended up costing her to perform or use her own song.

Additionally, whilst the sample wasn’t used on the MDNA tour Benny and Bjorn are still credited as the songwriter - it makes no difference whether she uses the sample or not, they still get credited and paid for the song. Just check the MDNAT album credits. I personally don’t think she pays for the use of the sample at all, but gives them songwriting royalties instead. Most songs that sample a song don’t do that.

But Coachella was in 2006 so, part of the Confessions era.
That pride event last year was basically nothing
Do you remember how it was so hugely publicized back then that B & B don't allow artists to sample ABBA but made an exception to Madonna? The price for that certainly ain't cheap.
It's up to anyone's personal opinion as we will never know the truth but I do think whenever she uses the gimme gimme gimme sample she has to pay for that and the % obvs changes according to how big the event is.

[InFamous]

Coachella. She also performed it last year at that Pride event with the blue hair.

I genuinely can’t believe fans think Madonna doesn’t perform one of her biggest hits because someone else gets a decent chunk of the royalties. Madonna has never not performed one of her own songs because of royalty issues. Madonna would never agree to use the sample in the first place if her royalties outweighed those Benny and Bjorn got from the song and it ended up costing her to perform or use her own song.

Additionally, whilst the sample wasn’t used on the MDNA tour Benny and Bjorn are still credited as the songwriter - it makes no difference whether she uses the sample or not, they still get credited and paid for the song. Just check the MDNAT album credits. I personally don’t think she pays for the use of the sample at all, but gives them songwriting royalties instead. Most songs that sample a song don’t do that.

Generally the songwriters of a sampled song are given writing credit on the new song.
Thats how many songs have huge lists of songwriters these days - see Lemonade.

[MrLeonix]

“Music” (song) was without a doubt a smash global hit song.

That’s why it’s quite shocking to see the relatively low streams these days taking into account how much of a hit it was. Like I said, all of her singles with “mammoth hit status” are pulling quite decent numbers on streaming platforms except for “Music”.

[Artoo]

But Coachella was in 2006 so, part of the Confessions era.

[Angeman]

God she looked so good during the Rebel Heart era.

[BodyShop]

I tried to hard to erase that night from my mind that I swear I didn't remember she also sang HU, only HN ...and that kiss...

[Zeph]

Ok I hope this clears it up.

Oh before I start MUSIC was absolutely HUGE all over the world. It definitely gave Madonna another peak as she came roaring into the aughts like a lion!

The artist’s management present the lists of songs that were performed that night at the venue to the venue.

The venue secures a license from PROs (Performance Rights Organizations) ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC and a portion of that fee is paid to the performance of songs from their catalogues.

So, if Madonna did all of her songs, and, let’s say that Madonna is an ASCAP writer, but she performs “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, Madonna gets fees for her ASCAP songs performed in that venue along with her performance fee (double windfall) and Lady Gaga receives a fee for the use of her song in that venue from BMI.

Fees are calculated based on gate gross and total earnings the arena makes including money from merchandise sales and concession and food stands. So the bigger the artist, the more money the venue pays in licensing. So in essence on top of the fee Madonna negotiates for each appearance (tour stop) she also receives a hefty royalty because her gates are extremely lucrative. Yet a song where she negotiated a 75% co-writing credit would provide her with more royalties than a song where she receives only 25% credit as with Hung Up. I’m only basing the estimation of Benny and Björn receiving half the royalties as the Contact Music article stated they (B&B) agreed to split the royalties.

So ultimately it is a matter of dollars and in the cases of artists who generate billion dollar tours spanning their careers, it could make a really big difference in the millions which songs you choose to perform.

https://www.contactmusic.com/abba/ne...madonna-sample


I hope this makes it clearer. I do invite anyone else to add to this because as BodyShop said, we truly don’t know the real figures and inner workings involved but (legacy) artists don’t make money selling albums or streaming but they make a huge portion through performing, selling merchandise and branding their name on products. Wonder why Rihanna still has fans waiting for R9? Welp that’s because she makes more money with less work (touring is grueling) using the fruits of her labor… her brand. Ok I’m done.

[maroon]

Music was absolutely HUGE no matter what.
It was a mammoth hit all over the world, including the United States.
It didn't feel smaller compared to any of her other super sized hits, Vogue included.
I don't see any drama here, everyone is just politely discussing Music's numbers based on how big of a hit It was .
Judging by the way your replies are always so aggressive, it kinda feels you're always dealing with enemies -rather than fellow people who are also interested in discussing all things Madonna here.
Why are you always so harsh to everyone?

"Music" was a big global hit, no doubt, but not on par with her biggest classics, at least not in Europe so it's not so surprising to me that its streams have always been way lower than the ones of HU, LAP, LIB, Vogue, 4M or Frozen.
In the 3 biggest European markets it was weaker than Frozen's success: 1 week at the top in the UK (until now only her 15th biggest seller or so all in all), peak of #2 in Germany (and that only for 1 week as well) and barely a #8 peak in France. That's not what I call "enormously huge". Let's face it, "Music" was no Gangnam Style/Despacito/Happy/Get Lucky etc.

The word "tragic" is very dramatic in itself, tragedy is even one of 4 main forms of drama alongside comedy, tragicomedy and melodrama. And I don't see any agressivity in my replies. How is expressing my opinion (backed with some chart data now) automatically considered harsh?

[Artoo]

All I know is any discussion dismissing Music as a huge moment is Madonna’s career is tragedy.