Ariana Grande Gives Up 90% Of Writing Royalties For “7 Rings”

Ariana Grande’s “7 rings” is on track to be one of the biggest songs of 2019. This week it notched a sixth week atop the Billboard Hot 100. And a prominent feature on the setlist of Ari’s Sweetener World Tour ensures that it is likely to remain on top for the foreseeable future. One of the trap-infused banger’s defining characteristics is that it riffs on the mega-popular “My Favorite Things.” The pop princess is an avid musical fan. Thus, the feature makes a lot of sense. But it turns out there was a hefty fee involved to secure those rights. How much? According to The New York Times, she agreed to hand over 90 percent of the songwriting royalties for “7 rings” to Concord.

Concord owns the rights to “My Favorite Things,” which was written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The duo are two of 10 writers credited on “7 Rings.” So, the split leaves only 10 percent of the profits to split with the eight remaining writers. Allegedly, Ari’s team accepted the deal mere weeks ahead of dropping the single this January. And she is not the only act to pay to sample music from the Sound Of Music soundtrack. Billboard noted Gwen Stefani sacrificed 50 percent of writing royalties for 2006’s “Wind It Up.” Considering both tracks’ massive success, I’d say it was worth the price.

Revisit “7 rings” below.

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