I was thinking about this the other night. Prince has a huge catalog on his own, but think about all of the gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums he has compositions on. Does anyone know how much a songwriter gets paid for a song appearing on an album/project?

Here are some of the songs I could think of that are on big selling albums that aren't his own albums:

Celine Dion's "With This Tear": The album went double platinum

MC Hammer's "Pray"

What are some other big sellers?

Sinead O'Connor with Nothing Compares is an obvious one. The album that appeared on, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got went multi platinum.

"Manic Monday" on the Bangles album "Different Light". That album had quite a few hits.

"Love Song" on Madonna's album "Like A Prayer". The song could be the worst thing on that album, but the album itself was huge.

I wouldn't include MC Hammer's "Pray", since that was just a sample of "When Doves Cry" and had no Prince involvement other than source material.

Se7en said:

"Manic Monday" on the Bangles album "Different Light". That album had quite a few hits.

"Love Song" on Madonna's album "Like A Prayer". The song could be the worst thing on that album, but the album itself was huge.

I wouldn't include MC Hammer's "Pray", since that was just a sample of "When Doves Cry" and had no Prince involvement other than source material.

soft and wet is also on that hammer album

Manic monday made the bangles famous b4 that they were nothing

[Edited 10/16/11 6:50am]

asg said:

Se7en said:

"Manic Monday" on the Bangles album "Different Light". That album had quite a few hits.

"Love Song" on Madonna's album "Like A Prayer". The song could be the worst thing on that album, but the album itself was huge.

I wouldn't include MC Hammer's "Pray", since that was just a sample of "When Doves Cry" and had no Prince involvement other than source material.

soft and wet is also on that hammer album

Manic monday made the bangles famous b4 that they were nothing

[Edited 10/16/11 6:50am]

I forgot about "Soft and Wet." No wonder he wasn't worried about Graffiti Bridge not doing well, I'm sure he had a nice paycheck from that Hammer album to make up for it.

Chaka Khan - I Feel For You

"...Successful songwriters and composers have a relationship with a publishing company defined by a publishing contract. The publisher agrees to see to it that the composers receive royalties from various uses of their compositions. They also provide substantial advances against future income. In return, the publishing company receives a percentage, which can be as high as 50% and varies for different kinds of royalties..."

Music publisher (popular music)

Music royalties

Unlike other forms of intellectual property, music royalties have a strong linkage to individuals – composers (score), songwriters (lyrics) and writers of musical plays – in that they can own the exclusive copyright to created music and can license it for performance independent of corporates. Recording companies and the performing artists that create a "sound recording" of the music enjoy a separate set of copyrights and royalties from the sale of recordings and from their digital transmission (depending on national laws).

With the advent of pop music and major innovations in technology in the communication and presentations of media, the subject of music royalties has become a complex field with considerable change in the making.

A musical composition obtains protection in copyright law immediate to its reduction to tangible form – a score on paper or a taping; but it is not protected from infringed use unless registered with the copyright authority; for instance, the Copyright Office in the United States, administered by the Library of Congress. No person or entity, other than the copyright owner, can use or employ the music for gain without obtaining a license from the composer/songwriter.

Inherently, as copyright, it confers on its owner, a distinctive "bundle" of five exclusive rights:

(a) to make copies of the songs through print or recordings

(b) to distribute them to the public for profit

(c) to the "public performance right"; live or through a recording

(d) to create a derivative work to include elements of the original music; and

(e) to "display" it (not very relevant in context).

Where the score and the lyric of a composition are contributions of different persons, each of them is an equal owner of such rights.

These exclusivities have led to the evolution of distinct commercial terminology used in the music industry.

They take four forms:

(1) royalties from "print rights"

(2) mechanical royalties from the recording of composed music on CDs and tape

(3) performance royalties from the performance of the compositions/songs on stage or television through artists and bands, and

(4) synch (for synchronization) royalties from using or adapting the musical score in the movies, television advertisements, etc. and

With the advent of the internet, an additional set of royalties has come into play: the digital rights from simulcasting, webcasting, streaming, downloading, and online "on-demand service".

In the following the terms "composer" and "songwriter" (either lyric or score) are synonymous.

Royalties

IIWYG is on TLC's Crazysexycool.....

Beautiful ones is on "Butterfly" (M. Carey)

Like A Prayer (the song) features Prince on the guitar. On 2Pac's sucessful Don Killumati: 7 Day Theory, the song To Live & Die In L.A samples Do Me, Baby. There's more just keep looking

Alicia Keyes

Heartz of men by 2Pac on All Eyez On Me samples Darling Nikki, Whatz Ya Phone # on the same album samples 777-9311

[Edited 10/16/11 10:32am]

aardvark15 said:

Like A Prayer (the song) features Prince on the guitar. On 2Pac's sucessful Don Killumati: 7 Day Theory, the song To Live & Die In L.A samples Do Me, Baby. There's more just keep looking

First one about Like A Prayer check www.princevault.com

http://www.princevault.co...e_A_Prayer

Also, the promo includes the Like A Prayer Dub beats, which samples Bob George (rememer, in 1989 The Black Album was not even released)

Secondly, Do Me Baby is heavily based on a Eddie Hazel song btw

[Edited 10/16/11 16:23pm]

xenophobia2002 said:

aardvark15 said:

Like A Prayer (the song) features Prince on the guitar. On 2Pac's sucessful Don Killumati: 7 Day Theory, the song To Live & Die In L.A samples Do Me, Baby. There's more just keep looking

First one about Like A Prayer is not true, check www.princevault.com

However, the promo includes the Like A Prayer Dub beats, which samples Bob George (rememer, in 1989 The Black Album was not even released)

Secondly, Do Me Baby is heavily based on a Eddie Hazel song

Why would Prince vault talk about Madonna. They only talk about Prince songs that were unreleased or released on Prince projects. Like A Prayer wasn't a Prince project.

aardvark15 said:

Ahh I see now he played guitar on Keep It Together and Act Of Contrition and his guitar solo on Like A Prayer was edited on album and only included on he maxi-single

Se7en said:

"Manic Monday" on the Bangles album "Different Light". That album had quite a few hits.

"Love Song" on Madonna's album "Like A Prayer". The song could be the worst thing on that album, but the album itself was huge.

I wouldn't include MC Hammer's "Pray", since that was just a sample of "When Doves Cry" and had no Prince involvement other than source material.

Well, you should include "Pray", because that was a cleared sample and that meant Prince got paid baby! Every time it was played on radio, every time it was broadcast anywhere, any time Hammer performed it live, any time a copy of the single or album sold, Prince got a percentage! Even without knowing the percentage, it adds up.

Same with JayZ/Beyoncé's "Bonnie and Clyde" - a few lines sung from If I Was Your Girlfriend and Prince gets his percentage.

Check with ASCAP - he's listed as a Writer for both songs.

Of course, this applies to any musician who is registered with ASCAP etc - Prince doesn't have to instigate any of it (except agreeing the percentage and ensuring that its registered), it just comes to him and other artists automatically.

xenophobia2002 said:

aardvark15 said:

Like A Prayer (the song) features Prince on the guitar. On 2Pac's sucessful Don Killumati: 7 Day Theory, the song To Live & Die In L.A samples Do Me, Baby. There's more just keep looking

First one about Like A Prayer check www.princevault.com

http://www.princevault.co...e_A_Prayer

Also, the promo includes the Like A Prayer Dub beats, which samples Bob George (rememer, in 1989 The Black Album was not even released)

Secondly, Do Me Baby is heavily based on a Eddie Hazel song btw

[Edited 10/16/11 16:23pm]

In spite of Prince's further, uncredited involvement in the Like A Prayer project, the only thing he would have been paid on is a percentage of Love Song (most likely half). The guitar contributions etc don't pay - he's not officially credited on the songs either as writer or performer.