Stranger Things Is Making An 80s Pop Star A Whole Lot Of Money
Stranger Things is one of the most popular Netflix shows of all time, and that popularity has led to a 1980s pop star raking in a ton of money for a song featured on the show.
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Seven billion is a big number. No, we’re not talking about the number of people in the world. We’re talking about the number of minutes fans spent watching Stranger Things. In the week after the debut of Season 4 of the Netflix mega-hit, fans sat down and watched approximately one minute for every person on the planet. Now, obviously, that is a big deal. But how big of a deal is that? It is big enough to not only crash the biggest streaming platform in existence but also to crush the Nielson streaming record. That makes fans of the series extremely happy that their show is blowing the world away. However, there is another more obscure fanbase benefitting largely from the explosion. In the newest season, Stranger Things used the song “Running Up that Hill” by Kate Bush, and the resulting popularity is causing a massive resurgence.
The Copywrite of “Running Up That Hill” is owned by a company called Nobile And Brite. Kate Bush owns the company that owns the song that she wrote, performed, and recorded herself. While Warner Music Group distributed the song, she gets to keep roughly eighty percent of the royalties all to herself. According to a theory by Music Business Worldwide, this sole ownership of the song could lead to a fortune for the artist. Since Stranger Things Season 4 debuted, fans flocked to Spotify to listen to Kate Bush’s song 57 million times. That could translate to roughly $200,000 weekly in royalties from one platform. Add to that the TikTok explosion by using the song as a sound, and you end up with a healthy bank account.
When Bohemian Rhapsody hit theaters a few years ago, everyone seemed to be singing the most famous songs from their favorite albums. When Iron Man used that familiar song of the same name as its theme in 2008, the song saw a jump in popularity it hadn’t seen in decades. Thanks to the new world of streaming both shows and music, this effect is amplified. Stranger Things brought “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush to the number one spot on the charts for the first time in nearly four decades. But what does that do for the artist?
When a song is used in a series, the production company pays the team that created the music royalties. When fans hear the song in the movie or show and then run to Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music to listen to it, the streaming service pays the team royalties. Most of the time, the artist gets nickels on the dollar since the royalties are split between the singer, songwriter, producer, bandmates, label, distributor, etc. However, what Stranger Things did for Kate Bush breaks the mold for one primary reason; she owns the rights to that song.
Kate Bush has much to be thankful for with everything Stranger Things did. However, it wasn’t simply making the music and sitting back for 37 years while she waited for a payday. Her excellent business savvy and belief in herself caused a perfect storm for her to make millions. When speaking to BBC’s Women’s Hour, she said, “It’s so exciting. It’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? The whole world’s gone mad … What’s really wonderful is that this is a whole new audience who in a lot of cases haven’t heard of me, and I love that.”
