How do you think how much you can make on a song? Regularly compiled ratings of popular songs, but they have not yet succeeded in surpassing the success of the melodies, which brought their authors millions.
Every year or even a month you can make a rating of songs that have become hits and brought authors and performers not only popularity, but also good money. At the same time there are compositions that appeared long enough, but their record has not yet been beaten. The songs are very popular, and you obviously sang them and more than once, just did not think about how much they earned. Let's start with the last stage of the rating in order to preserve the intrigue.
10. The Christmas Song - $ 19 million
The song, without which it is difficult to imagine the Christmas holidays, was first performed in the 1940s by Nat King Cole. For many years, it was perenated by a huge number of performers, for example, among them was Frank Sinatra. It is interesting that this song was written not in the cold winter in anticipation of the holiday, but in the hot summer, and it was done by the 19-year-old Mel Torme.
9. Oh, pretty woman - $ 19.75 million
Many people associate this song with the famous film "Pretty Woman", but it appeared and became popular long before the film was released. It happened in the 1960s, when the text was written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees, by the way, the first was her executor. According to existing information, Bill earned up to $ 200,000 each year before his death for this hit.
8. Every breath you take - $ 20.5 million.
The famous hit was performed by the rock band The Police, but the text was written by another star - Sting. After its release in 1983, the song was held for two months in the Top-list Hot Billboard 100. Former manager Sting said that he every day in the form of royalty earned on this song at least $ 2 thousand. That's what it means - to write a hit.
7. Santa Claus is comin 'to town - $ 25 million.
Another New Year's holiday song, which brought its authors a lot of money. The text was written by Frederick Coats and Haven Gillespie. On the radio, people heard it in the distant 1934. World stars regularly before Christmas make original covers for this popular song.
6. Stand By Me - $ 27 million.
As soon as the world heard the song performed by Ben King in 1961, it immediately became very popular. In 1986, the song was again heard by everyone, thanks to the fact that it became a soundtrack to the movie of the same name.
5. Unchained Melody - $ 27.5 million
Most people know this composition thanks to the movie "Ghost", but very few people know that the movie is not using the original melody, but the version of The Righteous Brothers. In fact, for the first time the song was written by Alex North and Haym Zareth. Composition performed by Todd Duncan in 1955 became the soundtrack to the film "Unknown". Another version appeared in 1965.
4. Yesterday - $ 30 million.
It's hard to find someone who does not know at least one line of this popular song The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney, but belongs not only to him, but also to John Lennon. The composition was presented in 1965, and since that moment a huge number of cover versions have been released, offered by different performers. Statistics radio indicates that the song Yesterday is in second place in terms of popularity and frequency of sound. Paul McCartney and the widow of Lennon continue to make huge sums on this song.
3. You've lost that lovin 'feelin' - $ 32 million.
The first step in the rating of the most popular songs on the radio was often occupied by this composition. The original, written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, was a cover version of The Righteous Brothers, which became very popular because it was used as a soundtrack to the movie "Best shooter".
2. White Christmas - $ 36 million.
The third Christmas song in the rating of the most profitable tracks, and this is understandable, because it is sung in millions of people in different parts of the world. It was written by Irving Berlin in the 1940s. Bing Crosby released his cover version, which is called the Guinness Book of Records "the most popular single of all time". Statistics indicate that over 100 million copies have been sold in the world.
1. Happy Birthday - $ 50 million.
Unexpectedly, this fact - the words that people sing to each other on their birthday - is the most profitable song of all time. The composition is translated into different languages and has 18 versions. It was written in 1893 by the sisters Patti and Mildred Hill, and their goal was to create a song so that you could sing it in the kindergarten. Interesting is the fact that today the song is owned by other people, receiving every day a profit as a royalty of about $ 5 thousand.