Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour album made its debut in May and has already become one of the most listened to pop albums of the year, but with great success comes great responsibility.
Though most of the reviews of the album were generally positive, many Taylor Swift and Paramore fans pointed out some similarities in Rodrigo’s music. This made its way to the musicians who, per Uproxx, made nearly $2 million respectively from being retroactively credited on certain tracks.
Taylor Swift with Olivia after Sour debut.pic.twitter.com/9VZSWUaZGS
— blue rice (@bluerice23) August 31, 2021
Per the report, the bulk of the royalty money comes from Rodrigo’s track “Good 4 U,” which was influenced by Paramore’s “Misery Business.” To date, the single has raked in at least $2.4 million from streaming, sales, licensing, and airplay worldwide. After being awarded songwriting credits, Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro now hold a collective 50 percent ownership of the song, meaning they’re making the same amount of money from the song as are Rodrigo and her producer Dan Nigro.
Compare Paramore’s 2007″Misery Business” to Rodrigo’s “Good For You” below:
Rodrigo’s other hit song “Deja Vu” gave songwriting credits to Taylor Swift, sounding similar to her 2019 song “Cruel Summer,” which has earned at least $1.3 million to date. Swift’s team also holds 50 percent of the song, meaning Swift herself has 25 percent and her producer Jack Antonoff has 20. That means Swift herself has earned at least $325,000 from influencing Rodrigo on the song, while Rodrigo and Nigro have both pocketed at least $500,000 from publishing revenues.
Compare Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” and “Rodrigo’s “Deja Vu” below: