“Bad Romance,” by Lady Gaga, would bring in over $446,000 a year if the Performance Rights Act was enacted by Congress, according to a new assessment by the Government Accountability Office. The proposed legislation would require broadcast radio stations to pay a royalties to performers as well as copyright holders.
“As the primary musician on this sound recording, Lady Gaga would receive 45 percent of the total royalty, almost $201,000,” the GAO estimates, if the tithe came in at 2.35 percent. ” The copyright holder would earn 50 percent, or over $223,000, and the background musicians and performers would share 5 percent, over $22,000.”
But most musicians wouldn’t make nearly that sum. The GAO estimates that 56 percent of performers would take in $100 or less per year. Less than 6 percent of artists would receive $10,000 or more per year in royalties from airplay in the top 10 markets—these generate about 21 percent of industry revenues.
Still, many artists would make between $500 to $100,000 a year. Here’s the complete breakdown of the GAO’s estimate:
| Royalty range | Percentage of total
musicians and performers |
| Less than $10 | 21% |
| $10-49 | 26% |
| $50-99 | 9% |
| $100-499 | 17% |
| $500-999 | 6% |
| $1,000-9,999 | 16% |
| $10,000-99,999 | 5% |
| $100,000 or more | <1 |
