US pop star Ariana Grande. COURTESY PHOTO
Pop superstar Ariana Grande’s smash hit “7 Rings” continues to dominate the US charts — but the late composers Rodgers and Hammerstein are reaping the vast majority of royalties, according to The New York Times.
The sexy-but-sweet track that vaunts personal wealth and luxuries like diamonds and champagne heavily samples the classic “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music.”
Legendary musical theater composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein – both of whom died decades ago – are among the credited writers of that song and own 90 percent of the songwriting royalties.
Just before “7 Rings” debuted in January, when it soared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Grande and her label played it for the music company Concord, which bought the Rodgers and Hammerstein collection in 2017.
Songwriting royalties are distinct from the revenues Grande earns as an artist, yet Concord is now set up to score millions of dollars off her song, having demanded and won a 90 percent share of the royalties.
Neither Concord nor Grande’s representatives immediately responded to AFP’s request for comment.
“7 Rings” jumped back into the top spot on the Billboard top songs chart this week, bringing its total weeks in first place to six.
The seemingly unstoppable Grande last month became the first act in more than 50 years to claim simultaneously the top three spots on the US singles chart — the second act in history to do so, after The Beatles.
