Lovelytheband’s “Broken” — Songwriter Royalties

Description

This catalog features the record-breaking, smash single “Broken” from indie-pop band Lovelytheband.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:

This listing features a single song that continues to generate strong radio airplay years after its release. In fact, radio contributes 71% to the track’s overall earnings. (You’ll notice a significant spike in earnings in Q4-2018 as a result of the song’s initial release and subsequent radio popularity.)

These radio-based earnings lasted for an impressive two years, and are now starting to transition to streaming.  With radio hits like this, it’s common to see a shift in format to streaming. Domestic streaming accounts for 6% of the track’s last 12 months’ earning, which is up from 5% of “all-time earnings” for the song. 

International royalties brought in 17% of last year’s royalties, making this the second top-earning source. International earnings combine all format sources into one bucket (radio, streaming, retail, TV/film, etc.) without providing a breakdown for each. However, international receipts tend to follow domestic earnings in terms of format share. You’ll also notice a significant increase in these foreign returns, this is because international collection/distribution can lag behind domestic payments. 

ABOUT THE CATALOG: 

The single “Broken” was released exclusively to Billboard in April 2017, and was then later included on the group’s debut studio album Finding It Hard to Smile in August 2018. 

Thanks to its inclusion on the album, “Broken” shot to the top of the charts in late 2018 (evident in the spike in earnings for Q4-2018). Most impressively, the song holds the record for the longest-running entry on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, at 76 weeks, including nine weeks in the No. 1 spot. The song also snagged the No. 1 spot on the Adult Top 40 chart and peaked at No. 29 on the mainstream Hot 100. To date, it has nearly 160+ million spins on Spotify. 

What’s impressive is that “Broken” still continues to have a widespread radio presence. According to MediaBase’s 7-Day rolling U.S. radio chart report, it remains among the most-played songs on Alternative radio stations.

Key Drivers

Radio Income. While this catalog continues to generate royalties from radio, this will likely level off. However, songs that establish an audience on radio typically bring that audience with them to other platforms, like streaming. 

Historically, streaming brought in 5% of royalties. In the last 12 months, however, streaming increased to 6% of the song’s earnings. So as we're seeing the radio royalties begin to slow down, other income sources (streaming) begin to increase.

Pop & Streaming. According to the IFPI, pop remains the most popular music format globally. International royalties account for 17% of this pop catalog's earnings last year — and its income is on the rise. These foreign receipts include streaming.