“This Cowboy’s Hat” - Songwriter + Publisher Royalties

This asset includes both the publishing and public performance royalties for the iconic song "This Cowboy's Hat". Forty-four years in and growing at an 11.58% five-year CAGR, this single-song catalog is in its strongest earning stretch yet — the April 2026 UMPG semi-annual publishing distribution arrived as the largest payment the song has ever received, and 2025 closed as a record annual earnings high.

For most of the 2010s, "This Cowboy's Hat" earned at a steady, modest level. The trajectory shifted as streaming displaced downloads as the dominant consumption format, and again as the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board lifted the publisher's share of streaming revenue — first under Phonorecords III, raising the headline rate from 11.4% to 15.1% over 2018-2022, then under Phonorecords IV, stepping it further to 15.35% by 2027. The catalog absorbed both rate moves alongside the back-pay true-ups that flowed through in 2023-2024 and the natural compounding of growing streaming revenue. Annual earnings landed at $42,559 in 2023, $44,097 in 2024, and $48,943 in 2025; April UMPG publishing distributions of $12,815 in 2024, $17,531 in 2025, and $18,585 in 2026. Some of that acceleration is industry tailwind — worth pricing in — but it sits on top of song-specific traction: a 2024 official music video that has crossed 17 million views, RIAA Platinum certification the same year, ongoing performances by Ned LeDoux, and a Chase Rice cover keeping the song in active rotation.

Streaming makes up roughly 79% of recent income, with YouTube as the single largest contributor, then Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, and Pandora. The remaining share flows from sync placements, jukebox plays through TouchTunes, hotel and venue music services, and print royalties from sheet music — every channel a country standard collects from after four decades in rotation. Distributions arrive on two cadences: UMPG publishing royalties every April and October, and BMI performance royalties quarterly.

For an investor, the case is straightforward: a single-song catalog, RIAA Platinum certification in 2024, two royalty streams on regular cadences, a U.S. streaming mechanical rate floor locked through 2027, and a recent trajectory climbing rather than fading.

"This Cowboy's Hat" is a narrative country song Chris LeDoux first recorded in 1982 for his album Used to Want to Be a Cowboy. He re-recorded it for Western Underground (1991), his major-label debut and 23rd album overall, which peaked at #36 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. In July 2024, "This Cowboy's Hat" earned RIAA Platinum certification, with LeDoux's son Ned accepting the plaque in Nashville. 

The song's staying power comes from what LeDoux brought to it. In 1976, he became the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's world champion in bareback riding before he was ever a national recording artist — by the strictest possible definition, country music's most successful actual cowboy. 

The catalog footprint is active, not dormant. An official music video produced by LeDoux's family in 2024 — built around February 1997 live footage is the most-viewed video of his career. Cover versions extend the song's reach: Porter Wagoner recorded it in 1983, Australian country star Lee Kernaghan cut his own version, and Chase Rice featured Ned LeDoux on a duet version. That generational handoff points to a song with a built-in mechanism for reintroducing itself to new audiences.

Earnings Note. The Earnings by Period chart below reflects royalty payments based on two distinct statement sets from different payors. The Last 12 Months include:

BMI Statements: 1Q-2025 through 4Q-2025 (Quarterly)
UMPG Statements: 1H-2025 and 2H-2025 (Semester)