Savage’s “Swing” - Publishing Royalties

"Swing" is a platinum-certified hip-hop single that topped the charts in New Zealand, cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and later went four-times platinum in Australia through a remix. Two decades on, it is still earning more each year, posting a five-year compound annual growth rate of 7.52%. Trailing earnings now sit above both the prior twelve months and the three-year average. That endurance is the heart of the case. The catalog holds three tracks, but they are essentially one song: the 2005 New Zealand original that broke into America after a placement in the film Knocked Up, plus two remixes that carried it to new audiences and into a new decade.

Almost all of that income comes from streaming, and the growth is broad rather than lucky. Over the past year the original recording climbed across nearly every major platform at once. YouTube roughly doubled, Pandora more than quadrupled off a small base, Apple Music rose by about half, and Spotify added steadily on top. This is the same pattern that has defined the song for years: it keeps finding new listeners. It resurfaced as a viral sound on TikTok in 2020, and short-form video has kept feeding the streaming numbers since. When a twenty-year-old song gains on multiple services at once, that points to genuine discovery. It helps that streaming pays this catalog largely through mechanical royalties. On its United States earnings, a federal board reset that per-stream rate higher and locked it in through 2027.

The appeal is durability: a recording with two decades of paid history behind it, three separate chart runs, and repeated waves of rediscovery, and it is earning more today than it did a year ago. Streaming carries it now, at a per-stream rate fixed higher through 2027, and the rights convey for the full life of the copyright. Twenty years of demand, and a line still rising.

"Swing" is one of the more improbable crossover stories in modern hip-hop: a single from a New Zealand rapper that won over three different markets and three different genres across two decades.

Originally released in 2005 by South Auckland rapper Savage, the song spent five weeks at number one on the New Zealand singles chart, carried by an insistent beat and a call-and-response hook that made it an instant club favorite. Its international breakthrough came with the 2008 United States release featuring Soulja Boy, which reached number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the RIAA, selling more than 1.5 million copies and making Savage the first New Zealand artist to go platinum in America.

A second remix, featuring Pitbull, layered his Latin-inflected rap over the track and broadened its reach across new global markets. A third, by Australian producer Joel Fletcher, rebuilt the song as electronic dance music, with pulsing beats and festival-ready drops that carried it to number two on the ARIA chart in 2014 and a four-times-platinum certification in Australia. One composition, proven across pop, club, and dance audiences alike.

Exchange Rates. Royalties for this asset are reported by Universal Music Publishing Group Australia in Australian Dollar (AUD). To calculate royalty payments in U.S. Dollars (USD), Royalty Exchange applies the average historical exchange rate for the distribution month (via X-rates.com).

Future royalties will be paid to Royalty Exchange in AUD converted to USD upon receipt, and then paid in USD to the buyer. The receiving bank may increase the exchange rate by up to 2.5% as a transaction fee. 

Earnings Note. 2024 includes approximately $3,200 in earnings from Peloton for "Swing (Remix)." Any similar payments in the future will be payable to the buyer.

Earnings Note. 2H2025 includes approximately $1,500 in user-generated content royalties from YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. Any similar payments in the future will be payable to the buyer.

Data Note. Universal Music Publishing Group Australia does not report some of its earnings by territory. You'll notice in the bar chart below that this portion is listed as unreported.