Songwriting Royalties for Yellowcard

Twenty-three years after Yellowcard’s Ocean Avenue was released, the songs on the album are still earning — and earning more each year. This catalog of songwriting public-performance royalties has grown through every era of the music business, and the streaming era in particular has re-lit the older material. Streaming income rose from $8.9K in 2020 to $14.4K last year, and total annual royalties climbed from $13.4K to $22.1K over the same period.

One of the catalysts for the recent lift came in 2023, when frontman Ryan Key and the band reunited for the Ocean Avenue 20th Anniversary Tour, their first tour in over six years. The tour did two things at once. It generated a one-time surge in live performance royalties, and it pulled new and returning listeners back to the catalog — a durable effect that shows up in the streaming numbers. Streaming income stepped up from $12.9K in 2023 to $14.4K in 2024 and held there in 2025, two full years at the higher level without another headline event to explain it. With more tour dates scheduled through 2026 and a new Yellowcard album out in 2025, the activity behind the lift continues.

Underneath those totals, the earnings mix is broader than a streaming-only catalog. Streaming is the largest source, but a real share of income still comes from live performance, radio, and abroad. More than 40% of the last twelve months was earned outside the United States, unusually high for a U.S. alternative-rock catalog, with the U.K., Germany, Canada, and Australia leading the overseas mix.

The earnings are top-heavy. "Ocean Avenue" alone earns 45% of the trailing twelve months, and the top five tracks together earn 72%. The rest of the catalog fills in the remaining 28%. The offset is that "Ocean Avenue" is not fading. It has set a new annual high in each of the last five years, and its trailing twelve-month figure ($10,391) sits within 1.5% of the prior twelve. The streaming step-up has held.

For an investor, this is a catalog that found a second life in streaming, had its live income lifted by a reunion tour, and is now earning at a higher, steady level than before the tour began. The LTM of $23.3K sits below the three-year average of $24.8K because the trailing window has already moved past uplift from 2024’s live payments, so the LTM is closer to the run-rate than the peak. The band is still active, the anchor song is still growing, and the international mix is still expanding.

Yellowcard, formed in 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, built one of the most identifiable sounds in early-2000s alternative rock, pairing pop-punk energy with electric violin. Their commercial breakthrough came in 2003 with Ocean Avenue, the album that continues to anchor this catalog.

"Ocean Avenue," released in 2003 as the title track of the double-platinum album, remains the band's signature song and the largest earner in this collection. It is Yellowcard's most-streamed track on Spotify with over 429 million streams and continues to set new annual highs in the earnings dataset. "Only One," released as the third single from Ocean Avenue in June 2004, was certified Gold and remains a fan-favorite for its heartfelt lyrics and melodic hook. "Way Away," the album's lead single, and "Breathing," its second single, round out the Ocean Avenue material that drives most of the catalog.

The collection also carries meaningful contributions from the Lights and Sounds (2006) and Paper Walls (2007) eras — including "Lights & Sounds," "Rough Landing Holly," and "Light Up the Sky" — as well as later material from When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes (2011) and Southern Air (2012). 

Together, the tracks span the band's full studio arc from mainstream breakthrough through their pre-hiatus catalog, giving the listing both a headline asset and a working back-catalog around it.

Earnings Note. The 1Q-2024 spike of approximately $7,600 is from ASCAP live-performance royalties on the band's 2023 Ocean Avenue 20th Anniversary Tour. Any similar payments in the future will be payable to the buyer.