Netflix
Artists may not make much money from a song’s revival
However, the real-world impact for artists of a spike in streams isn’t clear-cut.
Using the example of Milli Vanilli, Anu Pillai, a producer and an executive board member of the UK’s Music Producers Guild, told Business Insider that while the details aren’t public, the royalties artists received from record deals made in the 1980s were often low.
Such deals are also not typically updated for the digital streaming age, meaning artists won’t see much of any profits unless they are able to renegotiate their contracts.
“When something like this resurgence happens 20 years later, for example, the people making money aren’t those artists. It’s those record labels that have held them to those legacy deals,” he said.
Pillai added: “it’s always positive that your music could reach a new audience. That is the joy of music.”
A representative for Morvan, who outlived Pilatus, did not respond to a comment request from BI.