Dolly Parton to Make Millions on Whitney Houston’s Death [Video]
The passing of Whitney Houston this week to an apparent drug overdose is a shock and hardship for all who knew her and loved her. What most people don’t know is that the way the music business works, Whitney Houston;s estate will not make any money on the playing of the hit “I Will Always Love You”, which is basically playing non stop on the radio since the singer’s death was announced.
The music industry is not set up to reward the singers of songs. Singers like Whitney Houston make all their money from performance rights, meaning from money they make from ticket sales to their concerts. The huge money in music comes from production and songwriters rights. Every time you hear a song on the radio, on a television show or anywhere really that song generates revenue. It is usually split with 50% going to the producer and 50% going to the writer.
In the case of “I Will Always Love You” the production credits and song writers royalty both go to country superstar Dolly Parton. Parton wrote the song and released it on her own before it was covered by Houston n the hit movie “The Bodyguard”. Every time the song is played in tribute to Houston Parton is making money.
You might think that her death will make her estate a fortune off of record sales, but those too are not real money makers for artists. They are money makers for record companies. Star singers like Houston tend to make their money on performances, and Houston will not be making any of those anymore.
Do you think it is fair that one artist can capitalize on the death of another?
Watch a tribute of the original Dolly Parton version
Tags : Dolly Parton, i will always love you, millions of dollars, performance rights, production, rights, song writing, whitney houston
Posted: February 14, 2012
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Feb 14, 2012
Dolly just writes songs and never sells the rights. No one has to sing or play her songs. This question makes it sound as if Dolly has wronged Whitney,"so unfair".
Feb 15, 2012
This happens in the music biz all the time. You people act like this is some sort of anomoly and some injustice to Whitney's family. Whitney and her management were well aware of the legal arrangement regarding this song. And, lest we forget, Dolly had a HUGE hit with this song, too…And quite a while before Whitney recorded it. The song was written by Dolly and belongs to her. End of story…What the hell was the point of this story angle except to try and make Dolly look bad?
Feb 15, 2012
Dolly wrote it and recorded it and allowed others to do the same and she has been making $$ off of her song ever since, (way before and after Whitney ever recorded it) even Linda Ronstadt recorded it and so on. So whether this article wants to word it like Dolly is making millions off of Whitney's death, when in reality she is making $$ off of her song that was made popular by many including herself & Whitney…Dolly has every right to any $$ earned by anyone who gets permission to record it… Its in the contract…
Feb 18, 2012
it takes more talent to write the song than just sing it. that is why so many "stars" insist on copyrights to the songs they sing… luckily Dolly was smart enuf 2 retain her author rights… woohoo!
If you think about it, Lu Shien could have hit no 1 again with the same song. TAKE THAT Whitney fans!
Feb 19, 2012
Apples & oranges! For the protection of all involved, a songwriter's publishing company administrates the rights of the songwriter's songs, and a record company pays their artists a pre-negotiated amount of money for each record, tape, CD, or single sales, and the artist then takes/makes the majority from public performances. Were it not for Dolly's, Shakespeare's, or Dr. Seuss's ideas, you'd have diddlysquat! Unlike Michael Jackson (whose estate brought in 170 million in 2011 alone), Witney didn't write any of her hits. Dolly wrote "I Will Always Love You" when Witney was 10 years old, and had been covered by several including Dolly's release in '74, and Linda Ronstadt's version in 1975 "The Bodyguard" soundtrack has sold some 44 million copies (of which Witney made at least $1.00 per sale, at that point of her career), and her family is expected to receive at least $10,000,000 (ten million) from her royalties this coming year. Songwriters have their stream of income, as vocalists/artists have theirs. So don't blame the creator, blame those who mis-managed Witney's fortune, and hopefully the leeches which who were too attached to the income which Witney provided for them (and didn't step in earlier), have fled for another artist to feed upon.