'RickRoll' Songwriter Only Made $16 from YouTube

Paul Lilly — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:00:00 -0500

British songwriter and producer Pete Waterman, now 62-years-old, could never have predicted that the Rick Astley hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" would become a phenomenon some 20 years after he co-wrote it, so it must have come as some surprise to see the song get 150 million plays in 2008 alone. He also couldn't have predicted that so much 'air play' could earn him so little money, yet that's exactly what has happened.

"There was I sitting at Christmas thinking, 'I must have made a few bob this year with the old Rickrolling'," Waterman said at a press conference to mark the launch of a website campaigning for a fairer deal for songwriters whose music is featured on YouTube. "I rang my publisher and they said 'You'll be all right,' until I saw the royalty statement. £11. If 154 million plays means £11, I get more from Radio Stoke playing Never Gonna Give You Up than I do from YouTube."

In U.S. currency, Waterman's royalty payment converts to just $16, which hardly seems fair given how much exposure the song has received. The PRS for Music organization doesn't think it's fair either and wants Google and YouTube to pay higher royalties to songwriters for use of their work online.

"We absolutely believe that artists and songwriters should make money from the use of their material," a YouTube spokesperson said. "We previously had a license with teh PRS to enable this to happen and we are very committed to reaching terms so that we can renew our license."

Looks like Waterman got screwed, but we found a way he may be able to collect on those royalties after all. If you're reading this Waterman, click this link.

Rick Astley Rolls Through Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Paul Lilly — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:51:45 -0600

Thanks to NBC, there's probably not anyone left who hasn't been Rickroll'd. It started out innocently enough as the characters from Cartoon Network's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends strolled through the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But during one of the stops in which the creatures were in the middle of a song, 80s pop star Rick Astley emerged out of nowhere and started belting out the all too familiar "Never Gonna Give You Up." At the end of the song, one of the creatures exclaims "I like Rickrolling!" Apparently, so does NBC.

This isn't the first time event goers have unwittingly been Rickroll'd offline. In 2007, the New York Mets organization held an online contest intended to let the team's fans determine what would become the Mets' traditional eigth-inning sing-along. Instead, online pranksters sabotaged the poll and voted up Rick Astley's former hit song. Realizing what had happened, the Mets decided to play the top six selections, including "Never Gonna Give You Up," and let the crowd's reaction decide the winner. Not surprisingly, the crowd broke out in a chorus of 'boos' when Rick Astley's song started playing.

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'RickRoll' Songwriter Only Made $16 from YouTube

Rick Astley Rolls Through Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade