I’m not a fan, but The Black Eyed Peas take so much up valuable real estate in my head — damn you, creators of pop-rap earworms — that maybe they owe me something at this point.
That day is here.
Royalty Exchange, a marketplace where creators can buy and sell music royalties, recently put up a songwriter’s share of “Just Can’t Get Enough,” a top-5 single from will.i.am, Fergie and company.
The auction for royalties on “Enough” ends today, and at 57 current bids it’s already up to just under $16,000 (it started at $4,000). Is it worth it? Hard to gauge — the song has only earned $1235 over the last 12 months for this particular share.
But starting in September, every time “Just Can’t Get Enough” is played on the radio, TV or a streaming service (or via any other type of public performance), the buyer will earn royalties. It seems like this is one of those songs that could get a second life somewhere — and the Black Eyed Peas do have another album coming out shortly, meaning interest in their older material should rise.
If the Peas don’t do it for you, check out other artists on the Exchange: There are shares of songs by Shakira, Dr. Dre and Cage the Elephant, among others.
But our favorite story: A Royalty Exchange auction that closed on the estate of Tony Geiss (a songwriter for Sesame Street and Elmo’s World) when he died went for $580,000.
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