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British singer Kate Bush may have earned upwards of $2.3 million in music streaming royalties following her feature in ‘Stranger Things.’
“Running Up That Hill” has charted as the most-streamed song in the world in June 2022. It also sits at #3 on the Billboard Global 200 chart at the time of writing. Analysts believe between the week of May 27 and the end of June, Bush may have earned an estimated $2.3 million in streaming royalties.
A spokesperson for Luminate, an independent company that provides data for Billboard charts, told Quartz. “We can’t speak to who actually earns the money, as that involves taking a deeper dive into individual contracts/publishing/master ownership, and we don’t track that with our data,” a Luminate spokesperson says.
Kate Bush owns the entire copyright to original recordings of her songs through her independent record label Noble & Brite. As a result, it’s likely Bush may retain upwards of 80% of her royalties generated from this massive streak of streaming success brought on by ‘Stranger Things.’
“While we’ve seen a notable increase in catalog music streams in recent years with an annual 20% growth alone in 2021, the Kate Bush story has taken the phenomenon to a new level,” adds Luminate CEO Rob Jonas. Bush herself addressed the popularity when the song achieved its first #1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart.
“I’m overwhelmed by the scale of affection and support the song is receiving and it’s all happening really fast, as if it’s being driven along by a kind of elemental force,” Bush wrote in a blog post in June. “I have to admit I feel really moved by it all.”
The popularity of ‘Stranger Things‘ has been been a music king maker this year. Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” is also enjoying a huge bump in its success. The song jumped to the #1 spot on the iTunes Rock Chart and #23 on the overall iTunes Songs chart.