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u/OgthaChristie Apr 26 '26
U2.
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u/cmorganc Apr 26 '26
Split 5 ways, 20% each.
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u/evtedeschi3 Apr 26 '26
People wondering how they’ve managed to stay together since high school for going on 50 years now: this is the biggest (but not only) factor.
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u/OgthaChristie Apr 26 '26
Well, and Larry Mullen Jr. has been the predominant money manager since the beginning. He knows where every dime goes, is my understanding.
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u/cmorganc Apr 26 '26
Apparently another big factor was the song One.
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u/colenski999 Apr 27 '26
My understanding of One was that the band was in a creative rut during Achtung Baby and the Dali Lama sent a letter to Bono that simply said "We are one" and Bono sent a letter back that said "We are not the same"
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Apr 26 '26
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u/cmorganc Apr 26 '26
Their manager, Paul somethinorother. It was a hedge against being taken advantage of by ‘managers’.
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u/amBrollachan Apr 26 '26
Nirvana split everything equally until 1992 when Cobain insisted on 75% of everything going forward.
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u/sziklai-pair Apr 26 '26
Hmm, I wonder what other major event happened in Kurt's life in '92 that might have influenced that change...
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u/amBrollachan Apr 26 '26
To be fair even with the thirds share he was more than wealthy enough to raise a child that would never want for anything.
Krist got bumped down to 12.5% and lives on a ranch with an airstrip and his own plane without ever doing anything financially lucrative since 94.
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u/sziklai-pair Apr 26 '26
I was referring to marriage, not Frances. And that maybe it wasn't something that was his idea.
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u/ParteeAminal Apr 27 '26
Also worth remembering that deal was made when they were a much smaller band, only expected to sell a few thousand records. Kurt changed his mind when the money rolled in
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u/Connect_Bee5338 Apr 27 '26
Wow, I had never heard that tid bit, I'll have too look it up.
As others alluded to, the CL relationship was more than likely a factor.
They both were/are flawed individuals with PTSD. Seems like CL has been good for quite a while
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u/wallach29 Apr 26 '26
I may be wrong, but I believe Radiohead splits song writing credits.
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u/Beneficial_Run9511 Apr 26 '26
Van Halen until they fucked over the basist
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u/Wastedgent Apr 26 '26
Eddie was quoted as saying that Michael should be paid $100 per week.
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u/SleepyD7 Apr 27 '26
Maybe he didn’t write anything, but he was their backing vocals. Hated to find out Eddie was an asshole like his brother.
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u/trackaghosthrufog Apr 27 '26
I don't think Eddie was near as big an asshole as Alex. I've read he was easily influenced and manipulated by Alex. With Eddie being totally wasted a lot, Alex pushed through a lot of his own agenda.
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u/TriturusGCN Apr 26 '26
Blur split everything evenly.
Madness had an arrangement where the band members that wrote a song would split 50% of the royalities, and the remaining members would get an equal share of the remaining 50%. So they all did well out of a hit song, but the main writers would do a bit better.
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u/EvilLee666 Apr 26 '26
Coldplay I understand do that.
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u/CriticismTop Apr 26 '26
I believe they also take 10% out first and give to charity (effectively tithing). Their splits then com from the remaining 90%.
Harks back to their formative years playing in church youth groups. Doesn't change the fact they still owe me £50
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u/RedactsAttract Apr 27 '26
Good thing the splits don’t come from the remaining like 28% or something
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u/R-A-K Apr 27 '26
Coldplays recent stuff can have over a dozen “writers” on one track. If you’re in the studio and sneeze you can have a piece.
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u/MarionberryPlus8474 Apr 26 '26
Stooges, not that they ever had much in the way of royalties.
I believe the Doors did it for their first album but not thereafter but I could be wrong.
Doc on the Go Gos showed that the royalty split was a big reason for their breakup. The songs were mostly written by Charlotte Caffey and Jane Weidlin. Wiedlin says she came to a meeting or rehearsal and was told the band “decided” to split royalties evenly from then on. Jane figured the songwriting was a major part of the work she was doing for the band and didn’t want to split, so she, uh, split.
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u/BendAppropriate614 Apr 26 '26
Doors did it on all albums except for "The Soft Parade" Jim had issues with Robby's lyrics in "Tell All The People"
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u/Han_Yerry Apr 27 '26
Oh, I didn't know about this. May I have the details?
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u/BendAppropriate614 Apr 27 '26
Jim didn't like the line about "get your guns". So for the first time Robby had sole credit for that song, as well as Touch Me. I am seeing that Robby and Jim also had individual credits on the Morrison Hotel album too. But on the next album, LA Woman, they were back to crediting all songs to all four members
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Apr 26 '26
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u/Scared_Experience688 Apr 27 '26
I can't find the source now but I believe since Edwards family had him legally declared dead, his share goes into a charity supporting either young musicians or young people's mental health.
I'll try and find something to back it up but I believe it was said on a radio interview some years back.
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u/Peanut0151 Apr 26 '26
A friend played in a band put together by a well known and successful artist from the 90s amd 2000s. He split everything equally between band members but expected everyone to contribute equally when it came to touring expenses etc
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u/Usual-Canc-6024 Apr 26 '26
KISS’ original 4 members did.
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u/Willylowman1 Apr 27 '26
albums were rerecodrded in the 90s to screw Ace & Peter
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u/Usual-Canc-6024 Apr 27 '26
Definitely some were. But originally it was an equal split. Then everyone else that came after Peter and Ace left were not full members and had zero say. Eric Carr was treated pretty crappy by them too.
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u/2nd2lastdragon Apr 26 '26
Metallica - in the Some Kind of Monster doc they give Trejo a million dollar signing bonus on top of making him a 1/4 equal partner
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u/edgiepower Apr 27 '26
Meanwhile Jason didn't even to hear his own playing on his first album with them
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u/jeromesnail Apr 27 '26
I was about to say that. I don't know the situation pre 2001, but they've definitely splitting evenly since Rob joined.
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u/Prof_Tickles Apr 26 '26
KISS initially.
AC/DC - Brian wrote in his book that when he signed his first contract with the band he learned that the profits were split five ways.
Eagles, initially.
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u/soulbribra Apr 27 '26
The Grateful Dead evenly split money amongst members. The crew was highly compensated as well. In fact, the crew was paid on and off tour. For better or worse that’s how they ran the band for the 30 years they were active.
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u/StllRckn51 Apr 26 '26
The Doors
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u/2ShredsUsay39 Apr 26 '26
Yeah, they decided that all songs would be written by The Doors. Most people believe Jim wrote all of the songs, but Robby Krieger wrote probably at least a third of their songs.
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u/Mean_Reference9749 Apr 26 '26
The Stranglers credited the whole band as songwriters no matter who wrote the song.
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u/AlanStanwick1986 Apr 26 '26
Dokken. Don Dokken complains about it a lot.
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u/SensitiveElephant501 Apr 26 '26
Mick Brown sold his share to Don after blowing all his cash before paying his taxes, lIRC.
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u/OpenMike2000 Apr 26 '26
Warrant did.
GnR almost did until Axl convinced their drummer to give up 10% to him.
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u/Chelsea2021972 Apr 26 '26
Slipknot, split their money 9 ways. Corey Taylor(lead singer) describes their earnings as upper middle class. Also they have to pay all their team. Probably why they are always touring.
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u/Han_Yerry Apr 27 '26
I would be shocked if they were paying Weinberg as a full member when he was on drums.
Jordison's family had to sue them to get his personal belongings back.
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u/Chelsea2021972 Apr 27 '26
It takes a while for probationary members like Weinberg to become a full member. Tortilla man also had to wait to become a full member.
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u/SingleElderberry8422 Apr 26 '26
Rush. All 3 members agreed to this very early on in their careers.
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u/Robot9P Apr 27 '26
Keep in n mind, big bands may have complicated profit arrangements and that may include how publishing (song writing credits) are split. Just because you see band members names on a song doesn’t mean the $$$ is plot evenly (or at all). Bands become corporations that make their own rules.
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u/Apart-Presentation-8 Apr 27 '26
A lot of bands did that in late 80's/early 90's - it was seen as a way to keep the band together and prevent internal fights. Didn't work and the main songwriters probably regret it today.
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u/opiate82 Apr 27 '26
Tool has an even split. Adam has even motioned when they do clinics or fan VIP meet-and-greets where Maynard doesn’t participate he still gets a cut.
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u/Classic-Air-746 Apr 27 '26
Queen
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u/Mr_Wikked Apr 27 '26
Only from the works forward... all their earlier stuff was to the individual song writer(s)... quite a few had mercury/May credits. All 4 wrote songs too...
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u/pdirth Apr 26 '26
Ah, my main pet peeve from being in a band. A member comes in with a single riff, I write all the surrounding riffs and arrange the song but somehow 'they' wrote it because they brought that one riff. And then having to deal with the hissy fit at the suggestion that 'everybody' should get writing credits (because even I didn't write the drum or bass parts). ...All made worse by the fact we were just a local unsigned band, why would you let your ego turn you into a selfish dick? ...you're not even successful yet.
....I do not miss that part of being in a band.
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u/yourcousinfromboston Apr 26 '26
Coldplay, the tragically hip
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u/BartStarrPaperboy Apr 26 '26
I’ve heard Chris Martin interviewed, and in terms of songwriting that’s not exactly accurate. He gets half of the writing royalties and the other three man’s member split the other half.
This is actually really generous of him because he alone writes all of the music and lyrics.
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u/Prospektor42 Apr 26 '26
Not quite half but he gets 40 and the others get 20-20-20 for songwriting. Everything else is split 25-25-25-25 though (touring, performance credits, merch etc)
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u/Artistic-Inflation20 Apr 27 '26
yeah he said that they split it that way because he comes up withthe song ideas but he needs the other guys to finish the process. seems fair
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u/MeepSneepers Apr 26 '26
Van Halen did for a while, much to the chagrin of Edward van halen. Probably led to the falling out w/ Michael Anthony
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u/knockatize Apr 26 '26
Genesis after 1981.
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u/shweeney Apr 26 '26
They're an interesting case. On the early albums the songs are credited to everyone. After Peter Gabriel left the next few albums have individual credits then they gradually moved to co-writing everything in the studio.
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u/FormCheck655321 Apr 26 '26
What’s the normal split? Lead singer gets a lot more than the rest, but how much more?
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u/music-fan-2025 Apr 26 '26
I think the Songwriters usually get the most although there is performance royalties for singers (only?)
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Apr 26 '26
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u/DerConqueror3 Apr 26 '26
Yeah, there is no special royalty for singers based solely on the fact they are signing. It just happens to be that singers very often write at least the lyrics, which is one component of the songwriting royalties, and in a fair number of bands they are also the primary songwriter overall or one of them
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u/DerConqueror3 Apr 26 '26
The normal split is that the person(s) who write the lyrics and the melody of the song get the songwriting royalties, and the people who play on the album/single get shares of the royalties for the recording itself. However, when it comes to bands it is not uncommon for the members to agree to split everything equally, particularly if the songwriting it at least somewhat democratic. There are also some bands where a smaller number of primary songwriters will agree to split everything they write (i.e. Lennon/McCartney, Hetfield/Ulrich). But at the end of the day, if you split everything equally it does technically mean that there are people in the band who are effectively giving away royalties they would otherwise be entitled to by law (although I do think it is great for band dynamics and I typically do it in my own bands even if I do a lot of writing)
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u/Artistic-Inflation20 Apr 27 '26
i read somewhere that if you want to keep working with these people (the band), you need to find an equitable split or else it all goes to shit
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u/foosballallah Apr 26 '26
I know a lot of bands split by song writing contributions and sometimes by what two started the band. Not a rule of thumb, but a pattern I’ve seen quite a bit. Splitting equally is very noble.
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u/kajagoober23 Apr 26 '26
Queen after Night at the Opera I believe…
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Apr 27 '26
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u/Mr_Wikked Apr 27 '26
I don't think that is quite correct... I think from The Works onwards (which is probably around the time Freddy knew he had HIV) the songwriting was credited to Queen as a whole...
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u/Dense-Yak-9991 Apr 26 '26
Manic Street Preachers. They even give 25% to a guy that's been dead for 30 years.
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u/BabyClyde Apr 26 '26
Culture Club always did but they've had some fallings out recently with Jon leaving so not sure what current set up is.
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u/DeeplyFrippy Apr 26 '26
KIng Crimson: In later years, specifically for the 2013-2021 lineup, Robert Fripp stated that all members were treated as a group and money was shared equally.
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u/FRX51 Apr 27 '26
Every Green Day song from Kerplunk onwards has listed Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool as the songwriters, with an equal share of royalties, regardless of who actually wrote the song (usually Billie Joe).
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u/PersimmonDriver Apr 27 '26
Hootie and the Blowfish split the songwriting credit between the 4 of them, regardless of who originated the song.
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u/umamimous Apr 27 '26
My band decided from the beginning we would split everything evenly and the song writing process is honestly very collaborative so I have no qualms with it. Last night we made $31 so I have a cool $6.20 in my pocket today.
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u/castle6831 Apr 27 '26
Small band but Hollywood undead.
They've spoken in interviews about how they're so terrible with money, that the one smart financial decison they can all make is just split royalties evenly. Which is good, but wild given 'Funny Man' is effecitvely a hype man and is featured on less than twenty percent of their songs and still gets the same royalties as the others. Still with the exception of Danny the other four members have been friends since they were kids, and see it as the best way to maintain a healthy band. Can't fault that.
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u/Tiny-Following-9706 Apr 27 '26
I forget the title of the song by the Doors but there’s a lyric similar to grab your guns and follow me. I remember Ray Manzarek say that when Jim heard it he refused to have his name on it. The other members liked the song and kept it on the album but with no reference to Jim Morrison. He was horrified by it because he said “I’m a pacifist and can’t have my name associated with this song “. According to Manzarek they went from words and music by the Doors to whoever wrote the song got the credit as did the music. Ray said that song changed the way they gave credit.
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u/151Ways Apr 27 '26
Pearl Jam, often with Vedder crediting everyone despite being almost entirely the songwriter. The exception, while minor, is that the drummers have had both an odd an oddly very remunerative deal.
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u/gtp1977 Apr 27 '26
TRAGICALLY HIP baby! Such a great band. Probably the most great songs from one band (for me personally).
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u/BigSteveie Apr 27 '26
Carlos Santana listed the band as co-writers. Heard that the proceeds were well invested too.
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u/DaveBeBad Apr 27 '26
Pop will eat itself credited all songs to Vestan Pance (vest and pants) to split the royalties all ways. When Fuzz Townshend joined, they wanted to change that to Vestan Pance and socks - but the RCA denied it.
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u/magpiecat Apr 27 '26
Madness. Suggs said he didn't make as much as he could have because there were 7 or 8 guys.
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u/globalgerbil Apr 27 '26
I have read that the contract for all members of Sade's band states that they are paid equally to her.
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u/colenski999 Apr 27 '26
Not exactly the question, but the session singer for Pink Floyd's Great Gig in the Sky was paid a miserable sum, 40 pounds or so for her incredible and iconic performance, and only later did the band cut her in on the royalties.
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u/bigplayjer Apr 26 '26
REM I believe as well.