The SOUR artist struck another deal with Swift and Antonoff on the more mellow “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” which has made $258,379 in royalties, according to Billboard. Rodrigo didn’t work with Nigro on this one, which is an interpolation of Swift’s reputation era song “New Year’s Day.” That means Rodrigo, Swift and Antonoff divide the royalties three ways, with each earning about $86,000 so far.
Variety also notes that the music publishers take a slice of the pie as well, writing, “Half of that goes to whatever publishers are involved; in this case, Sony Music Publishing represents Rodrigo and Dan Nigro… Now, with Williams and Farro added to the credits, Warner Chappell Music has a piece of this, too.”
As of this week, Rodrigo and Nigro have lost a hefty chunk of change by each giving up about $1 million to their muses, without other fees considered. But “good 4 u” will be sending more big bucks their way soon: “A song like that can earn $10 million,” one prominent music attorney told Variety.
