Simply reaching huge numbers of people in and of itself isn't necessarily valuable.
They may listen to what you've produced and enjoy it. But are they paying to listen? Did they buy the track or sign up for a subscription? Are advertisers paying to be featured alongside the song, or to use it in their commercials?
If not, maybe your song isn't so valuable. If those listeners could easily listen to some other song for free, then maybe your song isn't so valuable.
And this is talking about the whole song. If you're just the writer, it's even more stark. How good of a writer do you need to be to write a hit Justin Bieber song? If you didn't exist, how easy would it be to find another writer who could write a hit for Justin or some other star?
I would guess that what's really bringing money to the table is Justin's star power, not the uniquely amazing abilities of a single writer. So 20% seems generous.
To your last point, it's not quite like that. What happens is the
Andre Lindalls of the world re cord demos. The artists listen To the demos and more or less "bid" on them. Top tier artists get top tier songs. Or rather they get songs they think will be hits.
So there is a hierarchy among songwriters even for pop stars, it's definitely not a vast ZMP pool.
They may listen to what you've produced and enjoy it. But are they paying to listen? Did they buy the track or sign up for a subscription? Are advertisers paying to be featured alongside the song, or to use it in their commercials?
If not, maybe your song isn't so valuable. If those listeners could easily listen to some other song for free, then maybe your song isn't so valuable.
And this is talking about the whole song. If you're just the writer, it's even more stark. How good of a writer do you need to be to write a hit Justin Bieber song? If you didn't exist, how easy would it be to find another writer who could write a hit for Justin or some other star?
I would guess that what's really bringing money to the table is Justin's star power, not the uniquely amazing abilities of a single writer. So 20% seems generous.