"This week's high court hearings between Sting and his former bandmates in the Police, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, are the latest chapter in the life of a song whose negative energy seems to have seeped out into real life. Every Breath You Take is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Copeland and Summers against Sting, alleging that he owes them royalties linked to their contributions to the hugely popular song, particularly from streaming earnings, estimated at $2m (1.5m) in total."
"On Spotify, streams jumped by 89% in 2024 and have just kept going up, growing another 36% last year, with particular popularity in the Americas: the US, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and the UK are the song's biggest markets. That makes Every Breath You Take a hugely industrious engine for publishing (ie songwriting) royalties, currently being funnelled mostly to Sting (he is the sole credited songwriter, though Copeland and Summers receive 15% of"
Sting faces a lawsuit from former Police bandmates Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers claiming he owes them streaming-linked royalties from Every Breath You Take, estimated at $2m. Sting's legal team argues past agreements excluded streaming revenue and suggests Copeland and Summers may have been substantially overpaid. Since the lawsuit, Sting has paid $870,000 to remedy admitted historic underpayments, but future streaming earnings remain disputed. Every Breath You Take continues to generate major streams—about 3.5 million Spotify plays daily—and saw streams jump 89% in 2024 and a further 36% last year, with top markets in the US, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and the UK. Sting is sole credited songwriter while bandmates receive a share of publishing royalties.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]