A 74-Year-Old Musician Makes a Million a Year From an Unpopular Song Written Nearly 50 Years Ago. Here's How.

Jan 25, 2025 04:31 AM - 3 weeks ago 25915

If you went backmost successful clip and asked composer and musician Mark Mothersbaugh to foretell what his biggest moneymaker would beryllium successful his astir 50-year career, he would not person said "Uncontrollable Urge."

The now 74-year-old musician has composed euphony for TV shows for illustration "The Fairly OddParents" and "Rugrats" and movies for illustration "Thor: Ragnarok" and "The Lego Movie," but "Uncontrollable Urge," a opus he wrote successful 1978 arsenic a founding personnel of the set Devo, has turned into his biggest root of income complete the past decade.

Mothersbaugh's woman and head Anita Greenspan told Rolling Stone earlier this period that the composer makes $1 cardinal per twelvemonth successful royalties connected conscionable that 1 song.

The turning constituent for "Uncontrollable Urge" was erstwhile the MTV drama clip show Ridiculousness first launched successful 2011. The show, which spotlights and reacts to viral Internet drama videos, features a screen of "Uncontrollable Urge" arsenic its taxable song.

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After complete 12 years moving connected MTV and complete 1,500 episodes, Ridiculousness has catapulted "Uncontrollable Urge" to taxable opus fame. At 1 constituent successful June 2020, Variety noticed that "Ridiculousness" aired for 113 hours retired of MTV's 168-hour week of programming.

Still, the song's occurrence came arsenic a astonishment to its writer.

"I've written truthful galore different songs for films and tv shows," Mothersbaugh told Rolling Stone. "I would've been shocked [years ago] if you told maine this is the 1 that would go this premier root of income."Mark Mothersbaugh. Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for AFI

Mothersbaugh wrote "Uncontrollable Urge" arsenic the first way to Devo's debut album, "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" The opus was ne'er released arsenic a azygous and has only earned $150,000 crossed each clip from Spotify streaming royalties. It ne'er made it to the Billboard Hot 100, dissimilar the 1980s deed "Whip It" from Devo, which peaked astatine number 14 connected the Billboard Hot 100.

"This was the very first opus disconnected our first album," Mothersbaugh told Rolling Stone. "But it's a bully ironic twist because this was 1 of the songs we ne'er moreover made a euphony video for. And now it's possibly the most-played opus ever connected MTV."

Theme songs are large earners

Mothersbaugh isn't the only musician to rate successful connected a lucrative taxable song.

Ed Robertson, who wrote the taxable opus for "The Big Bang Theory," told Rolling Stone that he has made betwixt 7 to 10 figures truthful acold successful full royalties for the 1 opus from the clip the show ran from 2007 to 2019 to its syndications connected TBS today.

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Marco Jacobo, who created the taxable opus for "Abbott Elementary," told the publication that he had made six figures from the opus since the show came retired successful 2021.

The precocious musician Allee Willis had a 15% trim of the "I'll Be There for You" Friends taxable song. That trim equals astir $700,000 per twelvemonth for Primary Wave Publishing, the institution that now owns the authorities to her work, per Rolling Stone.

One manufacture executive told the publication that web TV pays 15 times much per infinitesimal for euphony than a streaming work for illustration Spotify.

It's not conscionable shows that salary good — TV advertisement taxable songs are lucrative too. The New York Times reports that David Paton, 1 of the 2 men who wrote the Billboard Top 10 deed "Magic" successful 1974, earns 7 figures from the opus utilized successful a TV advertisement for Ozempic.

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