Ariana Grande’s “7 rings” has spent six non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. While the song has likely generated a healthy sum of money, it’s the estate of Rodgers and Hammerstein that may be the biggest beneficiary. The New York Times reports that the famed songwriters' estate is collecting 90 percent of songwriting royalties from Grande’s track, which prominently interpolates the melody of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound Of Music.
The Times reports that Grande and her seven co-writers are entitled to just 10 percent of songwriting royalties due to their heavy use of “My Favorite Things” on “7 rings,” although Grande still receives separate royalties as the song’s performer. Her label, Republic Records, brought the completed song to the music company Concord, which owns the rights to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s extensive and valuable catalog. Republic accepted the 90-10 split without negotiation.
Grande utilizes the melody of “My Favorite Things” on the song’s chorus, flipping the lyrics to sing about retail therapy:
Yeah, breakfast at Tiffany’s and bottles of bubbles
Girls with tattoos who like getting in trouble
Lashes and diamonds, ATM machines
Buy myself all of my favorite things (Yeah)
She’s not the first artist to make use of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s music. Gwen Stefani forfeited 50 percent of her songwriting royalties in 2006 when she sampled yodeling from The Sound of Music’s “Lonely Goatherd” on “Wind It Up.” Last month, 2 Chainz dropped “I Said Me,” which also samples “My Favorite Things,” and presumably forfeited a portion of his own royalties in the process.
“7 rings” also borrows its flow from 2 Chainz’s 2011 song, “Spend It,” although he is not credited as a songwriter and isn’t receiving royalties. In a recent interview with Genius, 2 Chainz reflected on the controversy that surrounded the song’s release.
“They set it up so we could actually meet and talk face to face,” he said. “I think that kind of changed everything because I started getting what was going on… What kinda points do I get off snapping on Ariana Grande or dissing her, I don’t get anything off that.” They ended up collaborating on the “7 rings” remix as well as 2 Chainz’s own “Rule the World.”
Catch up on all the lyrics to Ariana Grande’s “7 rings” on Genius now.
