As a jury is deciding how much Katy Perry and her record company Capitol Records owe Christian rap artist Marcus Gray, whose stage name is Flame, after Perry was found guilty of copyrighting Flame’s song, Joyful Noise, Perry’s lawyers are arguing it’s expensive to promote a Katy Perry hit.
Just how pricey? More than $13,000 for a wardrobe stylist for one night. More than $3,000 for a hairdo and over $800 for a manicure. Nearly $2,000 for flashing cocktail ice cubes, according to The Associated
And why is that?
Because according to Steve Drellishak, a vice president at Universal Music Group, “She always has to be in the most fashionable clothes, the most fashionable makeup.
“She changes her look a lot,” testifies Drellishak on Wednesday. “That’s core to what the Katy Perry brand is.”
That must have a huge impact on the profit, right?
Exactly. That’s the point the lawyers are driving at. According to them, factoring in all those expenses left them with an approximate $650,000 profit.
Really?
Yes, that’s because according to Drellishak, the huge marketing campaign for the album, manufacturing and digital transmission costs, employee salaries and artist royalties are among the expenses that have to be factored in.
And it’s not a straightforward calculation either. They had to also divide earnings from the album it was on.
That’s Prism, isn’t it?
Yes. There are 13 songs in total in the original release but 16 songs in the deluxe edition. However, Flame’s lawyers are arguing that Dark Horse is by far, the biggest hit on the album and should, therefore, have the lion share.
And how much are they asking for?
According to Flame’s lawyers, Capitol Records, which is owned by Universal Music received more than $31 million for the Dark Horse” single and the album and concert DVD on which it appeared. Attorneys for both sides told the jury Tuesday that Perry herself earned $3 million, minus $600,000 in expenses.
Seems there’s a wide berth between alleged profit and total revenue?
Yep. It’s gonna take some unravelling. The jury has a lot of job before them. Definitely a big challenge. And their job is not made any easier by the changing shift in modern ways music is consumed.
Take Drellishak’s testimony, for example, Prism, that is the album has sold 1.2 million physical copies, but Dark Horse, the song at the centre of the lawsuit has been streamed 1.89 billion times.
Quite an interesting fact. So, what next?
It’s up to the juries to come to a determination after considering the pieces of evidence and opinions like this one by Jason King, a professor who specialises in pop music and who was brought by Capitol Records.
He says: “Katy Perry had enormous celebrity brand value before the release of Dark Horse.
“That kind of celebrity can drive the success of a single because the public is primed,” continues King, an associate professor at New York University.
“She has a deep and intimate relationship with her fans.”
“She calls them Katy cats.”
Closing arguments are scheduled this morning, after which the jury will deliberate. TBD what financial compensation they come up with.
Story source: The Associated Press
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