Song

Teardrop

Artist

Massive Attack

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Meaning

Teardrop remains one of Massive Attack's strongest long-tail earners because it works across streaming, sync, and mood-driven playlist listening.

Short Answer

Estimated artist-side annual earnings: $250K-$900K/year.

Estimated Artist-Side Annual Earnings

  • $250K-$900K/year

Revenue Breakdown

  • Estimated gross track revenue: $600K-$2M/year
  • Estimated artist-side cut: $250K-$900K/year
  • Estimated label master share: $150K-$550K/year
  • Estimated publishing share: $80K-$260K/year
  • Estimated songwriter share: $100K-$330K/year
  • Assumptions: Estimate infers current annual earnings from high replay value, sync utility, and durable streaming around a canonical trip-hop recording.

Ownership and Catalog Status

  • Masters: Likely split between label-controlled masters and artist royalty participation
  • Publishing: Publishing appears materially tied to writer-side participation
  • Catalog sale status: No song-specific catalog sale adjustment is assumed here
  • Notes: This is an inferred gross-to-net range based on current catalog behavior, not a public royalty statement.

Lifetime Earnings

The strongest catalog songs can continue to earn for many years if they remain easy to place, easy to remember, and easy to replay.

Why It Still Makes Money

  • Its association with film, TV, and prestige-drama culture keeps the song visible.
  • Trip-hop and downtempo playlists create steady catalog demand.
  • The track remains one of the most recognizable songs in the Massive Attack catalog.

Insight

Massive Attack benefits when one recording stays useful across streaming, memory, and licensing contexts long after the release campaign ends.

Methodology

These earnings figures are editorial estimates based on streaming scale, ownership context, and long-tail catalog behavior. Read the full methodology.