Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Earnings Are Nothing To Scoff At; But Not Quite As Outrageous As Reported

While media speculation has placed Rebecca Black’s earnings for her viral music video “Friday” in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (and by at least one online account, close to a million), the overnight singing sensation is reportedly netting approximately $24,000 per week from sales of her much-maligned song, according to Billboard.

Following its digital release on March 14, “Friday” has maintained a decent position on digital download sites. The amateur pop song vacillated between #33 to #42 on iTunes Top 100 singles chart on Tuesday, and came in at #95 on Amazon’s MP3 store, according to Billboard.

Here’s Billboard’s reported breakdown of her earnings: If the song had averaged a #42 spot during its first week on the charts, the mag – via Nielsen SoundScan – reports it would have sold roughly 43,000 units.

The 13-year-old wannabe pop star is using CD Baby as her distributor, which takes a 9% commission. Also, 9.1 cents go to the music publisher, Ark Music Factory, for the “mechanical royalties,” according to the site.

Therefore, at $0.70 cents to the artist, minus the 9% distribution fee and 9.1 cents for royalties, Rebecca would pocket $24,900 for 43,000 downloads, Billboard reports. Not too shabby for an eighth-grader!

The young SoCal native could possibly be earning additional funds from her video’s 33 million YouTube views if she set up a “content partner agreement” prior to reaching 30 million views. If so, she could amass an additional $15,000 to $20,000 for her current views, according to the site.

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Rebecca, an aspiring eighth-grade singer from Anaheim Hills, Calif., debuted “Friday” on YouTube after her parents paid $2,000 to the Ark Music Factory record label for the pre-written song and the production of the accompanying video.

While Rebecca’s auto-tuned ditty is being hailed as the “worst song ever” by some online outlets and social media users (generally garnering notoriety for all of the wrong reasons), the teen’s viral video has caught the attention of music master Simon Cowell, who is intrigued by the public’s apparently overwhelming disdain to the would-be singer.

“I love [Rebecca] [and] the fact that she’s gotten so much publicity,” Simon told People on Friday. “People are so upset about the song, but I think it’s hysterical. I want to meet her.”