INDUSTRY ANALYSIS OF SONY STOCK-SALE PAYOUTS: "WHOA"

Artists and their representatives receiving checks this week from the sale of Sony’s Spotify stock are celebrating some tidy sums—under a formula that was created to take into account all sales by said artists during the period Sony held those shares.

Don’t look for anyone to admit how pleased they are, but texts regarding the monies received are flying around the business this week—with exclamations like “wow” or “whoa”—describing checks to artists not only for streams but for records sold as well. The news serves as a corrective to negative perceptions that The Man always screws the artists.

Some artists’ reps are shocked by how much moolah has come in; one attorney was quick to add it’s lucky that Sony didn’t have Adele worldwide, or she would have ended up owning the company.