Your Image, Your Money: Led Zeppelin
Posted by MarkO on June 25, 2008
What is the worth of a song? According to Portfolio.com, $572 million plus. That’s right, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin is estimated to be worth $572 million and counting.
Led Zeppelin have found their money maker in a single song. Sure they have a portfolio of great hits, but Stairway to Heaven is by far their biggest cash cow and they know it. It is their image.
So how did they turn a single song into the money maker it is today? First, its a great song. It is one of the most requested songs of all time. Every time the song gets played on the radio or otherwise, they make money.
Second, they didn’t whore it out. They were very selective of when and where it was released. It was never made a single because Zeppelin wanted to make people purchase the whole album. By purchasing the whole album, Zeppelin made more in royalties.
Third, they use it to generate sales of their other songs. Cadillac targeted baby boomers in a 2002 ad featuring “Rock and Roll”, another song of Zeppelin. Cadillac knew that baby boomers would be drawn to an ad that had Zeppelin playing. Zeppelin could have used Stairway to Heaven, but instead keeps it close to home for the perfect deal. Now that companies know that Zeppelin is licensing their songs, the longer Zeppelin holds out on Stairway, the larger the price it will fetch to the lucky bidder. In the meantime, companies are licensing Zeppelins other songs.
There are some important lessons you can learn from Zeppelin. Once you have your money maker image, take care of it and you will reap the rewards over the long run.
