Baauer on Harlem Shake: "I haven’t seen any money from it."

/

Baauer was interviewed by Pitchfork and was asked whether he had made any money from his #1 billboard chart topping track "Harlem Shake". The answer might surprise you:  

"Pitchfork: Have you made a lot of money from it?

B: I still don’t know. I haven’t seen any money from it.

Pitchfork: Why is that?

B: I’m meeting with my lawyer tomorrow for lunch, so I’m gonna find that out. I think it’s mostly because of all the legal shit. ["Harlem Shake" contains vocal samples of Plastic Little rapper Jayson Musson and reggaeton artist Hector Delgado.] I didn’t clear the samples because I was in my fucking bedroom on Grand Street. I wasn't going to think to call up [Delgado], I didn’t even know who it was who did that [sample]; I knew the Jayson Musson [sample]. So I found myself in that fucking pickle. Legal letters and shit. Ugh. Lawyers. So exposure-wise it was fantastic, but everything else..."

Read the entire interview over at Pitchfork.  

Like Trap? Then you're gonna want this track (Free download)

/

DJ Snake - 'Bird Machine feat. Alesia':

​This release was done through Jeffree's, a sub-label of Mad Decent. Their business model is covered in this Billboard article but to paraphrase it briefly: Jeffree's is used by Mad Decent to sign one-off track deals with producers which is then release it to the public for free. If the track gets some ​buzz they will start selling it. It's a win-win proposition for the producer, label, and fan which has helped launch the career of Baauer with his Jeffree's backed hit, 'Harlem Shake'.

Be sure to bookmark ​the Jeffree's site to download future releases for free.

A few astonishing sale numbers from 'Harlem Shake'

/

From SPIN: ​

"According to Nielsen SoundScan, the single jumped from 1,000 sales a week to 18,000 in the week that the "Harlem Shake" videos went viral, and this week it sold 262,000 downloads, a 1,359 percent increase. Baauer's chart coup ought to net his song more airtime — in fact, it's turning up on Hot97 and other mainstream outlets now — and still more sales.​"

Nice. ​