One current and one former member of Paramore now share songwriting credit with Olivia Rodrigo on her song “Good 4 U” after the pair were retroactively acknowledged as co-writers of the hit. But the latest development in the story is that camps for the band and the pop star were reportedly in communication with each other before the song emerged.
Last month, Paramore singer Hayley Williams and the band’s former guitarist Josh Farro suddenly appeared among the credits of Rodrigo’s alt-pop smash as co-writers alongside Rodrigo and the track’s producer, Dan Nigro. When “Good 4 U” premiered in May, Williams and Farro weren’t publicly listed as co-writers, as shown in credits then published by Billboard.
While their addition might have seemed reactionary on the face of it, Variety reported on Wednesday (Sept. 1) that the parties for Rodrigo and Paramore were in contact before “Good 4 U” was released, and that the credit is “actually [for] an interpolation — which is essentially an element of a previously recorded song re-recorded and incorporated into a new song.”
Williams first hipped her social media followers to the credit change on Aug. 24 when she re-shared an Instagram Story from Paramore’s publisher, Warner Chappell Music. The company’s post celebrated a music chart feat for “Good 4 U” and gave a “shoutout” to “writers Hayley Williams and Joshua Farro.”
So how much are the Paramore contributors now making in “Good 4 U” royalties? That’s anybody’s guess.
“It’s hard to give an exact value, because there really are a lot of variables,” an unnamed music executive opined to Variety. “But in public performance [alone], it’s a seven-figure number ranging from $1.2 million to probably north of $2 million on the amount of spins, how long it’s been on the radio … how many formats.”
Over the last several months, rumors had swirled that Rodrigo would have to hand over some of her “Good 4 U” publishing rights after listeners noticed similarities between her tune and Paramore’s 2007 song “Misery Business.” While we don’t know the details of any agreement that transpired, the Paramore writers now indeed make up half of the credited “Good 4 U” writing team, as evidenced in the repertory entry for the selection on the website of ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
In the same month that “Good 4 U” was released, EW noted its resemblance to “Misery Business,” and Vulture wrote that Rodrigo had “gone fully pop-punk; the angry track is evocative of Hayley Williams.”
Along with other artists, Rodrigo has helped bring rock-type sounds back to the Top 40. In June, Courtney Love accused Rodrigo of stealing the art concept used by Love’s former band Hole on their album Live Through This for Rodrigo’s Sour Prom, a concert film tied to Sour, her album containing “Good 4 U.”
Compare the Olivia Rodrigo and Paramore songs below.
