Explosive growth for Madcon after Måneskin hit – VG

The moonlight version of “Beggin ‘” has now topped Spotify’s global hit list for a week.

There, the Italian quartet has put tough competitors like Olivia Rodrigo and Ed Sheeran behind.

The song, which they originally released in 2017, has sailed up as Moonlight’s most popular song, after great success with both the Eurovision Song Contest winner “Zitti E Buoni” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave”.

Quadrupled

However, Moonlight’s version has also had a major effect on the playback of Madcon’s version from 2007, which was the second best-selling song in Europe when it ravaged the worst in 2007 and 2008.

Madcon’s version has been ticking and going on the power services for many years. But in the last two months, traffic has quadrupled.

According to Chartmetric it was approx. 175,000 daily plays on Spotify globally in early May.

Last weekend it passed 700,000.

The Moonlight version has around 7.7 million daily plays.

If Madcon’s growth continues, their version may soon enter Spotify’s global, daily updated hit list, which includes the 200 most popular songs worldwide.

The song, which at the time of writing is in 200th place, has 751,000 plays.

It is not uncommon for old hits to appear on this list, but it is primarily about some of pop history’s most canonized songs.

For example, a-ha’s “Take On Me” at the time of writing is in 186th place, with 778,000 plays.

Gravel original

As VG has previously mentioned, there are many on Twitter who express that they prefer Madcon’s version over Måneskins – a trend that continues.

There are also a number of users who refer to “Madcon’s original version” – probably happily unaware that “Beggin ‘” was a hit with American Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons as early as 1967.

However, the streaming of this does not reach the Madcon version to the knees: On Spotify, Valli’s original now has around 40,000 daily plays.

The Madcon edition has “(original version)” added the title of the streaming services.

VG has contacted Madcon’s management and both their former and current record company with questions about what Madcon is financially getting out of the new success with its old hit, and whether they will use it for any kind of new activity. They have not commented on this.

Significant number

Marius Øvrebø-Engemoen, general manager of the artists’ interest organization GramArt, tells VG that the fact that it is a cover song should have no bearing on what the artists get from their record company.

– What they get from the record company depends on what kind of agreement they have with them, he says, and points out that he does not know about Madcon’s agreements and speaks on a general basis.

The publishing money for “Beggin ‘” goes to those who manage the rights of the original songwriters. However, the GramArt leader believes that it can be good income to get for the performers of a cover song, like Madcon in this case.

– 700,000 daily gigs is a significant number, so we can hope they get it. More money goes to the record companies than it goes to the remuneration agencies for songwriters, at least from Spotify.

Also on YouTube, Madcon’s “Beggin ‘” has gained momentum. According to Chartmetric, it had around 140,000 daily plays at the beginning of May, while it now has around 600,000.

The Madcon success takes place primarily outside Norway: Of Saturday’s 703,000 Spotify gigs for “Beggin ‘”, 12,700 were Norwegian.

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