How Do Coldplay Split Their Money?

Written by Jeff Campbell in Band Members Last Updated February 1, 2023

Coldplay emerged in an era when many bands were breaking up over money fights within the bands. Coldplay is undeniably one of the most successful musical artists from the past 20 years. So how do Coldplay split their money?

Coldplay’s songwriting credits are divided up 40/20/20/20 with singer and lyricist Chris Martin getting the majority share due to his extra involvement in writing their hits. The remaining sales are divided equally among all band members.

Along with growing criticism, fake rumors of Coldplay’s split have repeatedly made their rounds on social media platforms.

A clear example can be observed when people quickly took the hint and labeled the band’s split after Chris briefly fired the band’s drummer, Will Champion, early on in their career.

Fans immediately convoluted uneven income royalty split as the reason behind the internal row.

The rising chaos led Chris to clear the air in his Dailyecho.co.uk interview that the rift was due to misunderstandings in producing technically perfect music, not revenue splits. But was that really true?

Let’s look a little deeper into their money, songwriting, and wealth.

Do all the members of Coldplay write their songs together?

Coldplay singer Chris Martin often starts the songwriting process. But all band members add to Martin’s initial structure and lyrics and add unique flourishes that truly make the end product unique to the band as a whole.

Chris said that he has been “begging someone else to start a song” and contribute to the albums, but the writer has been writing most of the lyrics ever since their formation.

Recalling past memories, Martin was surprised when bassist Guy Berryman approached him one late night and told him he had been experimenting with a new track.

The idea eventually ended up being part of the featured album Ghost Stories. The song is “Magic.”

According to the members, one of the most incredible things about working together is that each member gets the equal opportunity to incorporate personal emotions in the album’s making.

For instance, when asked by a fan why did the band write the year 1919 in the posters of Everyday Life?

The band’s guitarist Jonny Buckland explained in the Everyday Life tour in Jordan interview that the year 1919 is related to an old photograph of his grandfather and his band with his uncles in it.

Coldplay works excellent as a team together to identify the emotional resonances of any song, elevate the sense of music, and have their relationship constantly come back to at the end of the day.

They are always eager to learn what’s next as musicians.

Probably this is what makes the band great. “The more the time goes on, the more I appreciate the chemistry of our group,”: says Chris.

How much does Coldplay make per concert?

Coldplay earns approximately $2,200,000 per show. On their last world tour, Coldplay earned a total tour gross of $88 million and a net profit of $53 million.

Coldplay released their album Everyday Life in 2019 and planned their tour in 2020, which got postponed due to the current pandemic.

Band manager Dave Holmes hinted, saying: “We won’t be touring again until 2021 at the earliest. But their 2017 tour helped me conclude how much Coldplay makes per concert.

So, here is what I found:

Reports by The Mirror revealed that the band played in 63 shows in 2017, covering the UK, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Their Flock of Birds gross was $88,398,000, while the band members shared $54.4 million.

Additionally, the band’s A Head Full Of Dreams Tour gigs brought in $44.9 million from Europe, $30.5 million from Asia, $8.6 million from South America, and $2.9 million solely from merchandising in North America.

Another source, Amazing Beautiful World, reveals that the band earns “$2.2 million per concert”. From the above sources, it is quite evident that Coldplay is choosing to go on more extensive and lucrative tours.

And then spending huge amounts on merchandising businesses and yet landing some crazy amounts in their pockets.

How much is the drummer from Coldplay worth?

English musician Will Champion, drummer, backing vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist for Coldplay, is worth $100 million in US dollars.

Speaking about their relationship, Will, as Chris describes him, is the anchor of the band.

There is no doubt that Will’s drumming skills have contributed to making the band a significant hit amongst fans of all ages bringing close to $100 million per year.

Ironic given they once sacked him for poor drumming skills!

Another magazine: The Richest estimated Will’s total net worth to be around $75 million.

The amount is much lower compared to Chris Martin. But considering that Will’s drumming skills are “just right for Coldplay” (as Drum Magazine puts it).

Will has been a fortunate one to land himself a significant place in the band and earned some serious dough.

As far as rumors of their internal rift are concerned due to unequal revenue, Will has never presented any official statement regarding their split.

The band has sincerely enjoyed each other’s company ever since they came together.

What’s Chris Martin’s net worth?

British singer and songwriter Chris Martin of Coldplay has a net worth of $130 million. With more than 100 million in record sales, Coldplay is widely recognized as the world’s best-selling artist currently.

Collectively, Coldplay’s worth is estimated to be around $475 million.

But Chris alone has a net worth of $130 million. Sometimes, it appears that Martin’s popularity overshadows the band’s other players to some extent.

Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion barely make it to $ 100 million even after members like Berryman attempted to raise their income by investing in clothing lines and becoming a publisher for other magazines.

Their share remains quite feeble.

So, what’s the reason behind Martin having a bigger net worth than the rest of the band members?

According to The Things, Martin has been a part of multiple solo projects where he has collaborated with several artists like Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, Beyonce, Dua Lipa, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Avicii, and The Chainsmokers.

Additionally, he has appeared in many films and shows such as Ricky Gervais’ Extras, Brüno, Shaun of the Dead (hilariously as a zombie), Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Simpsons.

The star continues to create new records and enjoy rolling in the greens.

How do most bands split their money?

As a general rule, the primary songwriter from a band takes a larger cut of the songwriting royalties or 100% if the other members don’t contribute to the writing. But performance fees, recording sales, and merchandise sales are often split equally among band members.

There are divided opinions when it comes to answering how most of the bands split their money?

Bands like U2, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, and Coldplay split the royalties equally, and other “bands like ELO, The Cars, Roxy Music are examples where the main writers make the larger cut”: answers one fan.

Music experts think that if the key person in the band, who is the band’s face and is the singer who does all the songwriting, he would obviously want an extra amount.

But then, creating a song isn’t just about writing the lyrics.

There’s so much of the work that goes unsaid, such as song promotion and finding the big gigs. In that case, all songwriting means nothing unless each band member isn’t doing his job well.

They need to be recognized as well.

Equal split is the way most bands keep their band members together. That is how you should look after people who look after you.

Everyday Life Q&A from Jordan

Conclusion

Coldplay remains one of the most favorite bands.

Almost every interview is a live testimonial of the band’s chemistry and bond.

Coldplay has always attempted to work differently from their peer bands. As a part of the band’s linchpin, Chris decided that the band would share equal royalties, unlike their contemporary bands.

In an interview, Chris says that they divide their songwriting credits into 40/20/20/20 shares while the other royalties like tours and merch sales are shared in an equal part of 25/25/25/25 amongst each member.

Photo which requires attribution:

A little harmonica in the crowd by Carl Nenzén Lovén is licensed under CC2.0 and was cropped, edited, and had a text overlay added

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