18. Jackson Had The Highest Royalty Rates In the Music Industry in the 1980s
Thanks to the break-out hits of “Rock With You” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Jackson secured a record 37% royalty on his album’s profits. After the massive cultural zeitgeist of Thriller which helped to launch the new Music Television Channel (MTV,) Jackson was able to command an even higher record-setting royalty from his record label. In 1984 he received $2 of every album sold, which amounted to 25% of all record sales.