Gotye earned worldwide fame and a pair of Grammys for his 2011 single “Somebody That I Used to Know” — but he didn’t earn as many millions as he could have.
The Australian artist, born Wally de Backer, refused to allow advertising on his YouTube channel and split royalties from the song with the estate of Luiz Bonfá, whose 1967 song “Seville” is sampled.
“I’m not interested in selling my music,” he told news.com.au. “That’s the reason I don’t put ads on my YouTube channel, which seems strange to people in today’s climate, but that is a decision you can make.
“Ads are calling for our attention anywhere we turn in the world. If you can do something you care about and that other people care about and keep it out that world that feels like it’s all about ‘hey buy this stuff’ then that’s a good thing.”
As for the royalties, de Backer insisted he was not pressured by Bonfa’s estate.
“There’s never been lawsuits,” he said. “There was a moment where I could have considered going to court, but I didn’t want to spend that time of my life doing that.
“I decided it made more sense to focus on creative things and not get hung up on money and lawyers and courts. You don’t want to be in places that drain your energy.”
The song, which he wrote and produced, was No. 1 in more than two dozen countries around the world and its video has been seen more than 930 million times on YouTube.
De Backer, 37, now lives in Brooklyn and has been busy performing with Australian band The Basics, doing charity work, appearing in a documentary, launching two record labels, and working on a new Gotye album.
“The success of the last record makes all the projects for me possible, that’s the best thing about it,” he said. “It’s one of the things I’m most grateful for, from the success of that song in particular.”