Musicians can earn up to $20,000 a year if their music is featured as part of displays by Dubai Fountain, an industry executive told Arabian Business.
Unveiled in May 2009, the Dubai Fountain is the world’s largest choreographed fountain system. Designed by WET Design, the California-based company behind the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel Lake in Las Vegas, the fountains can spray 22,000 gallons of water 500 feet into the air at any given moment.
The fountains are choreographed to a collection of international songs, with the range for 2019 including Thriller by Michael Jackson, Nadili Sik Sak Show by Mezdeke, Symphony No.9 in E Minor by Antonin Dvorak, I’ll Never Love Again by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Skyfall by Adele and The Prayer by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.
In April, Emaar, the developer behind the Dubai Fountains and the wider Downtown Dubai area, signed a deal with Pinkfong, the Korean creator of the viral sensation ‘Baby Shark’ music video, and Spacetoon Group, Pinkfong’s official licensing agent in the Middle East, to develop a special Baby Shark routine at Dubai Fountains.
Spacetoon, Pinkfong & Emaar – Baby Shark is Added to The Dubai Fountain from Spacetoon on Vimeo.
“We were contacted by Emaar and they requested to have Baby Shark on the [Dubai] Fountain,” Ahmad Weiss, commercial manager of Spacetoon, told Arabian Business.
While Weiss declined to comment how much his company earned from the Baby Shark deal with Emaar, he said the amount artists can earn from royalties from the use of their music by Dubai Fountains can vary a lot.
“They pay a certain licence fee and they can play it as much as they can… It varies, but it is not that high,” he said.
“It starts from $2,000 a year with a regular song. Some people use it for PR but in other cases it can reach $15,000 to $20,000 [a year],” he added.
The addition of new songs must be approved by senior management at Emaar, but once given the green light the timeframe to design the water routine to accompany the music usually takes around a month.
The Dubai Fountain performances are played every hour between 2pm and 5pm and every 30 minutes from 6pm until midnight.
Last month, Arabian Business revealed that the cost to place a promotional advert or message on the façade of the Burj Khalifa starts from AED250,000 ($68,073) for a single three minute display, rising to AED1 million for five three minute displays.
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