Rebecca Black May Be Making Big Money Off 'Friday'

Rebecca Black's viral hit "Friday" is still going strong over a week after emerging as the song the internet loves to hate. Black has been a consistent presence in Twitter's trending topics list, the video has been viewed over 34 million times on YouTube and the single has been among the Top 40 best selling tracks on iTunes for nearly a week. For a song that inspires so much over-the-top revulsion, "Friday" has become a surprisingly durable fluke hit.

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Along with the producers at Ark Music Factory who wrote the song and produced its video, Black stands to make a lot of money off "Friday." Forbes estimates that given the details of YouTube's revenue sharing program, Black and Ark have likely made at least $20,000 in advertising money from the video. The sales for the "Friday" digital single are less easy to quantify, particularly since the iTunes store does not release its sales data. But considering that Black's parents reportedly paid Ark only $2,000 for the song and video, they've already made back their investment – and then some.

Photos: Random Notes

Since there isn't a precedent for the Rebecca Black phenomenon, it's hard to predict when interest in "Friday" will taper off. It is possible that the song may be crossing over from internet novelty to actual pop hit, which could be a harbinger of things to come as the internet and YouTube become more central to listening habits.

Of course, as the song gets more popular, it inspires more covers and parodies. Here's video of Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers performing a brief snippet of the song at a recent Jonas Brothers gig:

And here's Conan O'Brien performing "Thursday," a prequel of sorts to Black's hit:

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

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