A number of charities have benefited from artists and publishers donating their royalties from popular songs.
Neil Diamond donated royalties from Sweet Caroline – a Red Sox home favorite – to victims of the Boston Marathon.
Dire Straits donated the royalties from their single Your Latest Trick to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
After being rumbled for getting paid handsomely for giving a private concert for members of the Gaddafi family, Mariah Carey spontaneously donated the royalties for the song “Save the Day,” from her upcoming album, to charities that create awareness for human-rights issues. She owned it, in the same way a toddler with cake all over its face denies all knowledge, stating: “Going forward, this is a lesson for all artists to learn from. We need to be more aware and take more responsibility regardless of who books our shows. ”
UNICEF has done rather well twice.
After Brazilian singer Jorge Ben sued Rod Stewart for the similarities between one of his songs and “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, Ben settled by asking Stewart to donate the royalties to UNICEF.
Coca Cola created one of the best-loved commercials in history with the song “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke”. The New Seekers sold 12 million copies of their version, and Coca Cola waived the royalties, instead donating them to UNICEF.
To this day, UNICEF Christmas parties begin with I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing and end with Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?
I would imagine.