Oliver Anthony, the rising star behind the viral hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” is supposedly making tens of thousands of dollars a day from his music.
The now-iconic red-bearded Virginia farmer and musician went from relative obscurity to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with a song he recorded in the middle of nowhere.
The song’s August 8 YouTube video had over 33 million views and generated political news. The video’s description says the song was supposed to “give hope to the working class and your average hard-working young man who may have lost hope in the grind of trying to get by,” and it has become a blue-collar anthem nationwide.
Mikael Wood, a pop music reviewer for the Los Angeles Times, said that Oliver has become a “rich man south of Richmond.” After his song “topped the iTunes chart” and “Spotify’s U.S. Top 50,” the trade magazine Hits said that Anthony was making about $40,000 a day from sales and plays of his music.
Since his video went viral, Oliver Anthony says he has turned down $8 million in offers: “I’m nothing special,” he said.
Wood added that Anthony’s massive success and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” were “both naive in their political calculations,” which is a negative quality.
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“Where Aldean paints a hysterical portrait of urban chaos, Oliver muddies his critique of government malfeasance by complaining about obese people milking welfare’ to buy ‘bags of Fudge Rounds,’ as though food stamps are the reason he’s been working ‘overtime hours for bulls—pay,'” the LA Times critic said, agreeing with other cultural commentary websites that the song was “childish and the LA Times critic thinks Aldean vividly conveys urban chaos, while Anthony’s concerns about overweight welfare recipients buying ‘Fudge Rounds’ undercut his denunciation of government corruption. This representation claims Anthony blames food aid for his long hours and low income.
The critic’s viewpoint aligns with that of other cultural commentary websites, which argue that the song exhibits an immature and unkind mindset, reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s tendency to assign blame to impoverished individuals.
Last week, Anthony said he had “brushed off” $8 million offers from “people in the music industry.”
Since he became famous overnight earlier this month, people from all over the United States have flocked to various music venues to see Oliver. Since he became renowned overnight a month ago, people from across the United States have flocked to see Anthony at multiple music venues. He will perform at the sold-out Blue Ridge Rock Festival with Pantera, Megadeth, and Evanescence.
FAQs
According to the New York Post and Fox News, Oliver Anthony reportedly makes around $40,000 per day in royalties from his music. This is based on the number of streams and downloads his songs have received.
The number of streams Oliver Anthony needs to make $40,000 a day depends on the streaming rate. At a rate of $0.005 per stream, Oliver Anthony would need 800,000 daily views to break even.
