An investigation by NPR Radio has discovered the price of a hit song in 2011: $1,078,000 (£670,439).
Using Rihanna's 'Man Down' as a case study, the cost of the whole production process — from the writing camp where all of 'Loud' began life to the final mastering of the track — was taken into account, coming to $78,000 (£48,510).
Added on top of that was the cost of 'song roll-out' — everything from the video to adverts to "taking the program directors of major market (radio) stations to nice dinners."
All of that costs $1,000,000 (£621,929), meaning that the overall expenditure was somewhere in the region of Quite A Lot. NPR hastens to add that all figures are estimates.
Other 100% verifiably factual insights in the piece include the revelation that 'Man Down''s lyrics took just 12 minutes to write and that, according to vocal producer Makeba Riddick, some artists like to have doves flying around their heads while they are in the studio.
