Pay attention. Hitmaka is pulling back the curtain on how music money really works. During a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, the hitmaking producer and artist revealed that despite earning more than 20 billion streams across his catalog, the streaming checks have been far from life-changing.
“I ain’t really seen no big bag off of that,” Hitmaka admitted, even when speaking on massive records like Big Sean’s Bounce Back, Ray J’s Sexy Can I, and A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s Look Back at It, are all tracks that are approaching diamond certification, meaning 10 million units sold in the United States.
While these songs made serious noise on radio and Billboard, Hitmaka made it clear that streaming alone hasn’t brought in the kind of returns people might expect. Instead, he pointed to sync placements as the true game changers in terms of income. Commercials, films, and television deals have created real financial impact.
A prime example? Bounce Back getting placed in a Super Bowl commercial. That one move, he says, brought in a quick $500,000 check, when he was in the middle of buying a new home.
According to Hitmaka, it’s not always about how many streams a song racks up. The bigger money comes from how and where your music is used. Radio play and sync deals, he says, are still the most reliable lanes to long-term income in today’s industry.
Like we said, pay close attention.