Oscars Week: Best-Winning Songs of the Last Decade
With the Oscars just days away, the nominees for the 2024 Academy Awards were unveiled earlier this year and despite a few surprise nominations and snubs, the night will be one to watch – especially with Ryan Gosling set to perform his Barbie hit!
So, with the likes of “I’m Just Ken” to “The Fire Inside”, its been predicted which 2024 nominee for Best Original Song is likely to win by analysing factors such as Spotify streams and royalties.
Best Original Song Nominees With The Highest Streams and Royalties
| # | Film | Song | Streams | Royalties: $ |
| 1st | Barbie | “What Was I Made For?” | 633,904,669 | $2,535,619 |
| 2nd | Barbie | “I’m Just Ken” | 105,403,327 | $421,613 |
| 3rd | Flamin Hot | “The Fire Inside” | 1,189,531 | $4,758 |
| 4th | American Symphony | “It Never Went Away” | 689,087 | $2,756 |
| 5th | Killers Of The Flower Moon | “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” | 79,449 | $318 |
Billie Eilish and Finneas’s ‘Barbie’ track “What Was I Made For?” ranks the highest for the song that made the most in royalties – with over 633 million streams, the song is estimated to have made $2.5m in royalties so far. Interestingly, with the ‘Barbie’ film budget reported to have been around $145 million, “What Was I Made For?” has already made back 1.75% of the film’s cost to produce.
Winners over the past decade
The winning track that has the most Spotify streams and royalties has been uncovered, as well as which song has almost made the most of their film budget in royalties so far…
Most Successful Best Original Song Winners of the Past 10 Years
| # | Year | Film | Song | Streams | Royalties: $ |
| 1st | 2018 | A Star Is Born | “Shallow” | 2,328,841,916 | $9,315,368 |
| 2nd | 2022 | No Time to Die | “No Time to Die” | 577,119,609 | $2,308,478 |
| 3rd | 2015 | Spectre | “Writing’s on the Wall” | 255,304,815 | $1,021,219 |
| 4th | 2016 | La La Land | “City of Stars” | 119,042,560 | $476,170 |
| 5th | 2017 | Coco | “Remember Me” | 108,442,569 | $433,770 |
| 6th | 2023 | RRR | “Naatu Naatu” | 70,355,475 | $281,422 |
| 7th | 2014 | Selma | “Glory” | 59,199,263 | $236,797 |
| 8th | 2019 | Rocketman | “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” | 27,827,062 | $111,308 |
| 9th | 2020/21 | Judas and the Black Messiah | “Fight for You” | 14,149,130 | $56,597 |
The 2018 hit “Shallow”, performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in ‘A Star Is Born’ has made the most in royalties over the years. With more than 2 billion streams, the royalties have racked up to $9.3m.
Top 3 Best Original Song Winners That Have Made The Most Of Their Film Budget
| # | Year | Film | Song | Royalties: $ | Reported Budget (USD) | % of Budget |
| 1st | 2018 | A Star Is Born | “Shallow” | $9,315,368 | $36,000,000 | 25.88% |
| 2nd | 2016 | La La Land | “City of Stars” | $476,170 | $30,000,000 | 1.59% |
| 3rd | 2014 | Selma | “Glory” | $236,797 | $20,000,000 | 1.18% |
“Shallow” from ‘A Star Is Born’ tops the table for not only the most streams, but also for making the most of the film’s budget in royalties – with reports suggesting ‘A Star Is Born’ had a budget of $36m, “Shallow” has made the equivalent of 25.88% of the film’s budget, higher than any other film analysed.