Austria is being represented at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest by artists Teya & Salena with their song Who The Hell is Edgar.
The song, which is being performed first during this evening’s grand final in Liverpool, talk of being possessed by the ghost of 19th century writer Edgar Allan Poe.
The catchy track is also about the duo’s experiences as female songwriters, according to the official Eurovision website.
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One verse of the song mentions: "Zero, dot, zero, zero, three. Give me two years, and your dinner will be free, Gas station champagne is on me, Edgar cannot pay rent for me."
It is believed this number is in reference to a Business Insider report from 2020 that suggested artists earn as little as $0.0033 per stream of a song.
TV critic Scott Bryan posted on Twitter: "Austria’s song is about the lack of royalties musicians receive from the likes of Spotify, with 0.003 referencing how much some artists get per stream. Just boss moves. Absolutely no notes."
Commenting on the song, another fan said: "All the ways Who the Hell is Edgar is iconic: It's about Edgar Allen Poe possessing someone, it has a singalong-bit in it referencing Spotify’s $0.003 royalty rate, pleather outfits, poe poe poe poe poe poe poe."
Another viewer said: "I was wondering about the significance of the number."
Someone else added: "It's also about how women get treated badly in the industry and ghostwriting, a lot of topics tackled at once but I think it does them very well!"
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the final, when asked about the reference Teya said: "People that are not in the industry have never even heard about how much you get from Spotify. So the fact that people actually started analysing it has been incredible. We just hope that we are leaving, like, a small impact."
The lyrics were also highlighted by host Hannah Waddingham during the second semi-final on Thursday night, which Austria qualified for.
Following Teya and Salena’s performance, Hannah said: “By the way, please let's never forget that a song starts with a writer and a dream and look what they create for us all."
"Let's hear it for the songwriters," she added, which was met with cheers from the audience.
Russ Spencer, who was one member of former UK representatives Scooch, said he still receives royalties from the band’s hit Flying the Flag (For You), which came 22nd in 2007.
“There’s an uptick [this time of year] but I can get myself a meal every year or something, a nice meal, but it’s nothing to write home about,” Russ told SpinGenie.
“I’m useless with all that but there’s a little bit of money that trickles in but it’s not going to buy me a house. I’m not a millionaire off of Flying the Flag!”.
The M.E.N has reached out to Spotify for a statement on the reference.
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