How much money does Green Day make when September finally ends?

“Wake Me When September Ends” has become one of the most enduring–and profitable–songs from Green Day’s American Idiot album.

The song has become something of a meme for bad things that happen in September, so streams and sales see a season uptick every year.

According to a new report from YouTube, monthly streams jump from 50,000 a month to more than double that for September, peaking on or about October 1.

For example, “September” was streamed 101,313 on September 1, 2018. On September 30, it was viewed 103,669 times. Then on October 1, the number was 107,058. Nice, but how does that translate into cash?

YouTube pays an average of $0.003 (that’s three one-thousandths of a cent) per stream. Doing the math reveals that Green Day earned $303.94 USD on September 1, $311.01 on September 30, and $321,17 on October 1.

If we assume that over 31 days (September 1-October 1), Green Day earns an average of $312 a day (an average of the three above figures), the total YouTube haul from “Wake Me When September Ends” is about $9,700 USD. That’s just for one month. If you assume that the song is viewed 50,000 a day for the other 11 months of year, that means approximately another $49,500 for a total of $59,200 annually.

Not a bad return for one song that just sits there on YouTube.

(Via The NME)