Journey Waited Decades To Profit Off "Don't Stop Believin'" (And Then Made Millions)

June 04, 2024

Highlights

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" is their top-selling song, and its success largely comes from streaming platforms boosting its sales.
The band's income mainly derives from touring, with over $350 million grossed from tours, outpacing streaming revenue by a significant margin.
"Don't Stop Believin'" likely made the band around $9 million throughout their careers.

As a progressive rock band that also influenced early pop culture with their music, Journey has become one of the greatest bands of all time. The Hall of Famers may not have won many awards for their songs, but classics like "Don’t Stop Believin'" and "Any Way You Want It" have become anthems that still bring in millions in streams for the band.

The exit of lead singer Steve Perry from Journey may have changed the band's dynamics, but they still hold some posts on top music lists. Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believin'" has become the top-selling song of all time, meaning it’s their most successful song. However, the song may not be raking in enough royalties for the band, even after four decades of release; their fortune comes from something else.

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Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believin'" Is Their Top Selling Song, But It Did Not Earn Much Until Streaming

Streaming platforms boosted the sales of "Don't Stop Believin'," maintaining its position as a classic American Anthem song.

In 2024, Forbes announced that Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believin'" is the biggest song of all time.

According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), Journey's "Don’t Stop Believin'" from their 1981 studio album Escape is now an 18-times platinum-certified single. That means that between pure sales and other forms of consumption–namely streaming–the song has shifted at least 18 million equivalent units in the United States alone. — Forbes

"Don't Stop Believin'" ranks as the highest-rated song in America, but shares the spot with another track; Post Malone and Swae Lee's "Sunflower" has held the position since May 2023.

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How Post Malone's Sunflower Became One Of The Most Profitable Songs

Post Malone and Swae Lee's song "Sunflower" became one of the most successful songs of the decade, and was even featured in a Spider-Man movie.

The song also hit its first billion streams on Spotify in 2021, and as of 2024, it has over 1.8 billion streams alone from the platform. Based on estimates from streaming, the song has made the band over $9,000,000. However, this does not count other streaming platforms.

During the song's resurgence in 2009, iTunes recorded an estimate of $462,000 in 2010 from streaming. Seeing that more than a decade has gone by, and the song keeps rising, it likely brings in an income of millions from Apple Music too.

This does not account for royalties and other digital sales or sales from tours. Nonetheless, being 18 times platinum certified means the song has sold 18 million equivalent units, and may have brought in twice as much.

Journey Earns More From Touring Than From Streams And Digital Sales

Journey has a career gross of over $350 million from their tours alone

Undoubtedly, Journey pulls in a lot of numbers in millions from streams, but a bulk of their net worth as a group comes from their tours rather than streaming.

On Spotify alone, Journey has over 22 million monthly listeners, which pulls in roughly over $100,000 in a month and a little over $1.3 million in a year. That is not to account for other streaming platforms, the airplay, and royalties that come in.

Meanwhile, the band made over $15 million from touring alone in 2018. Journey's 2022 tour earned the band $31.9 million and the band has a career gross tour of more than $352.5 million on sales of 7.6 million tickets.

Journey band members may have taken a hit due to their internal legal battles, but their tours still get thousands in the stadium to watch them. Regardless of his absence, former frontman, Steve Perry, still gets paid in millions for Journey songs and tours.

Undoubtedly, streaming platforms have helped "Don't Stop Believin'" as a pre-digital music to boost its sales, but it can't beat concert ticket sales. Journey's main income comes from their tours, which has earned the band members an enormous fortune.

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"Don't Stop Believin'" Is The Perfect Anthem Song For All Eras

"Don't Stop Believin'" is a classic power ballad that speaks to many

Since it hit the airwaves in 1981, "Don't Stop Believin'" has reentered the charts several times over the past decades. That's because the song transcends beyond the usual progressive rock song.

The song wasn't certified gold until 2005 because "Don't Stop Believin's" reentrance into music charts in the digital era can be attributed to it being used as a soundtrack to many films and TV shows.

It was the ending soundtrack for the 2003 film Monster (a film which earned Charlize Theron her Oscar win for Best Actress). In 2007, the hit HBO mafia drama The Sopranos used the song to take a bow for its last episode. The song reportedly got a 482 percent boost on iTunes. Its reappearance on the charts in 2009 was thanks to the breathtaking performance of the misfit Glee Club in the pilot episode of Glee.

The phenomenal reentering each time the song is covered or used as a soundtrack in films and TV shows proves that "Don't Stop Believin'" is an anthem song that fits any era. "Don't Stop Believin'" is a power ballad that will always be needed, no matter the age or time.

According to Journey's keyboardist, Jonathan Cain, "Don't Stop Believin" was a song for every person who wants to make it. "I really believe this song is about wanting to make it," he said. "Where you think you're stuck in life — that you're able to get out, the same way I got out of Chicago."

The song has powerful lyrics that speak to the everyday hustler, which makes it a great American Anthem with a call to action.

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