Fifa’s favourite pop singer Shakira stands to make a small fortune from her new World Cup official anthem despite pledges that all proceeds of “Dai Dai” would go to the Fifa Global Citizen Education Fund. English superstar Ed Sheeran will be another beneficiary of the initiative.
By Philippe Auclair
This will be the third time that Colombian pop star Shakira provides the official soundtrack to a Fifa World Cup, after her 2010 megahit “Waka Waka” and “La La La Brazil 2014”. She will perform “Dai Dai” at both the opening ceremony and final’s half-time show of the World Cup.
As on previous occasions (*), it has been announced that all the proceeds of her new song, “Dai Dai”, recorded with Nigerian singer-songwriter and producer Burna Boy, a.k.a. Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, will benefit the Fifa Global Citizen Education Fund. Shakira serves as an advisory board member of the fund. The initiative’s stated aim is to raise 100 million USD by the end of the 2026 tournament “to expand access to education and sports across regions in Latin America, Africa, and Asia”.
“Since I was 18”, Shakira said, “I’ve spent my entire life doing two things: making songs and building schools. So finally, during this World Cup, those two paths meet, come together and I’m very excited. I’ve created this song, “Dai Dai”, specifically for this World Cup but also for so many kids around the world who don’t have a voice and who are waiting for an opportunity — kids who don’t have access to quality education and kids who are being left behind.”
Moreover, the singer announced that she would donate 1 USD per ticket sold on her upcoming tour dates to the fund. In parallel, her label – and publisher – Sony Music will also match the first quarter of a million dollars raised by the song. Fans of the “Queen of Latin Music” inundated internet forums with glowing tributes to their favourite artist’s generosity. Celebrity magazines and websites outdid each other in singing the praises of the star with a cause.
“There are artists who fill stadiums”, gushed one Daniela Loaeza in Mexican “people” magazine Soy Carmin. “And then there is Shakira, capable of turning a song into a worldwide conversation and a musical hit into an opportunity to change lives. At a time when many celebrities seem trapped between fleeting trends and perfectly calculated publicity campaigns, the Colombian superstar once again reminded the world why she continues to hold a unique place in the hearts of millions”.
The truth, not the whole truth
One thing Shakira did not mention is that, whilst the bulk of the revenue from “Dai Dai” will benefit a good cause, she herself stands to make a small fortune from her new football anthem, as does English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, one of the co-writers of the song, and several others of her collaborators, including Burna Boy. Sony Music’s 250,000 USD “gift” will hardly burn a hole in their pocket, as the music industry giant will make far, far more money from the record, whatever the press releases might suggest.
As Josimar revealed last year, this had already been the case for “Waka Waka”, a song so popular that, sixteen years after its release, Shakira still uses it as the closing number in her current set. Josimar reported how all trace of the money earned in royalties from that song after 2014 had disappeared. Shakira had also pocketed the lion’s share of “Waka Waka”‘s publishing rights, far more than the Cameroonian musicians who had written the original version of the tune.
Key to understanding how Shakira could profit from a “charity song” was the special status of songwriting royalties. As Josimar explained in its investigation into “Waka Waka”‘s missing millions, recordings generate income for artists in two ways. On one hand, the “master rights” reward the performers of the song (the artists or band contracted to the record company) by giving them a percentage of the recommended retail price, which rarely exceeds 15 percent. On the other hand, the “publishing rights” (“mechanical” and “performance” rights) go to the individuals registered as writers of the composition and their publishers.
Who gets what
Josimar procured the registration details of “Dai Dai”, which all of the world’s agencies and organisations charged with collecting and distributing songwriting royalties use to calculate who should get what.
Josimar received confirmation from a major European music publisher that none of the registered writers of “Dai Dai” assigned their rights to a third party, though they were free to do so. Nothing prevented Shakira or any of her co-writers, including Ed Sheeran, from nominating the Fifa Global Citizen Education Fund as the beneficiary of their copyright. They did not, and all of the publishing revenue of “Dai Dai” will remain theirs.
Shakira herself claimed a 45% share in total of this revenue – after deduction of the publisher’s share. Her producer Jon Bellion got 10%, as did Ed Sheeran. At the time of writing, three other rights holders, Burna Boy, Egyptian rapper Ahmed Saghir and American songwriter Saul Alexander Castillo Vasquez (also known as “A.C.”), had yet to register their copyright.
Josimar contacted Shakira’s publicist and her management team at William Morris Entertainment, Jon Bellion’s agent Luke Mitzman, Burna Boy’s press agent Michael Adams Jr and Ed Sheeran’s management. Sony Music and Fifa were also contacted. None of them responded to our questions.
How much?
It is difficult to calculate an exact figure of how much money the writers of “Dai Dai” will receive, as the percentage of the record sales which is set aside for “mechanical rights” – from the first sale onwards, before any production expenses have been recouped – varies from territory to territory. However, taking 10% as an average percentage of the songwriters share, should “Dai Dai” generate 10 million USD in sales in all formats and on all platforms, Shakira herself would stand to pocket 450,000 USD – and Ed Sheeran 100,000 USD; and should “Dai Dai” prove as enduring as “Waka Waka” has been, these numbers would have to be multiplied by five.
These are mere estimates, but are in line with the initial success of the song, which had garnered over 100 million views in the three weeks which followed its official release on 14 May, making it the number one video on YouTube’s music trending chart, helped in part by the likes of Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi making cameo appearances in the clip. The song had also accrued 38 million streams on Spotify and occupied the top spot on the iTunes global chart at the time of writing. It is safe to say that even with production costs easily reaching six figures, “Dai Dai” is a genuine hit and will generate an awful lot of money – for charity, but also, unknown to the public, for its writers and their publisher Sony Music.
To this money must be added the “performance rights” which are paid out when the song is broadcast on radio or performed live in concerts. This kind of revenue is considerable in Shakira’s case, given how regularly the Colombian star tours, filling huge venues at each stop. Her 31-concert Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour 2026, will encompass seven countries in four continents, including an 11-show residency at the “Estado Shakira”, a 50,000 capacity “pop-up” stadium purpose-built in Madrid’s Macondo Park in September and October, before concluding with “Shakira Live at the Pyramids of Giza” on 28 November. It won’t hurt that Shakira will also perform the song in the World Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City and in a new half-time show which Fifa decided to stage during the final of its tournament.
All for a good cause, obviously.
(*) Shakira also performed a revised version “Hips Don’t Lie” at the closing ceremony of the 2006 German World Cup, but that song had not been recorded specifically for the tournament.
