Once again this is a mess on ATRL where nobody has any idea what they are talking about
The reason why artists make so little money off their songs and albums is because when they are signed to their recording contracts, they receive a cash advance on behalf of the label in return for a binding contract. On iTunes specifically, there is the 50, 40, 10 approximation. The constant is that Apple will almost always take 40% of the money made of of any download. This high percentage has caused issues in the past such as the Beatles catalog not being available. The label will take 50% which leaves 10% to the artist(s). There is SO much more in depth you can go talking about how the real money is in songwriting royalties and how Luke actually charges the record labels a certain amount per song he and his team produce and much more.
But regarding to Ke$ha, yes she will make 5% if not less from her SINGING in the song. Now, because she is a songwriter, she makes an additional wage based off of every time Timber is downloaded AND every time Global Warming: Meltdown is downloaded so in actuality she and Pitbull will make more. Hope this clears some things up.
