Mark Mothersbaugh Earns $1M Yearly From MTV’s ‘Ridiculousness’ Theme

When Devo opened their 1978 album Q. Are We Now not Males? A: We Are Devo! with “Uncontrollable Urge”, few listeners can have foreseen how much cash it could generate a long time down the road – particularly no longer its creator.

Lovers of Devo would word that “Uncontrollable Urge” was once by no means launched as a unmarried, regardless of its standing as considered one of their maximum performed songs. Nor was once it their maximum a success monitor at the charts – that honor belongs to 1980’s “Whip It”, which peaked at No. 14 at the Billboard Scorching 100 after being issued as the second one unmarried from Freedom of Selection. Then again, it’s a long way from their greatest earner.

As co-founding Devo vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh instructed Rolling Stone, despite the fact that “Whip It” changed into a staple of the burgeoning MTV community within the early ’80s, his greatest luck has certainly come by way of the channel, however in a way that was once wholly surprising: MTV’s ubiquitous Ridiculousness.

When Ridiculousness first introduced in 2012, the viral video collection used a canopy of “Uncontrollable Urge” by means of host Rob Dyrdek. Over 12 years later, this system boasts over 1,500 episodes, changing into a staple of MTV within the procedure. Famously, the display saturates the community such a lot that during August 2020, The Ringer famous it was once performed on repeat for 36 hours instantly. Two months previous, Selection famous that 113 of a unmarried week’s 168 hours (or 67.3%) had been full of episodes of Ridiculousness.

For Mothersbaugh – who has penned song for loved collection comparable to Rugrats and Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and scored movies for administrators comparable to Wes Anderson – the income from the ubiquity of Ridiculousness generates round $1 million yearly, in line with estimates from his spouse and supervisor Anita Greenspan

“I’ve written such a lot of different songs for movies and tv presentations,” Mothersbaugh defined. “I’d’ve been surprised [years ago] should you instructed me that is the person who would change into this high supply of source of revenue.”

“It’s ironic and more or less humorous,” provides Greenspan. “At first of MTV you noticed numerous Devo as a result of they had been early to make movies, however MTV began wondering the movies Devo had been making. [The videos] had been subversive, they didn’t like them and wouldn’t play them anymore. Now ‘Uncontrollable Urge’ is definitely the most-played track on MTV, so [Devo] wins.’”

Regardless of the huge publicity the sector has needed to “Uncontrollable Urge” because of Ridiculousness, it’s a long way from the primary giant earner that Mothersbaugh has had on the planet of song. As Greenspan instructed Rolling Stone, his theme track to Rugrats controlled to pay for his or her house again within the ’90s.