After Whitney Houston's untimely death, sales and downloads of all of her beloved hits are obviously sky-rocketing.
So someone will obviously be reaping the rewards of this spike in music sales, but it will not be Whitney's estate. Unfortunately, even though she belted them out to perfection, Whitney did not write any of those massive hits.
And one of those biggest hits, 'I Will Always Love You,' was actually written by Dolly Parton, who will receive the writer's and publisher's rates as this song undoubtedly gets a boost in radio and television performances.
On records, the typical royalty paid to the writer/publisher is about eight-cents per radio performance, and that would all go to Dolly.
In fact, most singers don't make money from record sales, but rather from ticket sales -- a revenue stream that will no longer be a source of income for Whitney's estate..