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The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” became the center of a publishing-rights dispute after the band sampled an orchestral recording of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” The band had permission to use that recording, but the underlying composition had not been cleared. The resulting settlement cost The Verve its publishing royalties and songwriting credit. The often-repeated $5 million figure, however, is not established by the reporting as a court award or disclosed payment.
What did “Bitter Sweet Symphony” sample?
The song’s repeating string passage came from a 1965 recording by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra: an orchestral arrangement of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” David Whitaker arranged the passage. The Verve used a four-second loop from that recording on “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” released in 1997 on Urban Hymns. NPR identifies the orchestra and arranger; Music Week describes the loop as four seconds.
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That sample involved two distinct works: the orchestra’s recorded performance and the composition being performed. Permission for one did not automatically clear the other.
Why did The Verve lose the royalties?
According to NPR, The Verve obtained permission from Decca to use a few notes from the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording in exchange for half the royalties. Allen Klein’s ABKCO, which controlled the relevant publishing rights, later argued that the band had used more of the composition than the parties had agreed. ITV reported the same initial 50/50 understanding and said the dispute arose over the amount used. The Verve bassist Simon Jones recalled: “We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing.” ITV
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The band settled with ABKCO in late 1997. NPR reports that The Verve gave Mick Jagger and Keith Richards songwriting credit and assigned the publishing royalties to ABKCO; Music Week likewise says the band relinquished its royalties and the Stones were added as co-writers. A Rolling Stones spokesperson later described the problem this way: “Permission for the use of the recording was obtained but for whatever reasons at the time permission for the use of the song was overlooked.” Music Week
Recording rights and composition rights are different
| Rights layer | What it covers here | What reporting says happened |
|---|---|---|
| Recording | The Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s recorded performance of the arrangement | The Verve obtained permission to use the recording, according to the Rolling Stones spokesperson quoted by Music Week. |
| Composition and publishing | The song material underlying the recording, including the relevant publishing rights | Permission for use of the composition had been overlooked, according to that spokesperson; ABKCO disputed the extent of the use and the settlement transferred the publishing royalties. |
This distinction explains how a sample could be cleared at the recording level yet still prompt a publishing dispute. It describes the reported circumstances of this case, not legal advice.
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Was the lawsuit really for $5 million?
The available reporting does not establish $5 million as a court judgment, settlement payment, or confirmed sum Richard Ashcroft personally lost. ITV and NPR both said in 2019 that the exact money involved was unclear. NPR quoted Ashcroft recalling that “Someone stole God-knows-how-many million dollars off me,” but that is his characterization, not an audited calculation. The $5 million framing should therefore be treated as an unverified estimate, not a documented award.
A separate claim can also cause confusion: NPR reported that Andrew Oldham sued in 1999 for about $1.7 million in mechanical royalties. That was Oldham’s separate claim, not the main ABKCO dispute over publishing rights.
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What changed in 2019?
In 2019, Jagger and Richards signed over their publishing share to Ashcroft and agreed that their names could be removed from the songwriting credit. Music Week reported that future royalties that would have gone to the two Stones would instead go to Ashcroft. Ashcroft called their gesture “kind and magnanimous” at the Ivor Novello Awards. NPR and Music Week covered the change.
The reports establish a change to the publishing share and credit going forward; they do not disclose a retrospective payment or how much had already been collected. The change followed the original settlement by more than two decades and did not erase what happened in 1997.
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