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Lily Allen · S9 E5
The Business
Entrepreneurship, OnlyFans, and refusing to play by the rules
July 2024. Lily Allen announces she's selling pictures of her feet on OnlyFans, and within days she's making more money than her entire Spotify catalogue generates.
"Shame for You" by Lily Allen (2006). The title says everything about the OnlyFans venture: if you think selling foot pictures is embarrassing, that's your problem, not hers. Lily Allen built her career on refusing to be ashamed of anything, and in 2024 she's still doing exactly that. The only difference is the profit margin.
The Feet
In July 2024, Lily Allen launches an OnlyFans account dedicated exclusively to pictures of her feet. The response is immediate and predictable: tabloid mockery, social media jokes, and a wave of people who can't believe a pop star would stoop so low. Lily's response is equally predictable: she points out that feet pictures earn more than her music on Spotify, and asks who exactly is making the bad financial decisions.
TAP TO REVEAL: How much does Lily Allen actually make from Spotify?
Shame for You, Lily Allen (2006)
'Shame for You' turns embarrassment into a weapon: instead of absorbing the shame herself, Lily redirects it at the person who deserves it. Listen for the brightness of the production, which makes the takedown feel casual rather than aggressive. The reggae-pop bounce gives the insults a breezy, almost cheerful quality, as if Lily can't be bothered to raise her voice. It's the same energy she brings to the OnlyFans conversation: you're welcome to be scandalised, but she'll be at the bank.
“My feet pics make more money than my music does on Spotify. Make of that what you will.”
— Lily Allen, Miss Me? podcast (July 2024)
The Business
The Point
The OnlyFans venture is funny, but the economics behind it are deadly serious. Spotify pays artists between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream, meaning a song needs hundreds of thousands of plays to generate meaningful income. Lily Allen has four albums and decades of catalogue, and a simple subscription service for foot content outearns all of it.
Bitch Better Have My Money, Rihanna
Rihanna's 'Bitch Better Have My Money' is the only possible bonus track for an episode about a pop star who figured out how to actually get paid. After four albums, decades of streaming, and an industry that has consistently undervalued her work, Lily Allen found a revenue stream that pays her what she's worth. The title says it all.
Bitch Better Have My Money, Rihanna (2015)
Rihanna wrote this about getting what she's owed. Lily Allen would understand. After twenty years in an industry that takes more than it gives, sometimes the most radical business decision is the simplest one: find someone willing to pay you properly, even if the product is your feet.
What was Lily Allen's first ever single?
Ethel and Marnie are growing up between Brooklyn and London, and their mother's entire life is one Google search away. Next episode: raising daughters in the age of the internet, when you've already told the world everything.
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