Very often, the artist sold all the rights years ago, which were then sold on again to another company, and so on; in these circumstances, they are just cashing in and the artist won't see a dime.

Traditionally (less so now, thankfully) artists depended on being discovered by big record companies who alone had the vast sums needed to invest in recording and promotion. The deal was, sell 100% of the rights to us and get 1% royalties: take it or leave it.

Having read the blog comments, however, the bottom line is, it's unavoidable, if someone owns the rights to a phrase. I will try to shoot for a % royalties deal which is best for the copyright owner anyway: the more the book sells, the more their 1% of my 1% amounts to.