Don Jazzy, the founder of Mavin Records, did state that Rema’s “Calm Down” cost between $4-5 million.

He was not talking about the cost of producing the song in the studio (the beat, recording, mixing, etc.). He was referring to the total investment made by the record labels to turn the song into a global phenomenon.Here’s a breakdown of what that massive figure likely includes:

This is where the millions are spent. The goal was to make “Calm Down” inescapable globally, especially in the lucrative US and European markets. This includes:

This is notoriously expensive. Labels pay independent promoters huge sums of money to get songs added to rotation on major radio stations across the US. A national top 40 radio campaign can cost over $1 million.

Securing a feature from an A-list artist like Selena Gomez isn’t just a friendly call. It involves complex label negotiations (Mavin/Jonzing World/Interscope with her label), advance payments, and a detailed profit-sharing split. This is a strategic financial investment.

Strategically investing in a game-changing remix with a global superstar.In that context, the figure, while very high, becomes much more plausible. It’s not the price of a song; it’s the price of launching a global hit that shattered records and changed the trajectory of an artist’s career.