Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Article: Thanks to streaming, recording industry revenues are back up to pre-internet levels, but musicians are poorer than ever

Of course.

Greed in the Face of Disastrous Fundamentals

"Last year, the record industry gained an extra $1.4 billion in new revenues, mostly from streaming, restoring its overall revenues to pre-internet levels, when the labels had grown accustomed to reselling the same music every couple of years in new formats (vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD). Overall, streaming services remit $7.4 billion to rightsholders.

But musicians' median income continues to fall, and it's not hard to understand why: it just takes a basic grasp of supply and demand. The number of labels has dwindled to four, meaning fewer bidders to put musicians under contract, and thus ever-worsening basic contract terms. Signing with a label isn't necessarily optional for artists: if you want to make music that incorporates samples, you'll find that you need to sign up with a label or you'll likely be refused a license."

(Via Thanks to streaming, recording industry revenues are back up to pre-internet levels, but musicians are poorer than ever / Boing Boing.)

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