Musicians deal with stingy streamers and AI threats, too. So why aren't they on strike?

Of the $40 billion in annual revenue earned by the music industry, only 12% is actually paid out to artists. The remainder goes to institutional middlemen like agents, platforms, and record labels, unfairly cheating creators out of the fruits of their labor. Moreover, fans, whose engagement almost entirely drives these revenue streams, are given no... See more

In the early days of social media, companies made blogging technologies with the promise that writers would be able to communicate directly with their readers. This pattern played out in industry after industry. But these changes left creators at the mercy of companies far more powerful, far more ruthless, and far less accountable than the record l... See more

This is why I think we slightly miss the mark when we say that streaming has “devalued music”. If the amount of capital flowing to the sites of consolidated power in the industry is any indication, music is perhaps more valuable than it’s ever been. What has been devalued is the labor that creates it. Left unchecked, a process squeeze is ultimately... See more