As someone who used to run fan clubs, and merchandise stores on line for artists I have a fairly different take on this. Music as an item you buy is DEAD. It h

As someone who used to run fan clubs, and merchandise stores on line for artists I have a fairly different take on this. Music as an item you buy is DEAD. It has been dying since Napster, and no amount of copy right law, or services is going to put that genie back in the bottle. The tools available to artist now, make it even easier to "make" music, you don't need a full studio any more. Artists are even starting to think this way, watch Diplo and & Skrillex on Charley Rose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb85hwOotts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb85hwOotts How then, does a musiscian make money? Licensing, Concerts, t-shirts and merchandise, an artist is now a brand. Its a brand that has the ability to endorse and enhance other brands. Take a "fan club package", Membership, great seats to a show, meet and greet and photo. All in its going to be between 800-2000 for 3 minutes with a top tier artist, a photo and a hand full of tchotchkes. Heck there are artists that even get paid to show up and have drinks: http://www.gq.com/story/how-celebs-get-paid-for-club-appearances http://www.gq.com/story/how-celebs-get-paid-for-club-appeara... Here is the grim irony of all of this, the music industry did it to itself. Long before "digital" was a thing touring and t-shirts was how an artist made real money. A record labels creative accounting practices would likely leave an artist with little to no cash from millions in sales. Now that you don't need a label per-se to get distribution, and it isn't where your going to make money anyway, there is less incentive to go that route at all. How many hip hop acts have become successful off of pushing out mixtape at a steady clip? Google will provide you a rather extensive list from several venues.