They negotiate with very few artists and their managers directly. The reason is that there are very few artists who have that kind of control of their content.

They negotiate with very few artists and their managers directly. The reason is that there are very few artists who have that kind of control of their content. AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and Taylor Swift come to mind, but there are very few artists who have a say in whether or not their catalog can or can not be streamed. Those artists made wise business decisions at some point and/or were able to throw their weight around. Here are some notable hold outs as of 2016 anyway: https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/02/which-artists-are-still-holding-out-on-streaming/ https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/02/which-artists-are-sti... Using Pink Floyd as an example, the decision was there's and not their record label EMI: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pink-floyd-catalog-arrives-on-spotify-20130617 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pink-floyd-catalog-ar...