Artists are labor for labels, if labels figured out how to get paid better, the vast majority of their artists would not be paid much better. The point of the l

Artists are labor for labels, if labels figured out how to get paid better, the vast majority of their artists would not be paid much better. The point of the label in a for profit system is to capture value by intermediating between producers and consumers. Musicians by themselves are often very poor at capturing economic value. Since the producers are obligated to maximize profits for their shareholders under most corporate structures by supreme court decisions, their focus will be to reduce labor costs while maximizing total revenue from consumers. There are no winners here except the distributors. Some kind of artist cooperative is a necessity. Then at least the smaller creators will get paid fairly. It's also worth noting that part of the reason the UK has/had such a vibrant music scene is the dole. That is, they pay their artists to let them do their thing. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/money-are-you-ready-to-rock-n-dole-1167173.html https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/money-are-y... https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/role-of-the-dole-how-benefits-benefit-artists-1.530599 https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/role-of-th...