That's even assuming the artist gets paid the 15 cents of the dollar they are owed. The creative accounting practices employed by the major labels with respect

That's even assuming the artist gets paid the 15 cents of the dollar they are owed. The creative accounting practices employed by the major labels with respect to digital download sales were exposed by Tom Quirk almost a year ago -- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091203/1853507190.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091203/1853507190.shtml Just because they tell you they're giving artists a share of the money doesn't mean they've suddenly stopped being liars. At this point, they're not even providing any service. Anyone can put their music on iTunes and Amazon for all of $35 through a service like Tunecore, while simultaneously selling it all but direct through Bandcamp.com, who take 15% off the top -- the inverse of how the old record labels split the cash. Instead of signing a terrible contract that gives someone else all the ownership of your music, get a loan and hire a promotional company yourself. I'd go so far as to bet that some of the money artists should have been paid by their labels is probably now sitting in Paul Boutin's bank account. This article is either a troll, a satire, or a shill.