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13.5%? Jeez. No wonder so many 'signed' artists have a problem with streaming. And no wonder so many young artists are choosing to self release. We really are

• AdmiralAsshat 4y ago
  There was probably a time when a label was useful as both distributor and curator of a particular kind of music, and that could've been useful. Like, I dunno, 4AD records. But, having been born at the tail end of the 80s, I personally have never found labels to be anything more than an annoyance. Like: "Oh, you can't buy this band's first two albums anywhere because the label is pissed at the band for leaving and won't re-release them." I can think of maybe one or two smallish labels that I actually follow on Bandcamp because they specialize in niches I like, and there's a good chance that whatever they release will at least warrant a trial listen from me. But those are few and far between.
  • egypturnash 4y ago
    Label-as-curator is definitely a thing until the label gets too big. There were a few times in the nineties and noughties where I bought a sampler CD from a label because it had a track by an act I liked, and it would introduce me to other acts on that label who I went on to buy more stuff from. If a label owns subsidiary labels it is probably too big for this to work any more. If any of those subsidiary labels have multiple imprints of their own then it's definitely too big for this to mean anything, "Warner Brothers released this" tells you next to nothing about what to expect.