In the past, (before around 2002 or so) record labels would put out a bunch of artist and see which one stuck. They would lose money on 80 - 90% of their artist

In the past, (before around 2002 or so) record labels would put out a bunch of artist and see which one stuck. They would lose money on 80 - 90% of their artist because all they needed was one or two to make it big to make their money back. When I read this, I thought of VCs and how they'll back many promising startups in the hopes that some percentage of them will generate significant returns for them. To distill down what you said, would it be accurate to characterize record labels as sort of a marketing agency for musicians, where marketing means branding, positioning, promoting, distribution, public relations, community building, etc? And that instead of a musician hiring such a marketing agency, these agencies offer their services for a (massive) cut of the musician's earnings? I ask because it feels like some music startups are in a good position to do this, such as Topspin and Bandcamp. At least, they have the start of a distribution system and some primary promotional features. The whole brand image thing doesn't quite feel like their forte, but they could certainly try adding that too. To top it off, these startups could build a marketplace of service professionals that help musicians with stylists, managers, promoters, background singers, etc. The difference between these startups and record labels is how their technologies to allow them to scale without constantly increasing their cuts from musicians' earnings. Just thinking off the top of my head.