“In case you don’t know the economics of the music industry, it is generally pretty ugly for most artists. Unless you are a largely successful artist, your cut of sales can range between ten to twenty-five percent depending on how well you negotiated your contract (Those were the common percentages 15 years ago when I did work in the music industry. Doubtful much has changed). Labels simply act as investors,” Ben Bajarin writes for Tech.pinions. “From getting discovered, signed, cutting an album, getting your album in retail, into circulation on the radio, promoted on TV, or the web, it all leads to one desired end goal for the artist’s financial interests-performing live.”
“If I’m an up and coming artist newly signed by a label, my deal inevitably sucks. My hope is my song gets lots of air time and climbs the charts, generating awareness and a following. Historically, artists depended on tastemakers to like what they hear and want to expose it to listeners on their radio station. In the past, this was not been done by algorithms. If I’m an artist wanting to get discovered, I’m not sure I’d want to leave my fate in the hands of an algorithm. So radio DJs have played key roles in artists’ success,” Bajarin writes. “This is where Apple building DJ-run radio stations starts to get interesting. If Apple can build out a number of genre-specific radio stations run and curated by DJs to expose listeners to not only the best music of that genre but help them discover new music as well, it could wind up being huge for artists.”
Much,much more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is why, with Apple Music, it’s free to view the artist feeds and follow them on Connect, listen to the live DJ-powered Beats 1 radio station, and listen to Apple Music radio stations (curated stations organized by genre or user-created stations based on any any song, album, or artist).