12% of music industry revenues go to musicians

There are still a lot of Indie record labels (and even some distributors) but from what I hear it’s a question of scale. If you don’t play with the majors, you just don’t get on the radio, get into the bigger venues, get picked up by youtube algorithms etc.
I have friends who play in successful indie bands, who tour world wide and put out albums on bigger indie labels. At the end of a tour, they come home and work in restaurants to make ends meet. One friend told me that he was happy when the music was bringing in enough to cover it’s own expenses and the new gear he was buying, because even without copyright or rock star money, he was going to be playing anyway.

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