Now, with distribution increasingly usurped by network pirates, such royalties are at serious risk. The self-appointed industry watchdogs claim to champion artists who are thus getting ripped off. But these are the largely unloved middlemen crying foul. What is most at risk is their traditional take, a protection-racket legacy from an era that is fading fast. Big deal, you say.
All industries are about making money.
But there's always been a critical delta between buying a song and buying, say, a pair of shoes. While these transactions are treated as equal by hucksters in both businesses, they're not the same. Music has always had this quality to begin with. Fans don't want to steal bread from the mouths of struggling artists. And the rest see only a pittance from the revenues collected in their names.