New artists are porting their catalog of offerings to the Web directly. And old artists signed with labels are doing the same, releasing MP3 songs much to the befuddlement of the labels who have traditionally owned the artist more or less. Other downloadable music technologies do exist that don't allow downloading or place a security feature in the offering. These all agree on some level with the traditional model of music that's run by six companies the world over. The explosion of interest in this area results from the inefficiencies of the traditional music model.
Musicians receive a fraction of the sale of their product.
Each CD sold gets split about 10 ways and most of that goes to the record companies or retailers. That's because the traditional model relies on the movement of a piece of silver-colored plastic in a jewel box. And huge studios, art budgets, pressings of the CD itself. In one swoop the Internet does away with the food chain, replaces it. The Web is retailer, distributor, marketing channel, and more.