many people have been innovating the hell out of music... I also work hard to innovate, You just rarely ever see them and I on the Internet, because there is a paywall around independent music... Not just for listeners, it's there for artists as well. Independent musicians now are required to pay the same promotional rates as everyone else for social media boosting, requiring even unprofitable musicians to pay the same rates as major artists to promote their music online.

The issue here seems like the results of the stranglehold that big interests has had on social media and music outlet (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music) promotion for years. Major artists now have views in the millions showing on many of their YouTube videos, but most independent labels (like mine) struggle to get past 1,000 and even 100 views every day for new releases because of the new promotional economy. This is because platforms sit back and do nothing for independent musicians promotion-wise. They've created systems where payola is literally the glass wall to being ever heard to musicians and bands... You can't find and see music now unless you already know about the artists, and artists can't reach listeners unless they pay to boos visibility on each social post they make (at a dramatic financial loss compared to the income the streams make).

Many labels have been innovating the hell out of stagnant-growth music genres for years... But it's in their interest of what little profit is made for dominant music companies to carefully limit the exposure of that new music to dedicated listeners in order to reduce the threat to their shrinking (but often "first in line to the feeding table" position). Big artists have always paid for promotion to an extent, but being featured is so costly, many big artists are doing controversial and embarrassing things on social media just to lower their overall promo costs by staying viral in the news. The entire music industry regularly suffers from the scent of desperation now, because everyone needs to pay to be under the spotlight, while the entities that make the most money have nothing to do with creating and supporting the music or even the industry ultimately... Money is being siphoned out of the music economy (and never reinvested back into it) regularly.

Many "potential hit" musicians work day jobs and do other things for money to supplement their art, that ritually keeps them from innovating as much as they used to when a hit album would normally provide a better life... Now kids being "signed" off of a TikTok viral song literally and totally get ripped off when they are discovered, and likely paid below 10% of the money their song generates overall for use... Back in the day it was TLC getting ripped off, now it's every artist in a way, even the prominent ones, that are making fractions off of the real money that their music generates, while platforms like TikTok and Instagram post profits in the Billions year after year. The stats just aren't right, too many artists are lying about their success (earnings), and the music that makes it to your ears is carefully restricted and controlled unless artists pay a lot of money to promote their work.

The problems with music industry success and innovation have festered since Social Media started charging for post promotion... If you want to hear innovative music, you have to dig deep and go through a lot of not so great stuff to find the real artists making music. I search for, collect, and share undiscovered (and under promoted) music from artists I find exceptional all the time, because I can't enjoy life without exceptional music around me.

The best stuff these days have views under 10-20k on YouTube if you ask me. Our monthly listeners have sat under 50... (Not 50k... F*ckin 50) listeners for over 4 years now... The entry point for promoting on Spotify charges artists a minimum of $250, and that's just for one platform of many that an artist needs to promote for a chance to be heard (with little money returned even if it works).

We only have had under about ~400 subscribers on YouTube for over 10 years, these numbers are crazy considering how long and hard we've worked on our music over that time... While a lot of people would say that may reflect the quality of music, literally on YouTube you know damn well that even fart reaction videos make it regularly into the 1 Million view +categories on YouTube all the time, something is deeply broken. Independent music is being crushed by the Major Industry... Has not and will not stop ppl like me though.

For proper context, our music and collection of tunes is at RuffAndTuffRecordings.Com

(Sorry if this looks like an angry rant, I'm not angry and/or defeated, it's just a result of being overworked and underpaid for ages)