13 Extremely Scary Things About the Music Industry Today…

The music industry: it’s scary all year round! And with that, here are 13 extremely scary things about our modern-day, post-apocalyptic biz…

(1) There are now three major labels.

So if you need radio play, a chart position, or broad-scale distribution, just give one of them a call.

(2) Any one of these labels can delay, cripple, or destroy your digital startup, overnight.

That goes for the richest, like Google Play and Spotify, all the way down to the deceased, like Imeem. Because if you need a license for your startup, the memo is clear: be prepared to pay millions upfront and offer sizable ownership shares, all without the guarantee that every signed artist will participate (just ask Spotify).

And, those terms are renewable every few years.

(3) 80 percent of commercially-played music is unreported or misreported…

…according to estimates from TuneSat.

(4) 85% of indie digital revenue comes from iTunes.

…and 95% from iTunes, Spotify and Amazon MP3, according to stats from AIM.

(5) 90% of new album sales come from 2% of releases.

…according to Nielsen Soundscan.

(6) 90% of a ticket price goes to artist fees.

…according to Live Nation.

(7) 90% of SoundExchange revenues come from Pandora or Sirius XM Radio.

…and both are trying to get out of those payments entirely, or legislate them downward.

Here are the calculations.

(8) The new Megaupload is 90% done.

…and probably more, according to Kim Dotcom.

(9) 99.9% of DIY artists aren’t making minimum wage.

…just ask TuneCore.

(10) Artists are still being told to sell t-shirts.

Like, just last week.

(11) Streaming is the future. Yet very few artists know what streaming pays them, if they’re getting paid at all.

(12) Or, if they do know, it’s very, very scary.

(13) The biggest, richest DIY artist doesn’t want to pay other DIY performers to play with her.

Though of course, she eventually handed out treats for everyone.

Trick or treat!