Music sales and rights

Artists make very little on the sales of their music.  Signed to major record labels, most artists make almost nothing as the record labels take all the music royalties. 

“I’ve never made a dime from a record sale in the history of my record deal. I’ve been very happy with my sales, and certainly my audience has been very supportive. I make a living going out and playing shows.” – Lyle Lovett

This quote shows how the money in the music industry is not made purely from the record sales.  Artists now create most of their money from touring, merchandise and sponsoring. 

Music sales have gone down and the likes of Spotify charge the average of $0.006 and $0.0084 per stream in royalties, although this might seem like a small figure it soon adds up with each play.  Although the money may add up some artists have left Spotify, the like of Taylor Swift have bypassed the online streaming service completely.