The era of begging for music publishing deals is gone. The publishing business has changed thanks to technological advances and the DIY (Do It Yourself) trend. Before, very few big publishing companies dealt with composer societies such as BMI and ASCAP. With a little bit of work, songwriters can now keep the total income generated from royalties.
The music industry has been involved in a financial roller
coaster since 1998. At that time, music companies spent large amounts of money
in building music artist careers, expecting substantial revenues out of
recorded music sales. In 1998, recorded music sales were around $38.6 billion. In
2008, they dropped down to $18.4 billion, and in 2010, they went down
drastically to $15.49 billion.
The arrival of digital music and its revenues helped the
music industry debacle, with a third of the recorded product sales but it
hasn’t been enough. The rise of music companies such as Pandora and Spotify
have opened a new window for the music business. Nonetheless, specialists are
not too excited about the projected future.
