When Vivendi SA took over Universal Music Group in 2000, the industry was riding high on bumper sales of CDs, though the investment soon soured as illegal downloads surged. CD revenue plunged by two-thirds over the next decade, and by the early 2010s, unloading Universal would’ve been a tough sell; who would pay a premium for a company whose main product—pop songs—was widely available for free? But today, Vivendi is considering the sale of a stake in Universal that could value the label at more than $25 billion.
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The rebound can be traced to the same boogeyman that almost killed the business in the first place: the internet. These days, music fans have largely shifted from illegal downloads to paid streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, and Pandora, which generally charge $5 to $10 a month for unlimited access to millions of songs.
Have record labels, like zombies, really returned from the dead?
(Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday February 06 2019, @10:51PM (3 children)
Standard practice is you make fuck-all by selling CDs as an artist. You get an advance that may or may not be paid back by CD sales. If you blew your advance and want to be other than broke and famous, you have to tour your ass off.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:51AM (2 children)
That's standard practice for (c)rap music where they flood the market and fudge numbers, it's not what real artists do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:59AM
Forgot to add... Also nominated for best music video at Cannes, among others. But... MTV is more interested in crap music.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:12PM
No, that's standard practice for anyone who doesn't publish under their own label.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.