There's Probably Never Been A Worse Time To Be A Musician In America
The music industry isn't quite dead - it's merely completely unrecognizable from what it once was.
The following chart from music industry analyst Mark Mulligan explains: Since 2000, overall global music revenues have declined just 3%, not exactly a cataclysm.
But actual recorded music now comprises just 36% of the industry's revenue stream:
So what has taken its place? Tours - revenue growth in which has grown 60% since 2000. Unfortunately for artists, industry heads have adjusted deal terms so that, since 2000, they've take an ever-increasing share of the live pie. Artist income has been declining for five consecutive years, Mulligan says.
And this shift is still not complete. "Expect every traditional element of the industry to be challenged to its core, expect dots to be joined and old models to be broken," Mulligan writes. "But be in no doubt that what we will end up with will be an industry set up for success in the digital era."