For a long time the industry relied on an external cultural of independent producers and distributors - all genres, not necessarily "indie" music - to keep the system running.
The indies generated, promoted, and distributed the next generation of music. The majors would then either sign the bigger artists or buy out the bigger indie labels. Both would get rolled into the big machine and the cycle would start again.
Spotify has killed that. Never mind earning money - indie artists can't get significant exposure. Not from unit sales, not from touring, not from streaming, not from anything.
Sooner or later someone is going to realise that an indie-Spotify has to be a thing, because there's always going to be a significant market for people who want to discover non-mainstream music and music is going to stagnate and choke on its own products if the main distribution system is a monopoly.
The indies generated, promoted, and distributed the next generation of music. The majors would then either sign the bigger artists or buy out the bigger indie labels. Both would get rolled into the big machine and the cycle would start again.
Spotify has killed that. Never mind earning money - indie artists can't get significant exposure. Not from unit sales, not from touring, not from streaming, not from anything.
Sooner or later someone is going to realise that an indie-Spotify has to be a thing, because there's always going to be a significant market for people who want to discover non-mainstream music and music is going to stagnate and choke on its own products if the main distribution system is a monopoly.