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Comment by hnlmorg | Hacker News Reader

That’s a grossly unfair comparison:

1. For starters you’re comparing TV production to YouTube content. The two aren’t even close to being equal in terms of budget.

2. Most popular content on YouTube still have at least professionals DSLRs and paid crew beyond just the influencers. Even if it’s just an editor or two.

3. I think the GP was talking about music rather then video content

4. Even with music, previously you’d have the record label pay for the studio costs, etc. What’s happening these days is that artists are generally getting paid less after deductions. Not before. That’s the unfair part.

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In the past long tail musicians got nothing, now they get a handful of shrapnel from Spotify plays.

In the past, those musicians got CD sales at local gigs. Does anyone buy CDs any more?

Before then it was cassettes. Same format though: you’d see them at a pub and buy a CD / tape if you liked their stuff.

The long tail of musicians have always been worse off though. Organisations like PRS would distribute subscriptions to the household names leaving smaller bands with next to nothing and the long tail with literally nothing.

The meme of a guitarist sleeping on their friends couch is as old as the internet is.

Fact is, most artists don’t make money. Just like most footballers don’t. And most sports car racers don’t. There isn’t ever going to be a way to pay every budding musician, painter, nor sports enthusiast for their time. However if one of these personalities do succeed enough to go professional, ie that being their primary income, they should at least be paid fairly.

>In the past, those musicians got CD sales at local gigs. Does anyone buy CDs any more?

Here in Japan, they do. Record shops like Tower Records are going strong, and used CD stores are fairly common. Disc Union in Tokyo is a big chain selling used CDs. There's also some little shops selling used vinyl.

Vinyl sales have been growing year on year in west too

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