Give this model a couple of years and we will see exactly what I have shared with the letter from MusicVine.
Those sites only make money from people who don’t know how business works, from people who never worked there. Today filmmakers license music from “producers” for $1 – they never ask you how much time and effort was needed to make this piece of music.
The same happens in the opposite direction when composers license the film for putting their tracks under. After a while, people from both sites who actually do the content will realize that it doesn’t pay anything. Aka. content creators kill themselves.
The only way to get out is to go once through it, so more and more creators realize that they again need to take control over their crafts.
I better work for free rather than receiving a paycheck of $1.37 after 4 weeks knowing that the one who pays for the server/website $15.63…you know what I mean. Just imagine how “low” you feel after seeing that for 2-3 days of work you get $1…
By the way, it’s not only happening in the music business, it happens with video-games too. Just Google: Apple vs Fortnite.
Again, those models are only for people who are truly egoists and never think about this “global” mindset what that means for the entire industry. Thus, those guys deserve what they deserve. Be paid what they think they are worth. It’s my opinion. It’s actually very simple: if you don’t like the deal, don’t make it. If you feel bad about it, you will regret it, as you just lost your time and effort for people who never wanted to actually help you succeed, but you helped them to succeed. Very, very questionable…