'Superstar' performers (top 1 percent) make 77 percent of all recording revenue

It's no secret that musicians don't exactly make a lot from the their recordings. Most performers make most of their music-based income from live shows and selling merchandise at said shows. A new study from MIDiA Consulting indicates that some performers do make money from recordings however. And those few performers make nearly all of it.

The company's research indicates that "superstars," defined as the top 1 percent of earning performers, make 77 percent of all recording revenue. Remember how angry the 99 percent were during Occupy Wall Street? That was because the top 1 percent of the population made more than 19 percent of the nation's income. The music industry is similar, except the top 1 percent makes a cut of revenues four times that of the national average.

The company refers to the current model as the "superstar " economy, versus the previous understanding, which was that of a "long-tail" economy. That model suggests the top 1 percent controls a significant amount of revenue, but not nearly the 77 percent suggested by MIDiA.

The numbers are pretty even across the board of possible recording formats. The top 1 percent make 79 percent of revenues from subscriptions such as Spotify Premium, 77 percent of downloads, and 75 percent of physical albums. So no, the vinyl revival isn't earning the local indie band all that much more.

MIDiA suggests that the source of the problem may actually be the huge variety of music available to listeners. Rather than comb through the thousands of acts available on streaming services and CD racks, listeners would rather stick with the acts forced upon them by mainstream radio/media, a phenomena called the "tyranny of choice."