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I am beginning to think that everything is a scam.

As an aspiring musician. The only way I see music being viable these days is to do it independently. Everything the record label offers these days can be done yourself. Artists now gotta diversify their skillsets to push out their songs.

it's incredible how many artists don't view the 'album advance' as a loan..

There was never a golden era for artists and songwriters. Deals have always been structured to benefit labels.

As an engineer I would advise ALL artists to have a lawyer present while signing any documents

Bruh, for someone that talks about scams and scummy practices its really bold of you yo promote a "Crypto powered" service. As a software developer I know how beneficial decentralized technology could be, but right now its just a waste land of scammers that call themselves "Entrepreneurs". Crypto right now isn't a way of gaining independence from controlled currency, but an easier mean to scam and steal.

The fact that Elvis Presley, who people held more in awe than anyone else at one point, was screwed almost throughout his career by not just his manager but also the big record labels is a testament of how powerful big music was and still is.

Watching this boils my blood. Thankfully, the label we've been with recently let us go when we asked them to. They released us out of our contract as we had such a mentally draining time recording our second album. They're some of the good people. But the label we were with when releasing our first album, made so much off us - it's a joke. Our Spotify has earned nearly 300k, and my bandmate and I have seen about 10k of that each. When recouping the advance and expenses, the label took only our 50% to cover the recouping, and their 50% was income. So by the time we started making any money off our music, they had earned double. It's set up for artists to fail and it's heartbreaking. (What's even more frustrating, is the song that blew up on Spotify and made them all their money - WE actually paid for, as they didn't want it on the EP and we did. Kill me.) Luckily, I stay clear from any third parties now and make a very decent living off music. I won't go near labels or publishers again. They're just pie pinchers. You can do EVERYTHING yourself now - so why give your art away? Never. Again.

I was pumped to see a non-NFT pushing video, and then it hit me : For the music industry- the TuneFM token is the middleman and the owners who pre-mined the coins are where the profits will go.

Bruh I actually feel like tune fm is a scam, wtf The UI is completely broken, the first song I played literally blasted my ears, the stop button didn't even work and neither did the volume slider

I am signed to a major record label and I have not been paid in 2 years. This video is very accurate They have made $1 million from my song and have never been paid me a single cent. These are the people that are destroying the music industry. Stay Independent

As much as artists don't want to learn the business - they have to. Take a play from Lauv. He started his own label and built his own team around him to build up a business structure that they mostly control - he still has a publishing deal but that's for writing only and not distribution of his own music as an artist. Would you rather have 1 million fans and make hardly any money or have 100k fans and make a killer living? Don't need to have a million fans to make a fantastic career when you own 100% of what you do. But sadly most creatives hate the business side so much that they are willing to make a deal with the devil to avoid it. The industry is changing so much that smart artists and creators are finding people to either partner with them or give them a percentage to run their business. That is way smarter than giving away masters.

Jake video process: 1. find a new scam. 2. make a video describing how the old scams are so bad. 3. profit.

Jake is such inclusive. From high level govt organizations to celebrity singers. The hitlist keeps on growing.

One of the sad things is that artists have to spend more time being video producers and social media marketers now than just being artists, which is probably why most new music sucks now.

The music industry is truly DEMONIC. They do everything they can to push away those who are TRULY talented, in lieu of easily manipulatable, auto-tunable, no talent low lifes that can be controlled by the industry. Then, once in, the industry goes to great lengths to make sure the artist brings in the most profit, while they squelch their talent. And EVERYTHING comes out of the artists pocket : air travel, hotels, catering, payroll of the myriad people working for/with them, booking fees, manager fees, you name it. Then, because albums/records/CDs are now passe, the promotions team puts the artist on brutally long-winded tour dates, where they don't even have time to catch a breath between shows, which are usually back-to-back-to-back night after night, making the artist exhausted and soon worthless on stage. Then, when they're used up, and squeezed out, they're kicked to the curb to turn around and find a new sucker for the evil same ride. It looks oh-so-glamorous from the outside, but it's a nightmare for the artist once they've made it. It's truly a wonder ANY artist can make any money at all the way things are nowadays.

Jake how can you push this bs man. Such a phenomenal video only to end it with a platform that will reward the people who own the token to use the platform first… it’s a scam and you know it. I love your content but you gotta choose your sponsors wisely.

"The number one music NFT Marketplace" excuse me, can you roll that back?

Prince noticed this back in the 80's and started his own label in the 90's, changed his name to that symbol. He was the man!

Wow, so I just spent 18 minutes I'll never get back watching a commercial for a platform that just takes the same practices to a new level

Prince was shouting this from the rooftops decades ago.

It took 15 minutes, but I knew that eventually NFT's would be brought up. Still on that NFT grind.

Damn. I thought by the end of the video they would get to the part that's like 'But here's the good news: there are still many healthy, sound avenues to release your music independently.' But instead they were like 'Here's the good news: OUR SPONSOR!!!' Lol

These record labels are evil 💯

We really feel this. Luckily in 2022 its much easier to make it as an independent artist without record deals. But Spotify and other streaming services are still fucking us. If you love a local band, share the shit out of their music. It means the world to them.

The crazy thing is that Kpop labels are actually very transparent about all of this happening. Once a person gets cut off from a Kpop label they can’t use their stage name (it’s owned by the company), they can’t re-debut with the same band name (also owned by the company - see Gfriend after being cut off from Source Music/Hybe), and it’s unclear whether they can sing their own songs (see Hyuna after being cut from Cube). Even worse: loads of Kpop artists have repeatedly come forward to say they weren’t paid until after 3/4/5 years after debut. There’s the whole trainee debt too, but everything Jake said about the “label/writer/producer cut” also applies.

The music industry was jacked up bank then, but the internet made it even worse, in my opinion, because now the market is extremely saturated and it's impossibly hard to stand out from everyone else 🤦

EVERY artist has the desire to express themselves creatively. The minute a musician signs a label the opposite happens. They become slaves to greedy companies who want to re-design everything about them. Controlled mind and body, overworked and in debt. NO artist wants to be told how to create! Independent seems the way to go.

I worked in the industry up until this year. So first thing Jake you got something wrong or worded it wrong, which is that 360 deals did not first appear after the pandemic, as I have known about them from 2010 so they are at least a decade old, I wager they probably go back to the mid 2000s when piratebay became a thing. That aside, this video is great but still underestimating how much of a scam the industry is lmao. Even if you do everything independently and away from shitty contracts, your brand is still going to be locked out of the juicy algorithms that prioritise major label publishing online. The only platform that doesn't do this currently is tiktok but they have their own nefarious reasons as to why that is (CCP data mining for one). And I'll go further and get into a personal conspiracy theory I have. You know how when big companies buy smaller competitors out but don't liquidate and instead keep a drooling husk of a company around instead? I swear to god that the major labels do this to indie labels. I once produced for a band, and we ended up with some great masters, they looked like they were going to do VERY well, but then got signed to some local label. They asked the label to continue working with me but the label insisted on using their in house studio and locks them in with the signing. Ok, shit happens. BUT here's the thing, the label then proceeds to drag their feet at every turn, band ends up losing all its members who get demotivated and tired of waiting, and they whittle down to the singer who then has to start from scratch, and doesn't get any return calls from the label anymore. That's just one instance, so I didn't think anything of it, then I see it two more times. I start sharing this story with other small time industry folk, filmographers, promos etc and turns out this happens often. I think that these indie labels are bought out and meant to wear down upcoming acts to eliminate the threat of spontaneous grassroots scenes sprouting up which would force the major labels to adapt. Think about it, ever wonder why there hasn't been any cool new styles coming out lately? Maybe lo fi or vaporware? But beyond that, it's no way near as exciting as the 90s.

I’m all for making it easier for artists to get paid fairly… but NFTs? Seriously?

Wait... everyone kept calling Michael Jackson paranoid for saying he could be murdered for his 1 billion dollar Sony/ publishing catalogue?

My man really promoting a music company while saying the industry is bad. Should've uploaded this on April 1st.

Small correction: I know this guy probably doesn’t read comments, but I work in the industry, and I found it quite comical when this video made it seem like 360 deals were a consequence of the pandemic. I’m afraid that’s factually incorrect. 360 deals have been in operation since the early 2000s and were introduced as a reactionary panic to the historic YoY losses the industry was making due to factors like piracy, changing consumer habits, and labels not being proactive about the internet age - they were asleep at the wheel and paid for it dearly. A lot of labels were going under back then, a lot of people lost their jobs, budgets got SLASHED. Even after implementing 360 deals, global music industry revenues would continue to decline every year until the mid 2010s. The mass adoption of streaming revived the music business and made labels flush with cash again. We’re actually talking about with music revenues surpassing the heights of the late 1990s in the next few years - and it’s because of streaming. Wall St has been watching, and the industry is becoming a valuable financial prospect again, especially with regard to publishing, with billions currently being spent by all sorts of capital investment firms and holdings groups willing to buy up music publishing rights to catalogues as they foresee enormous growth in the future. David Bowie’s catalog was recently sold to Warner for $250M.

The music industry is a joke. Quite literally. The fact that they use the artist in order to get more money for themselves makes me wonder if the artists actually want to make music for themselves or to get money.

It's sorta depressing to know that my decision to go into music education is probably the best decision I ever made in terms of what to do with my musical skill. I probably make more money than 95% of signed artists, and my stress level is nothing compared to what it was when I was making records and playing regular gigs with a "celebrity." You make more as a nobody than you do as a star, and you get to live your life without all that chaos and drama from others. So glad I turned my back on all of that nonsense back in the day. I have yet to hear any stories that make me regret my decision to stop pursuing that stupid golden nugget that's always just out of reach.

The music industry has been a scam since long before streaming. Plenty of artists have signed similarly parasitic contracts with record labels over the years. It's undoubtedly worse now, but it's a real stretch to say that record deals used to be 'symbiotic'.

In my country, the Netherlands, we have a clause in private law where you can cancel private agreements, including contracts, on the basis that you are misled. Seems to me that a developed country such as USA would have developed a similar law progression. Perhaps a good idea to implement if it doesn't exist yet. Call your congressperson.. make it happen. Without art, what is life?

Everything is a FREAKING SCAMMMM 😭

At this point everything is a scam

My wife works for a music publisher in Nashville. She sees the checks that come in and how/where they get split up and go to. It's disgusting how incredibly wealthy the publisher & board are and how little the creators receive. Nashville music industry and other industries like it is what's wrong with our country and I believe the reason it will ultimately fail unless drastic changes are made.

The tune fm is literally a scam

And people get mad for pirating music when these streaming services are around. 😂 This is why, and it's why it's never going to stop. If you want to support an artist, but their merch, if they're arent famous, buy their albums and/or merch and do whatever you can to support them!

Tech jobs are just as bad. Recruiter contracts include language that they don't have to pay you at all. Things like, if the client does not approve your time... And NOT, if the client does not pay the agency. Clients only go through them because they discount your rate, but say things like..." we pay them $150.00 an hour, you get $75.00." When your getting $50. If they do pay you they can take as long as they want; 30, 60, 90 or more.

After the six minute mark when it started talking about new record deals, the one thought that instantly came to mind was John Fogerty and CCR's music.

So happy more people have been exposing the music industry lately

Kind of disappointed this channel made this into a giant commercial. It makes the story seem disingenuous. Just the way this guy was talking about his "startup" there were a lot of red flags that that's kind of a shady thing as well.

They fail to mention that 90% of “artists” do not create their own material, they are cover artists. They are spoon fed songs, and are paid to perform them. Also, no one should feel sorry for someone who makes the choice to sign a contract without knowing what is contained in it. The music industry preys on ignorance, you can’t blame them for doing so. Want to make a change? Learn how to read and understand contracts.

Always love your videos, dude. Keep up the good work.

As a music producer, I can confirm this is all true.

15:40 when I hear “we’re the only ones…” the only thing I hear is “we’re trying to make an early monopoly before the market gets too saturated”

I’ll never understand why record labels treat unique talented artists as if they are replaceable? They don’t nurture talented singers/bands for success in the long term and its kinda f weird. Like a wasted opportunity. Treat a ferrari like shit its going to break down sooner. I guess lesser talents are more thirsty and so focused on being famous that they will sign on for anything.

It's funny that these guys are talking about how bad the recording Industry was/is,AFTER they already enjoyed THEIR fame/heyday!!It's like saying;"Yeah,that Steak and Lobster everyday was ok,but as I look back,it really sucked...We should all be so miserable.

Well look at that, never thought I'd watch an 18 mins ad, but here I am.

360 contracts have been existing for more than 15 years. Also, you can promote your music through distributors and earn most of the revenue. If you're going to make an 18 minute ad, make it true and updated at least.

Its sad to imagine all the artists who got exploited back in the day and there was no awareness of it in public, they get exploited today too but the times are changing. Social media, NFTs etc are changing the dynamics

Screwing over artists is the end of music period! Soon there will be no music to listen to except for the past recordings. These music labels are destroying their own cash cow. Greed is the end of music. How long will it take for the music to stop? Once it does, the labels will have to change their evil ways if they want to stay in business. Fast cars and big houses vs going broke. The industry needs to crash and burn before they will change their ways. Greed is a monster and it is the death of music.

my grandpa told me at a young age everythings a scam just some scams are hidden better than others

I have been a professional musician for the past three decades, and have been involved on many different levels of the game, from being a “hired gun”, road crew, instrument repairman and builder, solo artist, band member, and producer. This experience taught me early on that the major and even smaller labels are doing everything that they can to maximize their profits at the expense of the artists. I could drop all kinds of names regarding the people and projects that I have been involved with, but the most relevant thing to this video was my stint as the drummer for a band in 1994 that was offered a recording deal with Sub-Pop records, the advance was $300k, and when I read the contract I saw what it for what it really was and refused to sign as a band member. I was then let go from the band and the rest of the members signed while getting a string of replacement drummers until they found one that could replace me, but now those band members either still have thousands of dollars that they still owe, or are bankrupt, and I continued on as an independent, earning thousands of dollars per month, even though it it was nearly as much work as two full time jobs. Yet I felt more fulfilled with the limited amount of “fame” because I knew that the control was with the artists rather than selling our souls to line the pockets of the machine. Every artist should be wary of any “deal” that seems to be a fast track to fame and fortune.

NOW I understand why Rihanna didn't put out any album thus far. it wasn't worth the effort. She became billionaire alone from FENTY

I think these is a generalization, there are many great deals with record labels, some new record labels work based on startup incubators model and deals are fair. Why you need a company?, well you don't need one to start running your career, but you can benefit from a great team and proper terms and accelerate your career and have advantage.

This is the longest NFT ad I have watched.

I'm glad you are talking about this , the amount of penny pinching is wild

*woah... as an artist who has written over 2000 songs in my lifetime... I feel that with the amount of music in the world... the glut of profit over art... it determines me to stay true to myself... and just make music for the LOVE of making music... if the world comes along to finally notice... then I will decide how much I want to share... a record deal has always been the dream... but not worth selling my soul for it... I have created my own personal soundtrack for my life... and no dangling carrot of fame and fortune made by some label or manager is going to lure me away from my core beliefs... and who needs the world when God is there to listen to your art... when you don't chase them... they will chase you... especially if you succeed without their help...*

Great video. Amazing research and editing skills.🤜🏼

Now I get why so many artists have such a problematic life (mainly addiction)

To be fair artists doesn't sign record deals only for the money, also to get exposure. Artists can release music by their own, but they will never get as exposure, views or money as they would get by signing a record deal. Record labels spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing, sometime millions and that guarantees hundreds of thousands of views, likes and positive comments. Artists can buy views, likes and comments by themselves but most of the artists are broke. There are insane amount of artist performing on street and begging for money who are lot better than most of the biggest artists now, its really sad they will never get exposure or become successful unless they get a record deal. Lot of the artists making music as a hobby by spending their own money. But most of the artists are broke and miserable, something is better than nothing for them I guess.

One of my oldest friends was in a band in the early 2000´s, that had a few minor hits over here in Europe and toured the continent many times over. He finally got done paying back what they owed their record company LAST YEAR! I won´t "out him" by saying what band it was, but his story is far from unusual, especially for those in bands, who aren´t credited as songwriters. We used to both dream of being musicians and even played in a few bands together, but it makes me glad that none of the bands I played in ever got signed, because the same thing could easily have happened to me too, back when I was young and naive, as many of the musicians are.

"descentralized" is another word for "scam-ready" , and you should know that

this is just touching the surface of the industry, it gets much darker than this.. wish jake would have touched on the life insurance scam the labels pull on the artists which can be linked to the deaths of some artists.

Hey dude, love the work you put into your videos. Speaking as an artist though, we get shilled every single kind of scam to garner fans and plays and shit like that basically exclusively. Hardly any of my interactions come from real fans, most are messages from people who have ulterior motives. There’s a huge black market for plays and follows and it’s become so insane that most of us have no idea what’s real and not and mostly everyone who has been making music for more than a few years has become cynical and won’t even look into any of this stuff cause it’s all so scammy. As much as i respect you and dig your videos, i have to be honest and say that this tune fm platform appears to be just another way to steal potential profits from artists. There’s no way forward, parasites are everywhere

Good work - keep exposing all the wicked and their evil deeds.

A "decentralized" platformed governed by Google raises some red flags for me.

On top of the bad deals they blow the money on materialistic items that don't hold any real value.

great video but a lot of misconceptions throughout. yes bad deals do happen in the music industry but independent artists today have more access to information out there and also more leverage than ever before to avoid them. also if you are an artist getting real attention from labels, i.e. offers actually being sent, at this point it is extremely easy to get a lawyer on your side who won't charge you a penny in fees and in turn will take a % of your deal once negotiated. another misconception about the advance structure noted in this video is that your % split on royalties is what will be accounted for when recouping (example used in video was 20%). This isn't the case and the reason that you can recoup quicker at times if you have even one hit go viral. if you have traction in these negotiations you can even take less money up front for more % splits on the backend to recoup quicker and be better off long-term. worst case you don't recoup by end of your deal term, if you play your cards right you will have built a way larger audience and have leverage going into another situation or the label will have an option to bring you back for another term. there are also marketing and recording budgets separate from your advance that labels put in place that are also recoupable but are more flexible so they can be proactive and add fuel to fire when a song or release is working. labels will receive full 100% of royalties until recoupment and then at that point whatever royalty terms you negotiated you will start receiving. Also, 360 deals have been around way before covid. Lyor Cohen coined them during his time as a label head and funny enough he is now head of this platforms music. The biggest misconception imo in this video is that you need a label to get your music on all platforms. there are digital distributors that your guest just breezed past such as distrokid, tunecore, stem, unitedmasters, etc. that artists can use to get their music on all digital platforms for a very small yearly fee, or per track/upload. It is very cheap to get your music out there nowadays in actuality, the hard work is building a team around you that believes in your vision and can help you market the releases. Videos rarely cost 300k as noted in this video, if you're an aspiring musician you can find a friend, film yourself, or hire someone to shoot something for under 1k and even less lots of times to amazing creators who want to build a portfolio or build with you from the ground up. I think the biggest takeaway imo in this video is that it is important if you are getting major label interest as an indie artist to shop around and talk to everyone and let them offer you something and then negotiate from there. Build a team around you you trust, and you will be ok. There are a multitude of deal types today that resonate with streaming. record deals themselves are pretty rare. more in tune with the times are distribution deals that give more fair splits to the artist. Streaming is very lucrative if you can build an engaged fanbase that is the hardest part. More and more indie musicians are making 5-6 figures a month than ever before thanks to streaming alone. With so much music out there and the market being so saturated, building a brand is more important than ever. There's a reason why private equity firms are paying crazy multiples for huge older gen artists catalogues. It's because they see streaming on multiple platforms as passive income forever. Think youtube money, but multiply that by 10's of other revenue generating platforms.

I love this channel. Doesn't just repeat what other channels say.

The reality is that it is harder than ever for artists to actually make money. Most artists struggle.

Let’s not forget this important fact. That $500k would go a lot further if you could hire your own team of writers, producers, engineers, lawyers, promoters, etc. But the catch is, many record labels will only authorize/approve of certain professional which already have ties to the label. It’s really an inside job.

lol So half of this video was the sponsor of it telling us how bad his competition is.

artists are like employees ready to be exploited by the entertainment companies but they can fight for their rights if they organise as a trade union

Thanks for this video 🎉

That's why being an independent artist with some business sense is key. If you can blow on your own, you don't need a label. Be intentional with your marketing and you will be fine.

Jake makes documentaries on random topics so interesting. Appreciate the hard work. 👍

This video was so depressing. We know this and it’s so hard. The ending is hopeful. I still wouldn’t give up sharing though. Thanks for the video ✨❤️

Knowledge is power. I read, "Everything you Need to Know about the Music Business" and it was an eye opener. The correct knowledge is power.

Bandcamp has been around for a while as well, they give about 80% to artists, you can stream and it's DRM free!

Ah…. replace “artists” & “labels” with “truckers” and “the FMCSA” and it’s the same scam story. Those that do, produce & create getting screwed by the management & government class. Support your artists & small businesses, folks.

Never knew it is some music out there like this and great video man :]

It all comes down to the deal you sign, you should expect them to throw you a standard recoupment “advance” which is where artists get swindled because they just look at the raw value of the advance instead of the terms of the recoupment with the label. Also record labels only get their “hand” on all the artists revenue streams of the artist signs a 360 deal not a distribution one. There’s hundreds of different ways to distribute your music independently. You can also make a deal where you are the owner of you masters/rights. Also the record labels only have “power” with the streaming services that are publicly traded because they’re shareholders. To finish off there’s never been a time where being “independent” was more feasible than now

KZfaqrs are making insane amount of money 💰 just by explaining ... How other artists are getting ripped off by corporate world .... But reality is that world is not so simple... If you are creative and have Knowledge about how business works it's best time to be an artist

Signing a deal with a record deal has now become literally a deal with the devil.

That’s why I felt for Taylor Swift when Justin Bieber’s manager who didn’t like Taylor decided to buy the record that owned Taylor’s songs. The fact that other singers were defending him and the record instead of the artist trying to own her art. 🤦‍♀️

Love your content Jake! Could you do a video on how Venture Capital companies prey on Startups and the many cases where they kicked out the original founders and etc? Thanks Jake :))

Ah there was a time when software engineers were treated like this.

Bro made an 18 minute commercial for tune fm 💀

No wonder why I felt "strange'" into the music industry since the beginning of 2007. The artists were prevented to express their ideas anymore. And the genre change for worst!

Some of this is not true, you can still upload to spotify through a site like distrokid which lets you keep all your rights and earnings, you just have to pay an annual membership to distrokid but that's only like 20 dollars

It was also quite obvious from how the music industry keeps sweeping famous acts for new ones seasonally, even on radio. Remember how it was Linkin Park and Nu Metal in the early 2000s, then it was Lady Gaga and the likes in the late 2000s, and so on? Just to name some examples.

I had relatives in the Hispanic music business who were big in the 90's. 5 years later, they had to move their entire catalog to a smaller, different label in order to gain more revenue. Sadly, one of them past and the other retired. They do get a little in royalties. It just suck how all these big labels take advantage of those who are barely new to this.

Your channel is all im looking for, all info i whant to hear at one spot