The Music Industry - Myth Or Reality? An Opinionated History 1999 to 2014

A popular narrative, endlessly circulated by the media in recent years, suggests that the music industry has evolved and achieved unprecedented progress. According to this view, no other industry has had to adapt to such seismic changes and self-implosion. The artist now has more power than ever, and streaming platforms and TikTok have obliterated the power and control of record labels. Independence reigns!

Really?

No, of course not!

In 1999, while still at law school, I eagerly pored over contracts for friends who had been offered deals. I’d show up at meetings with my textbook in hand, frantically searching for the right clause or the correct definition! Miraculously, people took me seriously and actually listened to what I was saying!

Back then, the music industry was on the cusp of change. The launch of Napster in June 1999 marked a turning point, enabling users to easily share and download MP3 files for free. This immediately raised concerns within the industry about copyright infringement and the potential decline in physical music sales. Or at least, that’s what AI tells me. The reality, however, was that in 1999—and for probably the next ten years—the so-called “leaders” of the music industry were in denial about things like MP3s and the internet! The idea of streaming becoming the most popular way of consuming music was far beyond the minds of most people working in the industry, including management, agents, publishers, and, of course, the labels.

For over 30 years, the “majors” (Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony Music, BMG, Universal Music Group, and PolyGram) had ruled the industry with an iron fist, breaching antitrust laws and monopolistic commissions left, right, and center. By creating hundreds of subsidiary labels (many of which wouldn’t survive the next decade) and buying up numerous indie labels, their control over the industry was comparable to the Roman Empire’s dominance.
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Back then, unsigned bands didn’t really exist. If you were unsigned, you didn’t last long—you moved on to something else. Only the likes of John Peel were championing unsigned artists, with little support or coverage from the labels or even the BBC. It wasn’t until much later that the BBC jumped on the bandwagon, and they’ve been on it ever since.

What transpired in the first ten years of the 21st century, along with the rise of digital service providers (DSPs) like Apple and the internet, was a fracture in the music industry that provided hope to those on the outside.

Things came to a head in 2000 when one of the biggest acts of the time Metallica took on Napster in the American courts, claiming copyright infringement, racketeering, and unlawful use of digital audio interface devices. Basically, they were gutted to see a million-dollar hole in their monthly earnings so thought they would try and get rid of these pesky sites once and for all! It was the first case that involved an artist suing a peer-to-peer file sharing ("P2P") software company and although others subsequently tried, it actually ushered in the new model quicker than expected. It may have led to Napster's eventual demise but proved to be a catalyst for the rise of legal music downloads and streaming, fundamentally altering the music industry by forcing it to adapt to the digital age and find new ways to monetize music. 

Fast forward just 14 years and you’ll find another hugely popular band that initially voiced concerns about digital streaming, jumping headfirst into it, U2. Their latest album was automatically downloaded to all iTunes users' libraries without their consent. Many iTunes users, especially those who had no interest in the album, felt violated by the forced download. The incident sparked a heated debate about the balance between marketing, user consent, and the commercialisation of digital music. Critics argued that Apple's move was a step too far in the quest to make music accessible, while others defended the promotion as an innovative way to deliver music directly to listeners.

During those 14 years, countless takeovers, job losses, and broken business models exposed the cracks in the dominance of the majors. This shift gave aspiring artists, managers, and labels the chance to step into the spotlight. In many ways, this was the birth of the independent music scene as we know it.

On a personal level, this shift made my business model viable—almost by luck. Within a few years, my potential client base grew massively, and the terms “Independent” and “unsigned” became the buzzwords of the time. Myspace became the forerunner of a DIY movement that hadn’t been seen since the days of punk!

Suddenly momentum began to shift on a permanent basis.

Both the Metallica-Napster lawsuit and U2’s iTunes controversy underscores the tension that has existed between the music industry’s traditional business models and the digital age. The shift from physical album sales to digital downloads and streaming has forever altered the way music is consumed, marketed, and monetised.

On one hand, platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have made music more accessible than ever, offering vast libraries of songs to listeners with just a click or tap. This has empowered independent artists, as well as major names, to reach global audiences without the need for traditional record deals. On the other hand, this shift has led to a decline in physical album sales, forcing record labels to rethink their revenue models. With streaming platforms often paying pennies per play, many artists struggle to make a sustainable income from their music, leading to concerns about the long-term viability of the current system.

I actually think this is where the myth comes to the fore. The “viability of the current system” will continue to be stable until something else comes along! If it doesn’t then I think in 50 years’ time we’ll be wondering what all the fuss was all about. Musicians may well be shocked at the idea that once there was a time when they needed to “assign” or grant their rights to a record label, in order to allow that label to exploit those rights legally. In just 20 + years since I’ve been a music lawyer this concept has become quickly eroded and is far less commonplace.

I find that more and more of my clients are taking their independence for granted as some have not known it any other way. This fascinates me and reminds me of a time when all my clients ever wanted was to be signed.

The myth was at its most powerful and destructive back then, casting aside those that didn’t jump on board for the ride. Now at last those not on that bandwagon can at least try and often toil to carve out their own story, independent of those that once ruled without opposition.

Image by macrovector_official on Freepik​
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This article was originally published in Spirited Magazine May 2025