Be Careful What You Wish For...

An analytical piece by Mia Patel | November 2025

The music industry is a complex environment that’s constantly changing due to a number of different factors. You may think that’s it’s music, and that’s that, but there are a slew of aspects behind it that listeners have no knowledge of. There are so many conflicting sectors that come into play when an artist ventures into the world of music and this can ultimately lead to a multitude of barriers to entry within the industry, let’s take a deep dive into some of them.

MUSIC PRODUCTION

The process of a song from start to finish has multiple steps. First the song has to be written, then has to be recorded and produced in a studio setting. These two steps are commonly done simultaneously or within the same time frame. After that, the track needs to be mixed and mastered before being formatted for streaming. This entire process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months, even years in some cases. Once the song itself is done, there’s still cover art, music videos and distribution to consider - it takes a lot of effort to enter the industry, it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Many may argue that producers & songwriters are the suppliers for the music industry because they’re the creative force behind music . Finding the right one is crucial to the record’s final form as they’re a major influence in the production process. However, there are countless producers to work with, some having risen to levels of fame on par with the artists themselves. But a lot of new artists are becoming self-produced because hiring producers can be a very high expense , and if the artists can do it themselves, why not, right? Why shouldn’t they take control?

LEGAL ISSUES

Music has evolved so much over time. With new genres being created out of pre-existing ones, it's no surprise that people are inspired by the artists before them. This only becomes a problem when older music is blatantly ripped off or cheaply imitated into new songs. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen often due to practices like sampling and interpolation whereby elements of songs can be implemented into new songs, typically with approval from the original artist. However, they aren’t the same. Sampling refers to when you include an element of a pre-existing recording by someone else in your composition whereas interpolation is using a melody or portions of a melody (often with modified lyrics) from a previously recorded song but re-recording the melody instead of directly sampling it.

Copyright cases are becoming increasingly common as the industry continues to grow. Smaller artists can be pushed out for creating something that resembles a major label’s work, even if the similarity is minimal. That said, even high-profile artists face scrutiny. Ed Sheeran successfully defended a copyright infringement lawsuit involving his Grammy-winning song “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” Similarly, Olivia Rodrigo added two members of Paramore to the writing credits of her hit single “Good 4 U” from her debut album Sour, following public backlash over its resemblance to their track “Misery Business,” despite only a slight similarity between the two.

With the rise of AI usage, its very important to be vigilant when recording music and protecting it in the right way.

UNFAIR COMPETITION

There’s an overwhelming level of competition in the music industry today, with countless artists emerging across every genre - no two people having exactly the same taste. This competition can become unfair when a larger artist dropping a full album coincides with an independent artist making their debut. It’s no fault of either party, but as with most industries, branding and advertising play a huge role in determining popularity. Record labels spend envious amounts on this whereas unsigned, independent artists won't have this and therefore be in an entirely different position from the start, often depending on social media & viral marketing to gain traction organically.

There are 3 main record labels in control of the industry (Sony, Warner & Universal), each with expansive numbers of subsidies, alongside a growing number of independent labels and self-managed artists. If an artist is signed to a label, there’s a large chance that that label is linked back to one of the big three. It used to be the big 4, but EMI was bought out into Universal Music Group’s roster. 

Record labels manufacture, distribute & promote the recorded works of their signed artists. In doing so, they produce revenue by taking a percentage (usually 50%) of ownership of the artist’s released music and from this they also earn part of the royalties it produces. Essentially, record companies work to sell the artist and the products they produce. They will also approach new artists in an attempt to capitalise on their emerging creativity. Once an artist goes viral, it’s a race to sign them and keep them relevant enough to make profit. It's a harsh and cruel industry, especially for those who are just on the cusp of breaking through.

MARKET SATURATION

The music industry is somehow crowded but incomplete simultaneously. With so many similar artists emerging in every genre that it’s become hard for new acts to establish a position for themselves. But there still isn’t representation for everyone. EWhile it is easier to release music now than 10 years ago, some argue that this accessibility has just made things harder to establish a lasting position in the industry.

In today’s modern and digital environment, musical genres are becoming more and more saturated. Some newer artists are even going as far as advertising themselves and the newer, younger versions of strongly established popular artists. As a result, niches need to be found and exploited in order for new artists to be successful. For example, metalcore band Bad Omens cite major pop artists such as The Weeknd & Billie Eilish as their influences and perfectly blend that with heavy rock elements to find their sound, and Demi Lovato started their career as a Disney-pop artist broke apart and fully dedicated themselves to the rock genre for a few years before returning to pop this year. 

The music industry is also becoming more diverse and more people of colour are breaking the mould by not sticking to stereotypical genres. Nova Twins are a powerful example of this. While many might assume that two Black women would gravitate toward pop or R&B, they’ve defied those assumptions entirely. By staying true to their vision, they’ve developed a position as some of the most exciting rising stars in the rock scene. They’ve supported MUSE and have just wrapped up the UK leg of their own headline tour for the recent third album Parasites & Butterflies, released this past August.

LIMITED PROSPECTS

In the music industry, buyers are the listeners and it’s these listeners, especially loyal fans, who ultimately determine an artist’s success. It’s a well-known fact that streams pay very little, which means that artists can’t rely on these platforms as their main source of income, it’s barely classifiable as an income in the first place. Spotify pays $0.003-0.005 per the single stream of a song and Apple Music pays $0.007-0.01, claiming that their average pay rate is $0.01. This means it can take anywhere between 100 and 350 streams to make a single dollar. Which is then divided up by everyone who had a hand in creating the song, including the record company, the publishers, the producer, the songwriters, the list goes on.

As a result, artists must rely heavily on loyal fans to stream their music which requires extensive marketing and advertising across all social media platforms. It's a common theme these days that artists spend more time making social media content than actually making music, which is very frustrating. The main solution to this problem is to sell physical products on online storefronts. Mainly in the form of physical copies of the music as vinyls, cassettes and CDs but they can also sell clothing merchandise, stickers, art prints, etc. Touring is also considered a major contributor to monetary income in the music industry. At its core, the music industry is first and foremost a business,and these sales not only generate revenue but also help market artists to new audiences, media outlets, and, for unsigned artists, potential labels.

This is only five hurdles when it comes to starting out as an artist, there are countless others and some that may only develop in coming years. As stated earlier, the music industry is very complex and is very clearly not a simple environment to venture into. This is not even taking the live events sector into account, which comes with its own separate opportunities and threats. Or the various progressions such as the riot grrrl movement & the gen z resurgence of pop punk that heavily influence current trends and set the tone for the music industry’s economic environment. It’s a shame to say that this industry isn’t as sustainable and career-friendly as it once was, if it ever was. With most artists nowadays stuck in the repetitive motion of album cycles, it’s important that the legends of the next generations know what they’re getting themselves into and how to protect themselves over the course of their careers.

This article was originally written for a hypothetical magazine as part of a BTEC Level 3 in Graphic Design final project in May 2024 and edited to post in Nov 2025.