Hm, unfair to whom. Do you know how much the artists actually receive?
There are clauses from the days of shipping vinyl to record stores, regarding breakage of disks. The label keeps a percentage (5% - 10% can't remember correctly), for broken disks. They still use these clauses decades after they have <edit>lost</edit> any basis in reality.
The Police financed the recordings themselves, to get higher royalty percentages.
Have you read about majors suing artists for damages after their albums flopped?
There are clauses from the days of shipping vinyl to record stores, regarding breakage of disks. The label keeps a percentage (5% - 10% can't remember correctly), for broken disks. They still use these clauses decades after they have <edit>lost</edit> any basis in reality.
The Police financed the recordings themselves, to get higher royalty percentages.
Have you read about majors suing artists for damages after their albums flopped?
How much do the people earn that made the music in the first place? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/19/zoe-keati...
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/12/06/zoe-keating-spot...
Further reading here, published 21 years ago: https://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/