Protecting the artists

Remember “industries of middlemen”? Here’s a striking case in point:

“I’ve never made a dime from a record sale in the history of my record deal. I’ve been very happy with my sales, and certainly my audience has been very supportive. I make a living going out and playing shows.”

Lovett, 50, has sold 4.6 million albums in the United States since 1991, the year when SoundScan sales data were introduced.

Maybe the labels’ talk of “protecting artists” should be understood in the sense of the honoured society.