Well, thats not really true. The only reason that the "musician" does not actually get that money is usually because most of their "profit" goes to pay back the record company for advances, equipment, clothes etc...
The more established a musician is, the more they will see. Its hard to make money off one album or your "first" album, because of all the money in advances that you have to take..... and pay back.
I do not want to defend the "music industry", because in general, its slimey. But many people in this debate just do not understand how much money the typical act receives in the form of advances from record lables. Groups such as TLC and the Goo Goo Dolls found this out the hard way. They sold millions, only to find out they owed their record company money.
Well, the publisher sees about 1.45 cents per minute after the initial recording of a song. It's actually much more complicated than that because there's a variety of different types of agreements producers, songwriters, and artists (not always the same people) can enter into.
Unless they have good lawyers, the answer is often zero.
I'm afraid you're right--a performer or songwriter can completely relinquish their rights if they don't attend closely to the type of agreements they sign.
The only reason that the "musician" does not actually get that money is usually because most of their "profit" goes to pay back the record company for advances, equipment, clothes etc...Contrast that with book publishing which is, still, a higher-class operation: No respectable publisher would dare charge you for the work of an indexing specialist or copy editor. These charges in musicians' contracts are meant to keep them permanently in debt to record companies by creating an uncontrolable stream of charges that can be added to the musicians' advances. It is highly unethical if not outright fraudulent.
Huey: I have a mathematics question.
Teacher: Yes?
Huey: Let's say a record label gives a new artist a six-figure advance against royalties, but that advance doesn't cover all the costs of making his CD, which he has to pay. Then they give the artist an 8 percent royalty, which doesn't allow him to cover the advance, leaving him bankrupt and enslaved to the record label even though they make a profit off his CD.
Teacher: (sigh) Yes?
Huey: So my question is, how many tons of explosives should we use to blow up the RIAA when they say they're shutting down Napster to protect the artists' rights?