“So when Napster came...”
I still have many tracks from Napster, and sometimes I find that I’ve got a version that isn’t available anywhere else. I believe to this day that somebody dumped a radio station’s complete digital library onto Napster, in the last few months of the site’s life.
Artists deserve to be compensated, certainly. Yet, we live in a time where, an artist can do one performance and receive lifetime royalties for it. For centuries, performers were paid to perform - but in today’s world, a little effort can get you a lifetime income stream. I’m not sure if that’s an improvement.
This is why aging acts like The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and U2 still drag themselves out on the road. This is where the big money is.
Instead of trying to grab a penny or two every time one of their songs gets streamed or played on the radio, they should be trying to get their songs played or streamed as much as possible as that exposure will drive people to their concerts.