[projektfu]

The hits pay for the failures, yes, in the sense that record companies can/used to act as incubators. However, this was true when people paid for individual albums, singles or jukebox plays as well. Also, the recordings are done as advances, so the middle-of-the-road artist who eventually makes royalties pays for the whole production before seeing any money.

What I was highlighting is now the money doesn't even pay directly down the line. The long tail literally makes nothing from people directly deciding to support them by choosing their recorded music. At lest before, if a small band sold 1000 CDs, they'd see the royalties from that.