[wpietri]

> If it was such a terrible deal then why would content creators sign up for it in the first place?

For the same reasons a lot of people sign up for terrible deals. E.g.:

* They believe they have no choice, * The dealmaker says: no, it's really a great deal, * They are naive, * They are desperate, * They believe they'll be the 1 in 100 who does better, * The dealmaker promises more than is delivered, * Information asymmetry, * Etc, etc, etc.

It's different than VC investment, and especially different than regular investment, in that publishers control much more of the playing field. Also, to get VC money you generally have to have a reasonable understanding of business. That's definitely not true of writers and musicians, which would make them much easier to take advantage of.