story
Perhaps because they are outside the context of this discussion? For the purposes of this discussion, they are a constant, no matter what Spotify or Google does.
> And your own comment literally never mentions the Big Three.
I added a caveat to my "buying from the musicians directly" exactly because of publishers.
> Apple may have power over the industry, but they are an outlier.
Not exactly - they charge the same percentage as the other players in this space that I mentioned. No conspiracy theories required to point this out.
> Care to ask them where this money goes? No one ever dares to.
Sure, in articles about music producers (I recall more than a few hitting HN over the years, especially when Taylor Swift was raising a ruckus about them and Spotify).
> And the vast majority of popular music on the platform is likely to come from big publishers, not from indie aggregators.
I don't believe anybody is disputing that.