(Two) pictures worth 1,000 words.

[Hopstretch]

The chart colors are a little iffy, but if you squint the conclusions are pretty clear. File sharing hurts record labels and benefits artists. Not only are artists now making much more money from live performances, but their total share of the music industry pie is growing as the labels' share declines.

[kevin gilmore]

About time the artists got paid for their work.

[robm321]

That's great news! I had no idea.

[Currawong]

It also shows how the labels have been ripping off artists for years (decades actually). They don't want to change their hugely successful model of paying a pittance to the artists and gouging the rest for themselves.

[Dusty Chalk]

Huzzah. Source? (Yes, I will go off and google the titles of the charts.)

[CarlSeibert]

I see that even in this, the worse year in a century, the overall turnover is trending up, too.

A bit different from the spin the labels put out about a dying industry, eh?

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of fellows.

Mind you, Lefstez says the big promoters are gouging their way into the same hole that swallowed the big labels. Plenty of room. They'll learn eventually.