When the battle between the record companies and Napster raged in the early 2000's, the record labels held all of the power to control music and musicians. To be fair, the labels would spend quite a bit of money on the front end of a musician's or band's career to get them started without any real guarantee that they would recoup anything on their investment. The stories were fairly common, big musical acts would find themselves owing more than they were making because of the labels' early investment.
After Napster and with the advent of streaming services, the artists were able to take more control over their careers and their music. It also allowed others to use another's music in various settings. As I've written before, the proliferation of streaming services can be a boon or a bane to musicians depending on their perspective.
Unfortunately for the artists, this change has meant that record companies are less willing to invest on the front end because there will not be as many record sales. That means that artists must tour and promote themselves on a shoestring budget. Many will not "make it big." However, musicians, being the resourceful and creative types, have found other ways to earn some money for their art. They license their music to commercials, shows, movies, or other similar kind of placements. If able to do so, this helps the artist(s) gain some publicity which cloaks them in legitimacy. Legitimacy makes it easier to market their art and book themselves for other venues. I know for me, I have discovered some songs from commercials or television shows. For example, the Dodge Ram commercial featuring "California Soul" by Marlena Shaw and "When I'm Small" by Phantogram from the Gillette Proglide commercial.
Just as advertising is changing to keep up with consumer's tastes, needs, and shortening attention span, so is the music industry. It is going to be interesting to see how it evolves next. Stay tuned.
