Artists paid upfront to write songs they'd never write that only get millions of listens when forced on users can't really complain they aren't getting big enough royalties. The whole point is their music is bland.

This is no different to working for a salary and not getting equity. And being a star has always been more about exposure than talent.

It's a shame for the real artists trying to write bland crap though. But the fault is with listeners. And let's face it, most musicians are probably only doing it hoping to one day become a star and get loaded... which is why there's so much competition.

All we can really say is Spotify etc and powerful DAWs have broken down barriers to being able to make and release music, which should be a good thing shouldn't it?

But yeah, Spotify stuffing playlists with their choices instead of popular music sounds bad... except only playing popular music would only reward the early birds on the platforms, so that's a tricky one too...