Authors and recording artists both receive small, periodic payments. The music business inherited its royalty percentages from the book industry because early music publishing centered on printed sheet music. As the same industry expanded into recorded music, the payment structure followed the new product rather than being designed anew. This institutional continuity helps explain why both authors and musicians can receive only pennies from each pound of sales.
Notable Point · 21:56-22:38
Why recording royalties resemble book royalties
A publishing-history aside traces the royalty structures of recorded music back through sheet-music publishing to the book trade.