“Same as the music business.”
Used be to be a tour musician. I did OK until I aged out but there is no industry with greater income inequality than the entertainment business.
I used to produce stock footage and sometimes made up to 200 a clip sale.
The agency I submitted to the most reworked the commission schedule. Longtime contributors like me got reset to making pennies essentially per sale.
I send stuff to a couple others that pay better but sales are infrequent.
The camera equipment and lights aren’t powered on any more.
I liked making my own stuff and at times hiring talent.
Before the scam hit, I had few ideas but none of it is worth pursuing.
Might part with the gear since I use an IPhone just for my photos on the fly.
I think it has gotten even worse in the era of streaming.
like 80% of all revenue from music (albums/singles) these days comes from streaming.
Everything else combined divides up the remaining 17%
Digital downloads
LP/vinyl
CDs
cassettes
anything else “sold”
And streaming charts are influenced by racks of computers in server farms streaming the same song or album on endless repeat.
Wind up with wonky “success” like Ed Sheeran having more singles in the top 10 in the UK than even the Beatles ever managed because his album was streaming on constant repeat. But if the songs were not “released” as a single, should their stream count make the singles chart?
And if you PAY to subscribe to one of these streaming services you money still goes to the top streamed “artists” and not to the artists you actually listened to over that period.