Articles · Hot Take
Non-Majors Own 46.7% of the Music Market. The Standard Deal Still Pays You 15%.
The Set Newsroom · Sun Sep 20 2026
Independent labels and self-releasing artists own 46.7% of the recorded music market. A standard record deal still pays the artist 15%, after the label takes its money back first, and the masters can be gone for 35 years.
You do not need anyone's permission to put a record out. The market already settled that argument.
MIDiA Research put non-majors, meaning independent labels plus self-releasing artists, at 46.7% of the global recorded music market on an ownership basis in 2023, worth $14.3 billion. On a distribution basis the same group came in at 34.2%. Almost half the business, by ownership, already sits outside the three majors.
Now look at what a standard record deal still offers the artist who signs one.
The standard deal pays you 15%
Traditional record deals typically offer the artist around 15 to 20%, according to music attorney Julia Holt. Soundcharts runs the same math in its breakdown of a standard deal and lands on an artist/label streaming split of 15/85.
Read that again. On a standard deal, 85 cents of every dollar your recording earns goes to the company. You get the 15.
That number alone is not the scandal. Labels take risk and spend money. The part that catches people is what happens to your 15 before it reaches you.
Recoupment is where the money actually goes
Recoupment means the label gets its money back first, out of your share.
The recoupable list is long. Julia Holt's firm lists recording costs, marketing and promotion, advances, artwork and merch, and independent contractor fees as expenses the label recovers from artist royalties. Soundcharts puts it plainly: until the label gets back what it spent, "100% of the recording royalties will go towards making up for these expenses."
So the advance is not a payday. It is a loan you repay out of the smaller half of a 15/85 split. Holt's firm says there is no one-size-fits-all answer on how long that takes, and that major labels "may take years to recoup their full investment."
Years. On money you already spent.
Your masters can be gone for 35 years
Here is the part that outlives the deal.
Soundcharts notes that under artist deals "the label will likely retain the master rights for 35 years (or even more)."
Thirty five years is not a contract term. It is a career. Every sync placement, every reissue, every catalog sale, every time somebody wants to license the song you wrote at 24, that conversation happens without you in the room.
The catch nobody puts in the headline
A label is not useless. Pretending otherwise gets artists hurt.
A major can write a check you cannot write yourself. It can push a record into radio, retail and international markets that are genuinely hard to reach alone. If your plan needs seven figures of marketing spend to work, a label is still the only place that money comes from.
The honest version is this: a deal is a trade. You trade ownership and control for capital and reach. That trade makes sense when you cannot generate capital or reach on your own.
The reason 46.7% of the market now sits outside the majors is that, for a growing number of artists, that is no longer true.
Owning it and distributing it are two different things
Look at those two MIDiA numbers again, because the gap between them is the story.
Non-majors owned 46.7% of the market in 2023. Non-majors only distributed 34.2% of it. The difference is independent music riding on major-label pipes. MIDiA puts non-major revenue distributed by the majors at $3.8 billion in 2023.
That is a lot of artists who own their work and still hand a cut to a major to move it.
Owning your masters is step one. Knowing who takes a percentage on the way to the listener is step two, and most artists never check. Before you sign a distribution agreement, find out who actually owns the distributor, what the fee is, and whether it is a flat rate or a percentage that grows with you.
Independence on the contract means very little if you never read the invoice.
What to do this month
Four things, and none of them require a lawyer.
**1. Find out what you already own.** List every recording you have paid for yourself. Those are your masters. Nobody can take them from you unless you sign them away. Write the list down. That list is your leverage in every conversation you will ever have.
**2. Get your royalties registered.** Most independent artists are leaving money on the table because they never signed up in the right places. Your PRO handles performance royalties. The MLC handles mechanicals in the US. SoundExchange handles digital performance. Registering is free and takes an afternoon.
**3. Build a direct line to your fans.** A follower is rented. An email address and a phone number are yours. If a platform changed its algorithm tomorrow, how many people could you still reach?
**4. Read any deal against this checklist.** What percentage do I keep? What is recoupable? Who owns the masters, and for how long? When do I get them back? If a deal cannot answer all four in writing, it is not a deal yet.
Where The Set fits
The Set exists because of this exact math. It calls itself the label that's not a label: everything a label does for an independent artist, with none of what a label takes. Your own artist page, unlimited distribution with 100% of your royalties, your own store, and the business taught free.
There is no advance to recoup, because there is no advance. Your masters stay yours. Your fans stay yours.
You can see what's included and start free, or look at the plans if you want the à la carte side: beats, mixing and mastering, sessions, marketing, video and photo.
And if you want the number that started all of this, read what a stream is actually worth now.
The payoff
A record deal is a loan against a song you already made, secured by a master you will not see again for 35 years.
Almost half the market already stopped taking that loan. You can too.
Questions
What percentage does a record label take?
Traditional record deals typically offer the artist around 15 to 20% of net receipts, which means the label keeps roughly 80 to 85%. Soundcharts models a standard deal at a 15/85 artist/label streaming split. The exact rate depends on your leverage and the type of deal.
What is recoupment in a record deal?
Recoupment is the label recovering what it spent before you see a royalty check. Recording costs, marketing and promotion, advances, artwork and merch, and independent contractor fees are commonly recoupable, and 100% of your recording royalties go toward that balance until it clears. Major labels may take years to recoup.
Do artists own their masters after signing a record deal?
Usually not for a long time. Under artist deals the label will likely retain the master rights for 35 years or more. If you paid for a recording yourself and never signed it away, you own that master outright.
Is it better to stay independent in 2026?
It depends on what you need. A label supplies capital and reach you may not be able to generate alone. If you can build an audience and fund your own recordings, staying independent means keeping your masters, your fan relationships and a far larger share of the money.