Artists received only 12% of the $43 billion generated in music industry revenue in the United States last year, according to a new report published by Citigroup last night. The study—conducted by a team of Citigroup’s researchers and analysts—states that most of the revenue is captured by middlemen, including tech companies, radio stations, and record labels. It also notes that the 12% figure is actually higher than it was for artist in previous years—in 2000, the figure was 7%. The increase is due to the strength of the concert business, as well as more artists self-releasing their music, thereby keeping more revenue.

The Citigroup study outlines three possible ways the structure of the music industry could shift to give artists a more equal share of revenue: through vertical integration of existing businesses (example: concert promoters merging with distribution platforms like Spotify), horizontal integration (distribution platforms merging with each other), and “organic” vertical integration (distribution companies such Spotify entering the record label space). Read the full report here.

In March, it was reported that streaming subscriptions in had resulted in the 2017 being the best year for music industry revenuesince 2008.

Originally posted on PITCHFORK.COM