I'm very tired of this myth. When I see these arguments they usually only cover major labels that operate in big budget, mainstream releases that might indeed be unfavorable to the artist.

However the fact that labels come in all forms and colors is often ignored. There are truly caring small, independent and successful labels that serve as curator rather than expensive middleman. Artists can absolutely have fair deals with a label.

Furthermore for music enthusiast seeing new releases on a favorite label is a strong indicator for quality. That is a valuable service.

Spotify is a problem if it's not sustainable - and it doesn't seem to be for the company and artist alike.