Right, the way that residuals played out for syndicated shows is ultimately a large part of the decline for the guild members.
I am still a little curious on a few things in this. For one, I'm not clear on how long residuals can last in a sustainable way. Pretty much no matter how I try and simulate this payment model, it falls on needing more income from future participants. Not quite a ponzi scheme, as you are not asking future members to put money into the pot. You do need them to keep the machine running, though.
Granted, in that framing, the studios are effectively private equity groups that have managed to skim off a ton of value from the creative works? (Saying this as someone that isn't too keen on what a lot of private equity has done.)
> I'm not clear on how long residuals can last in a sustainable way
They were possible before, since there was much less content available at any given time. The media industry is in a bit of a death spiral it feels like, with a race to the bottom in many ways.
When broadcast tv was a bigger thing, syndicated shows were licensed to stations, who typically sold ad slots, allowing them to pay the licensing fees.
The problem is in many ways streaming platforms just really aren’t that cheap to run in the US when compared to old methods of distribution and the margin is almost entirely going to the platform, not the people making the content.
I'd rephrase your first as they were easy to keep up when everything was growing. That is, again, I don't see how residuals can be a lasting form of payment for people like this. Note that this is decidedly not saying that I don't think they should be getting them now. Mine is a longer term question.
Also, cards on the table, I'm ultimately a fan of basic income, which can effectively be seen as residuals for everyone. No need to pretend that it is tied to specific work where folks are basically in a lottery to see if they can get their name on the big ticket item that everyone wants.
I am still a little curious on a few things in this. For one, I'm not clear on how long residuals can last in a sustainable way. Pretty much no matter how I try and simulate this payment model, it falls on needing more income from future participants. Not quite a ponzi scheme, as you are not asking future members to put money into the pot. You do need them to keep the machine running, though.
Granted, in that framing, the studios are effectively private equity groups that have managed to skim off a ton of value from the creative works? (Saying this as someone that isn't too keen on what a lot of private equity has done.)