Creators were being robbed long before the Internet came along and made piracy easy, yo. The music industry is literally filled with some of the most heinous, double-crossing hustlers you will ever find.
This subject might go underappreciated, but it's so very true. A very shallow search will lead you to the ugliest, and most scathing accounts by some of the most beloved musicians. (see Michael Jackson)
Others have simply long left the sole clutches of major labels and only associate with them on their own terms, like Wilco and Radiohead (in the rock/ish world).
That said I feel like adding to the general discussion here—with radio music became more accessible to the masses than it ever had been, and in that era musicians largely made their money on royalties (if they were so fortunate) or putting on a roadshow.
Shortly thereafter was it only that people were able to take portable recordings home to enjoy at their own timing.
Prior to any of this, (decently) paid musicians were far fewer. If anyone wanted to enjoy music, they had to afford concerts or recitals, visit or encounter travelling musicians, or acquire the music itself and learn to play it.
I digress a little... but it seems we're coming sort of full-circle from the radio-era model back to it via the streaming-era model. The major difference being the need to not only buy a device to tune in, but to pay an additional and regular fee to access more content/programming than the radio provides.
