The rise of tech companies has significantly impacted individual artists and content creators. Initially, the internet was seen as a platform that could provide a 'long tail' of revenue for these individuals. However, this has not been the case. In the music industry, for example, 80% of the revenues are now derived from just 1% of artists. This is a stark contrast to the 1980s, when 80% of music industry revenues came from 20% of the content. Therefore, the rise of tech companies has led to a concentration of wealth and influence among a small percentage of artists and content creators.
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Tech companies have dangerously overtaken our economy. In 2006, the top five companies by market capitalization were ExxonMobil, General Electric, Microsoft, CitiGroup, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, worth an average of $288 billion each. In 2016, the top five companies were Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, worth on average $476 billion. Early adopters of the internet harked its ability to bring a "long tail" of revenue to individual artists and content creators. Not so. Today in the music business, 80% of the revenues are derived from 1% of artists. Compare this to the 1980s, where 80% of music industry revenues came from 20% of the content. Silicon Valley bigwigs like Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and early Facebook investor, believe in themselves as brilliant savants whose sheer genius birthed the age of the internet. Thiel is an avowed libertarian and rejects the value of government aid or interference. The irony is that "the internet was conceived and paid for by the US ...