For hundreds of years, publishers across every industry ??? book publishers, record labels, film studios, videogame publishers ??? solved problems for artists in four major ways:

1. Funding. The cost of creating a new work, paying the artist’s expenses during the creation process, often with an advance.
2. Production. Design, manufacturing, and printing of the finished product.
3. Marketing. Going on tour, making a video, promotion in various media outlets.
4. Distribution. Getting the product into people’s hands.

And how does this play out now?