Mediatization of the music industry: communication factors in the formation of royalties in the digital environment

The article is dedicated to the study of communication and institutional mechanisms for the distribution of royalties in the Russian digital music industry. The subject of the research includes communication practices and intermediary interactions between artists, labels, distributors, and streaming platforms that determine the promotion of musical content and the distribution of royalties. The aim of the study is to determine how the communication system and platform intermediaries influence the visibility of musical content, the growth of streams, and the subsequent distribution of royalties among participants in the digital music industry. It has been established that digital automation does not eliminate the importance of the human factor: transparency of payments is largely provided by managers, lawyers, and label specialists. The role of social media, short vertical videos, pitching, and internal team communication in increasing streams is specifically highlighted. The conclusion is made about the nonlinear relationship between an artist's media capital and the volume of royalties. The main empirical method was semi-structured expert interviews with representatives of the music industry. The processing of empirical material was carried out using thematic and comparative analysis, which allowed the identification of recurring themes, stable expert assessments, and key problematic areas in communication between artists, labels, distributors, and digital platforms. The main conclusions of our study are that the distribution of royalties in the digital music industry cannot be viewed solely as a financial-contractual procedure. It is formed at the intersection of platform algorithms, contractual relationships, distribution, the artist's communication with the audience, and interaction with professional intermediaries. The novelty of the research lies in viewing royalties as a mediated practice that depends not only on the number of streams but also on the platform visibility of musical content, the quality of pitching, social media activity, label work, and the artist's ability to interpret digital reporting. It has been shown for the first time that the opacity of royalty distribution is related not only to the closed nature of economic calculations but also to the communication asymmetry between platforms, distributors, labels, and artists. The study highlighted the key role of the human factor: managers, lawyers, and label representatives effectively act as translators of platform logic into the language of the artist's practical solutions.