The value investors place on these companies suggests 2015 was an especially difficult year for radio to compete with the Web. This means our songwriters will also feel that.

To Marc Beeson and other music creators in Nashville, the Future of Music Coalition — a 15-year-old organization of activist music creators — holds promise that they can find parity between those who create the art with those who exploit it. Most look to Washington for the answer, and that’s where it will likely come from.