I'm curious how the SoundExchange/Webcaster talks will shake out. Some people think the whole point of SoundExchange's reaching out to webcasters to negotiate lower rates is to also gain some control over the playlists. "Sure, we'll give you a lower royalty rate so long as you play Artist X once every 2 hours," stuff like that. I'm not sure I believe that, though. We'll see.

As for artists not doing things for free: dream on. So long as "exposure" has value, the artists who want to be paid will always be outnumbered by the ones who want to be heard.