You are very on-point - what does a successful artist do as soon as they have enough clout in the industry? Start their own label. Sign artists. Take a cut. Negotiate deals with advertising, take a cut of that. Tell the artists on the roster that they're better off with you than without you.

The parallels are stunning in this case. Thank you for mentioning your perspective, as I think it bears repeating that the "music industry" has always been like this - the names and methods may look different, but the model is the same. Ain't nobody signed to iTunes or YouTube, near as I can tell...