Apple's iTunes isn't bringing in money for musicians like it once did. Instead, some artists are making more money come from platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, an exec of a music publishing company at the Web Summit said on Thursday.
Willard Ahdritz, the founder and CEO of Kobalt, said that in the first three months of this year Spotify drove more revenue than iTunes for some songwriters, according to a CNET report.
"People fear because they have not seen any money, but Spotify is paying out a lot of money." Ahdritz told CNET. "YouTube is paying out a lot of money. We know there are billions of dollars coming out... The problem is the pipes are broken."
The evolution of the music industry has shifted from digital sales to streaming, where consumers pay a monthly fee for a huge library of music. While Apple led the way for the digital sale of music, it was late to the game in streaming and has been trying to play catch up to compete against companies like Spotify and Rdio.
In May, Apple announced it was buying Beats Music and Beats Electronics. The acquisition helped it get some footing in the subscription streaming space, but Beats user base pales in comparison to Spotify's reach.
According to a report in May, Beats Music only has 111,000 registered users, while Spotify boasts over 10 million paying subscribers.
—By CNBC's Cadie Thompson. Follow her on Twitter @CadieThompson.