▲Swift had previously made headlines when she wrote a letter to Apple Music in 2014. She said it was "shocking" and "disappointing" to not pay royalties during their three-month trial, which was eventually changed.

▲It's reported that the late Prince described the music industry as "a matrix that is counter to what is natural and right."

▲"Dealing with boys at work and being the only girl can be challenging," Shakira told Glamour. "There are jokes made almost every second of the day. I had to develop a tough hide."

▲MJ had a big battle with Sony in the late '90s and early 2000s. "The recording companies really, really do conspire against the artists [...] they steal, they cheat, they do everything they can, [especially] against the black artists," he said at a public appearance.

▲"I would just love to see a chart with as many women on top as men," Grande told Billboard. "It's so easy for them. There are so many unbelievable female artists out there that try so much harder."

▲"The music industry is really funny," Seal has said. "When you have a hit record, everyone knows who you are [...] then if you have a miss, people suffer from amnesia."

▲Not just an actor, Kendrick scored a top 10 hit in America with 'Cups.' "I have this sense that the music industry is just shady as hell. I don't want to be a part of it," she told Indiewire.

▲"I know about homophobia in the music industry," Smollett told Cosmopolitan. "Obviously, we're dealing with homophobia in hip-hop; we're dealing with homophobia in the black community."

▲The late singer told the National Post about her industry frustrations. "We took time off [in 1997] when Oasis broke and Princess Diana died and I was home with my baby hating the music industry."

▲In perhaps her most humorous interview, Nina Simone discussed almost shooting a recording executive for stealing from her. "Oh yes, sorry I didn't get him," she told the BBC.

▲Before the Beatles broke up, Harrison told CBC about how, after their manager died, the band discovered they were involved in business they had no idea about.

▲Kelly Rowland has often talked about the mayhem of the music industry. One of her singles, 'Dirty Laundry,' is a candid song that details her struggles.

▲Alanis Morissette has won many awards throughout her career, but had enough at one point. "I believe very much that the music industry as a whole is mainly concerned with material success."

▲Talking with The Guardian, Wainwright said, "there's prejudice everywhere [in the music industry]," adding that "I have taken a few hits over the years for my sexuality, and for being honest about my life."

▲The Nine Inch Nails frontman told the LA Times: "I'll be honest, watching the music industry collapse has been demoralizing."

▲The UK 'X Factor' alum said, "this industry can be tough on everyone," adding "the first few years in the music industry can be a steep learning curve."

▲Speaking with MacWorld, the Public Enemy frontman said, "I think too much of the music industry is for the lawyer and accountant mentality."

▲Kelis has a complicated relationship with the business. "The music industry is a world of smoke and mirrors," she told The Guardian. "I tend to stay away from that."

▲"For the first 10 years of my career, I felt suffocated," the R&B singer told Oprah.com. "I hit rock bottom. I couldn't find myself because I was looking to be defined by the music industry or by being number one on the Billboard charts."

▲Speaking with Octopus Media, Skylar said she "didn't have any knowledge of the music industry" when she started. This led to "a spiral of depression and being broke."

▲The Korn frontman famously said: "the music industry can make you feel like a prostitute."

▲The iconic rock'n'roller said: "it takes a real soldier to stay in the music industry."

▲The-Dream is an accomplished solo act, and has written huge hits for just about everyone. He told Billboard that "artists are treated like slaves."

▲

Donovan told the Express that "millions" of his money "came and went, stolen by the robbers in the music industry."

▲Swift wrote in the letter, "Hopefully, young artists or kids with musical dreams will read this and learn about how to better protect themselves in a negotiation. You deserve to own the art you make."

▲

Swift came out with a scathing open letter detailing a long and failed struggle to own her master recordings, claiming that her former label Big Machine Records had offered her a deal to "earn" her first six albums back, and arguing that there was malice in the label's sale to her alleged longtime bully Scooter Braun.

▲The singer backed Swift up in a tweet, adding that the alleged injustice shows how far the industry still has to go, and criticized "How as an entertainer you are respected but as a writer you're walked all over."

▲Kelela has made it her mission statement to combat the faulty side of the music biz. "I'm pushing back against the white, misogynistic, heterosexual establishment in the music industry," she told Time.

▲

"Justice for Fifth Harmony, Little Mix, and One Direction" started trending on Twitter after previous 'X Factor' contestants Jedward, twins John and Edward Grimes, started tweeting about the mistreatment of not only them but other artists like Little Mix and One Direction. Fans were quick to add Fifth Harmony to the list as well, “For how overworked they were. For how over sexualized they were at a young age. For how badly they were treated in general," read one tweet.

Jedward wrote, “1D and Little Mix are legally f–ked in contracts and can never speak out so we are!” and continued to criticized the competition and its leader Simon Cowell, plus his company Syco Entertainment, claiming every artist was made to be a "slave" to the show, and that management were dictating their every move, even the relationships they could have.

▲

“Every contestant on the Xfactor was a slave to the show and got paid Zero while they made millions!” Jedward tweeted.

▲

"I wish there had been a music business 101 course I could have taken," the Nirvana frontman once said.

▲

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman told Billboard: "this business has no plan for a future, and we are getting jobbed, to use a wrestling term, by the tech industry [...] that's building off of our content."

▲

The eccentric artist said "the whole music business in the United States is based on numbers," adding that "it's not based on beauty, it's based on hype and it's based on cocaine."

▲

Kate Bush told the BBC that "the music industry is in such poor shape; it's in a really bad way," adding that "a lot of people in the industry are very depressed."

▲

It's a dream shared by millions around the world: become a world-famous musician. Who hasn't turned on the TV, seen an iconic performance, and wished they were in that position? Well, you might soon be relieved that you're watching from the other side of the stage. The music industry is rife with shady business and unspoken hardships.

Alanis Morissette provided a grim insight into the industry after "mis-informed rumblings" went around about her absence at The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on November 5 where she was slated to perform inductee Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' with Olivia Rodrigo. Two days later, the Canadian singer shared a statement on her Instagram, beginning first with her admiration for the women at the ceremony before diving into the dark side.

"I have spent decades in an industry that is rife with an overarching anti-woman sentiment and have tolerated a lot of condescension and disrespectfulness, reduction, dismissiveness, contract-breaching, unsupportiveness, exploitation and psychological violence (and more) throughout my career," Morissette wrote. "I tolerated it because nothing would stop me from connecting with those whom I cared about and resonated with. I live to serve and connect with people and so over the years I sucked it up on more occasions than I can count in order to do so. It’s hard not to be affected in any industry around the world, but Hollywood has been notorious for its disrespect of the feminine in all of us."

She continued, "Thankfully, I am at a point in my life where there is no need for me to spend time in an environment that reduces women." She clarified that she's had great experiences "with production teams with all genders" and "diverse people coming together with one mission," but emphasized that she will only be showing up to those kinds of environments "with bells on" in the future.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Click through this gallery to discover the dark side of the music industry.