This is an age old argument - is the song a hit because of the person singing it, or did the person become a star because of the songs they sing? Or did it only get heard and become popular because the publisher promoted it?
The current system is heavily biased towards compensating the artists and the publishers. The distributor is basically treated as a technical service covering costs. And the songwriter is almost left out of the picture entirely - at least in popular awareness, and to some extent in payments too.
The article highlights the plight of the songwriters - but also some of the crazy dynamics of the industry, like doing the work of writing and developing multiple songs in the hope a group might use and pay for one. For most of us, there are no ongoing percentages no matter how small, just an upfront payment for work. So it is all complicated.