Artists have always made their money with live events. Back when people bought CDs, artists got a tiny fraction of a fraction of the sale price. These days they get a slightly larger fraction of a smaller price. A handful of artists at the top of the charts can make bank, and the rest struggle, as always.
I don’t see any solution short of some massive government arts program. It comes down to supply and demand. Most musicians play for a love of music. They would (and many do) play music even if they got no money for it at all. That makes for a glut of musicians and a really low equilibrium price of labor.
We see a similar phenomenon (on a much smaller scale) in tech with games. Lots of people really like making games. They’d do it for free. Getting paid for it at all is a dream. Result: pay is not great in that segment of the industry. Not many of us dream of adding some features to CRUD apps and as a result that pays better.
I don’t see any solution short of some massive government arts program. It comes down to supply and demand. Most musicians play for a love of music. They would (and many do) play music even if they got no money for it at all. That makes for a glut of musicians and a really low equilibrium price of labor.
We see a similar phenomenon (on a much smaller scale) in tech with games. Lots of people really like making games. They’d do it for free. Getting paid for it at all is a dream. Result: pay is not great in that segment of the industry. Not many of us dream of adding some features to CRUD apps and as a result that pays better.