Right. Wu Tang Clan showed how this can be done in the modern age with their Shkreli album.
copyright does not change that in any way, it would still be private without copyright - what am i missing?
> Without some form of protection, a lot of work would never be available to most people because keeping it hidden will become the only protection artists have.
Wu Tang had a bunch of listening sessions where people could listen to the record with headphones for a price. They could not record what they were listening to. It's like a concert, but no one can make bootleg recordings of it (okay, maybe with hearing aids).
In the early days of the telephone there were similar ways to listen to operas and concerts remotely through a headset.
If copyright didn't exist, musical artists and visual artists would be incentivized to release public snippets of their work to generate interest, and then only showcase the whole thing in private without the ability to reproduce. I can only imagine what radio would turn into.
Most musicians monetize through performance after selling copies. While there are some jobs for spec music, it's not enough to support all of the musicians who are currently making a living off of their music.