I have never had my rent paid for. I did not have a secret pile of cash or someone funding me.
"Everyone who made it when I couldn't was secretly wealthy" is an interesting take but it seems more like coping mechanism than reality.
In contrast, I've been making music for over ten years of my life and have gotten paid a handful of times.
It's hard to make money being an artist.
Very different markets.
Your worldly achievements and accomplishments in code should not be compared to a version of you who indeed had a secret pile of cash or someone funding them and never had to sacrifice things for their art, who might have achieved more worldly things.
The game is not rigged. It's not some death of meritocracy.
He sort of gets near an important idea when he talks about spotify leading to bandcamp sales, but then misses it: being a successful musician is about more than just playing an instrument, just like being a successful business person is about more than wearing a suit and holding meetings.