And the artist earns significantly less as a consequence, hence the emphasis placed (from literally every artist I’ve spoken to or heard o speak on it) “you don’t make money from album sales, you hardly break even from touring, you basically need a side-business now”

Or maybe it’s actually a net healthy thing—that is, demanding musical artists be lifelong paupers of the most fundamental degree—because music is an unproductive venture and starving artists make objectively better art.