An Excellent New Read: "A Brief History Of Why Artists Are No Longer Making A Living..."

Let me guess: corporate greed and malfeasance that's been perfected over several decades.

I for sure wouldn't say that it's been perfected, just that all that continues to be a moving target, just like the desire to create.

I also think the quality of music has diminished starting with mtv. Emphasis was placed in looks and theatrics and sexualityinstead of quality music. The Beatles lps were looked forward to and all the songs were devoured because they meant something wetr quality and continuously evolved.
There aren't many bands today who could just stand and play and hold your attention like they did.
Sad to say Springsteen may have been the last of the breed

One of the author’s points was that MTV reclassified music videos as "advertising" for the music industry and the artists and in fact were "pay-to-play" for the artists - money that had to be counted against royalties.