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

Just finished the second half. And not to be obstinate for the sake of being obstinate it did not change my opinion. He sets specific time periods as being good or great, he posits that analog is superior to digital, etc without supporting those claims. He also suggests that things are somehow bad now. I disagree. Some things are bad. But some things are great. In general I see lots of new and talented artists out there making music I like, touring and making a good living at it. 

You can have your views whatever they may be, I'm not here to take any of that away from you or anyone else. I was just looking for the opinions from people who had read it just so I might still be able to reign in the thread if it got too far afield...I mean, what's the point of opening a thread on an article if nobody who posts actually read it??, is all. 

But, your contributions here are all valid. Thanks for your input.

@n80
I do see these days that more and more bands are having to rely on touring in order to make their money. There just aren't all that many bands at any given time touring in the US though. Most groups, including American bands, seem to be perpetually touring Europe and Asia. Evidently those fans support them much more better than we do here. I'm not entirely sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe good for the bands, bad for us. Or maybe we fans here share the blame for not showing up or paying enough?? I dunno. But, I think it is increasingly resulting in being more and more difficult to find their more recent music...on disc, anyway...and that this trend may continue to grow...not because formats are going obsolete, but because mainstream artists who are not top tier are being squeezed out...or would be, if it were not for touring and merchandise.

I think as someone on the outside looking in my opinion isn't really valid.My son is a professional musician(currently serving in the military)gigging whenever and wherever possible nights and weekends.I have friends in the business and from what I know of their lives it's rather difficult to practice their craft and make a living at it.
They develop a network of as many people in the 'biz' as possible and pick up small gigs here and there - radio commercials,subing in bands when someone needs a night off,studio work,giving private lessons,doing free gigs which gets them more exposure,etc.I have no idea how important websites and Facebook pages are where a fan can download music.Will they pay for it or only want it if it's free?

@ivan_nosnibor : What you are describing seems to me the same as it has been for the last 40 years. Bands were given money up front, but they had to earn it back and they were forced to tour in order to do that. So I don't see the touring grind as anything new. It comes with the territory. And for smaller bands the touring is where the money is.

In the British band I mentioned above they had the opposite experience. They could not generate interest at home or on the continent. So they came to the US. Toured like crazy and built up a fan base. They are based in L.A. now. Their success here has allowed them to return to Europe recently with great success.

As far as being able to see lots of bands on tour, well, this is a new thing for me. Used to go to concerts when I was young but nothing in the last 20 years or so. Now I'm going again and there is no shortage of bands to see live. Virtually all of the bands I want to see who aren't major pop names come to venues in my area with some regularity.

Maybe the exceptions prove the rule as laid out in the article. But as a fan I don't see it. I see lots of new and exciting acts making great music, touring where I can easily see them and making a good living at it too.