Disturbing?

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/09/02/music-industry-99-problems
 
As an artist/producer with no hat in the ring anymore, this is not news to me nor does it disturb me.  I am not in the "business of music" anymore.
 
However, as a musician concerned with the plight of musicians and musicianship, this is quite disturbing.  With the exception of a select few, it doesn't seem that music is viable anymore.  I quite understand that there are options other than "stardom" in music but I feel those arenas (commercials, scoring, etc.) fall under the category of the previously mentioned "select few".
 
Thoughts?

It's bad in Los Angeles.

There's a handful of big studios that seem to be doing well but dozens of small and medium size studios have gone out of business in the last few years.

I know a few musicians making decent money in tribute bands; but good luck if you're an unknown band playing original music. You'll probably have to guarantee 200 seats in order to get a non-paying gig.

More and more movie studios and television stations are using libraries to lease music and even placement in major motion pictures means very little money. 

It's getting tough out there.

That is an abysmally written article.

Pretty poorly written piece IMO. Alot of grasping at weak straws. For example, the ones where the author makes the statement that vinyl is bad for the planet and so are streaming services because they require large servers that use a lot of electricity. If he's gonna make that argument, then he should ask that all live concerts be done with acoustic instruments with no PA and of course be done during the day so that there won't be those wasteful light shows.
 
Yes, the music industry has changed drastically in the last 10 years or so. It needed to change due to it becoming eaten by large corporations who knew nothing about music or artists. The publicly owned corporation business model isn't designed to deal with art.
 
I'm not concerned about the demise of music or musicians. We were around before there was a music business and we will survive the current changes of getting ones music out to the masses. I don't pretend to know the answers as to how, but I do know how you start. You learn your craft and never stop. You start writing songs and you never stop. You perform your songs for as long as you can find an audience no matter how small.
 
I don't perform or record for money any longer. I did for most of my life. I never got into it for the money. I don't know of a single artist with any level of success who did.
 
Randy