Interesting. I had heard similar things, like that even over here, pretty big acts make maybe 40k per year if they're packing out the moderate-sized clubs (just short of the arena acts). I don't know if those numbers are true or not, but that's not exactly millions of dollars.

In one way it's kind of sad in that there is less music floating around in the world, but in another way I think it's fine. Just sort of the natural order of things, really. Art always has been hard to use as a means of supporting yourself unless you could get a commission like the old composers did back in the day. Even those rock stars we all think about weren't just putting out whatever their muses told them to write; they were working for the hits and making what people wanted to hear just as much as anybody else I think.

Anyway, interesting stuff, and kind of a harsh reality of things.