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

and Elvis didn't place an emphasis on looks and theatrics and sexuality instead of quality music?  Did he not rip off black people's music for the most part and monetize their craft at a level they could never have dreamed of?

I think we are being a bit too simplistic here.  It's never been easy separating form from function.  Things are no different today than they ever have been. You think it's ever been easy making money from music????

Very few musicians create and survive because of the industry, they do so in spite of it. 
Some of the great "record men" like Mo Ostin, Ahmet Ertegun and Chris Blackwell, to name three, were able to run a business that fostered some great music.
Today, I'm sure there are others who people can identify as producers or small label owners that are cultivating and helping to commercialize music. 
But the market is so fragmented, music is not even a commodity most people are wiling to pay for, and the make up-- on the road, touring, is a hard way to live.
Songwriters tend to do better, particularly if they can compose for film or other niche business to business markets.
I don't lament the death of music as an art form, but the days of record labels handing out 1/2 million dollar advances on spec to no name artists are long gone.
Every once in a while, there's a surprise. And in my experience, that was as true when the business was humming along swimmingly- the business of music isn't really about music. That's just a coincidence of talent and the right things happening. If someone knew how to predict taste, they'd be swinging. And I think that was always so. 
I do like a lot of eras from the 20th century, though. 

I hate to interject into the furious debate here, but has anyone here bothered to actually Read the freakin' article???

I got about halfway through it.

Ha Ha Ha!! Maybe I’m wrong to post this here...my bad if it is. Maybe the influence of MTV was worse on society than I’d given it credit for, Lol.