There are not enough live performance opportunities anymore for your economic model to work. There once were and that WAS the model for musicians and performers. Recordings killed that model.
Once upon a time radio stations even in small markets employed musicians in bands for live broadcasts and vaudeville kept several Theaters full of Orchestra musicians employed. Even silent films kept at least an organist or a piano player employed at every house. Not so any longer. What once required hundreds can be accomplished by one, recorded, then replayed. The paradigm changed and so did the payment method. Jukeboxes replaced the bar musician, and musak replaced the restaurant background entertainer...
>>Jukeboxes replaced the bar musician<<
Actually, I think the disco replaced the bar musician.
I’ve said, often, that being in a bar band now is the equivalent of being on a softball team in the late 20th century. That is why stores like Guitar Center can even exist today. There are TONS of hobbyist musicians playing all sorts of classic rock. And my last band was a project with me, my daughters, a 23 year old chick drummer and a guitar player doing modern female fronted pop and country. Heck, some of our stuff sounded pretty darned good compared to the original artist and we did it for FUN.
Making music is a lot of fun, just like playing basketball is. Making money at it is like making money at buying lotto tickets. Some people do, but not many. ;)
The collapse of the music industry has not fully played out. I’m interested in seeing what we have in another decade.