I always thought it was (roughly) general knowledge that artists make their money from going on tour, with the label taking most of the money from cd / record sales from the beginning of time.
I remember some tv show / documentary (years ago) of a rapper who had millions in cd sales but was still broke and living with mom because media sales don't generate money for the artist - tours do.
...and the vast majority of bands (especially small bands) lose money on live performance.
That leaves merch as the only way to make money. I prefer to listen to music by people who want to make music, not people who are good at selling t-shirts.
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I always thought it was (roughly) general knowledge that artists make their money from going on tour, with the label taking most of the money from cd / record sales from the beginning of time.
I remember some tv show / documentary (years ago) of a rapper who had millions in cd sales but was still broke and living with mom because media sales don't generate money for the artist - tours do.
"I always thought it was (roughly) general knowledge that artists make their money from going on tour"
It's roughly not because that's not how it used to be. Money from tours is something that started to become the trend since (I'd say) mid eighties.
...and the vast majority of bands (especially small bands) lose money on live performance.
That leaves merch as the only way to make money. I prefer to listen to music by people who want to make music, not people who are good at selling t-shirts.