Yep.... spot on. There's a few folks making the money but they aren't the musicians. For most artists, it's all about the merchandise sold from websites and concert tours.

The money is in the performance royalties. Not the mechanicals. Yeah, you might sell a couple thousand copies and make a few hundred, but let that song go to the top 3 and the writer and publisher are getting some serious money.

BUT..... there's a very small group of songs that ever get to that point in a year and the writer pool of those songs is a very small group as well.

I recall a band I was in back in the day. We didn't do any recording so we didn't have any music to sell. However, I did run a merchandise outlet at the gigs. It was pretty common for me to make more money from T-shirts and other things I was selling at the time than from the paycheck at the end of the night.

A smart musician who is gigging on a regular basis, and has some merchandise to sell, can really make a nice living from the music and merch.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.