For several years I’ve been trying to compare the music industry (which has been lousy for artists for a while) and the film industry, which has seemed profitable and working. I was wrong. The issue was that streaming hadn’t hit the film industry fully until recently. Now that it has, we see they’re having the same problem created by the Internet that music and print has had. The one difference is that writers and actors (and directors…) have strong unions but unfortunately the musician’s union lost that kind of strength a long time ago.
(That’s not to say anything bad against the musician’s union, I’m all in favor of it, but unlike film, not every performer or writer is a member nor is required to be except for certain jobs. It’s unlikely your favorite artist is a member, unfortunately. Most people in popular music are on their own, especially starting out.)