Hot Take of the Week: Streaming isn’t paying musicians—live gigs and side-hustles are the only real money

Do streaming services keep artists afloat, or is diversifying income your only path to a sustainable career?

200 fans at $5/mo ($1k) beats about 300k Spotify streams; direct-to-fan subs plus quarterly merch drops have steadied my income more than gigs. Anyone tried Bandcamp subscriptions lately - what churn are you seeing after month three?

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