Actually, the musicians don't carry the industry. Even if Taylor Swift died tomorrow, and all of her music was erased from history, the music industry wouldn't be threatened even slightly. There is a virtually endless supply of musicians.
Society hasn't failed either. Society is made up of individuals. If the individual wants to stream music instead of buying a CD, and if that means less money for the musician, then the only choice is to adapt as a musician or "get a job".
I say all of this as a musician myself. I realized all of this the hard way. Just about everything in the world that can be bought or sold is valued based on perception, which means anything can be worth millions tomorrow or squat. Nothing is permanent. We're all gamblers in a huge game of perceived value, and technology only makes it more crazy.
Get with the times! The way people consume music has radically changed. The music gold rush is over. The simple fact is people listen to music on YouTube and Spotify now. Music is also absurdly high in supply because everyone wants to be a musician. Guess what that does to the value? That's right, music is cheap because it isn't worth much.
Whenever I see people complain about this, I just feel sorry for them. The world changes, and there are winners and losers because of the change.
It's so strange to me how people think the world owes them something. The value of objectively looking at the market is so underrated.
Society hasn't failed either. Society is made up of individuals. If the individual wants to stream music instead of buying a CD, and if that means less money for the musician, then the only choice is to adapt as a musician or "get a job".
I say all of this as a musician myself. I realized all of this the hard way. Just about everything in the world that can be bought or sold is valued based on perception, which means anything can be worth millions tomorrow or squat. Nothing is permanent. We're all gamblers in a huge game of perceived value, and technology only makes it more crazy.