[InclinedPlane]

Plenty of bands manage to overcome this ridiculousness. One of the most common ways is to go on tour. A much larger portion of the ticket and merch sales gets back to the artist compared to album sales. Even at a tiny venue if you get 200 people to show up and you make $10 a head on average that's $2,000 revenue a show, if you do 4 shows a week that's $32k a month, even minus expenses and split N ways that's a decent haul. And if you make more per head from merch or put on bigger shows, that's even better.

The only way artists make a good living off album sales alone with the traditional system is if they are hugely popular, selling millions of records. But obviously only a few bands are in that boat. Also, such bands would still make yet even more by going on tour.

But this system is already past its prime. If you want to make a living off of being a musical artist your best bet is to self-publish online and go on tour, you'll keep a much, much larger portion of the total revenues to yourself and you'll be able to live off of your music even if you only attain a moderate degree of success.

[RickHull]

> Even at a tiny venue if you get 200 people to show up and you make $10 a head on average that's $2,000 revenue a show, if you do 4 shows a week

This is completely unrealistic. 4 shows a week @ 40 weeks a year means you are touring. Touring costs will eat the vast portion of revenue. Also, at a 200 person venue, there is little chance the band will see $10 / head, regardless of the cover charge.