[Joeboy]

Outside of race / gender, the article doesn't touch on whether this has got worse or better. I would put money on it having got much worse since the 20th century, with massively increased living costs (mostly housing) and decreased opportunities for the non-wealthy / non-connected.

[hardware2win]

On the other hand - internet

[Joeboy]

But afaict all the internet options for pursuing a creative career involve putting in a lot of hours for little or no money, which is hard (or seems like a bad idea) if you're not on a financially solid footing. I don't think the internet is really a leveller here.