[scorcher]

This graph is pointless, revenue is not the same as profit. Sure total revenue has stayed the same but that tells you nothing about profit.

One the the major increases in revenue is concerts. They are expensive and often operated at a loss to promote physical media sales

[tunesmith]

The belief that touring is a panacea really cracks me up. Touring does not make money for indie musicians. Maybe for the top 1% or less, fine - there are always anecdotes - but far, far more common is the kind of tour where you save up money, sleep on couches or share a motel 6 bed with a bandmate, eat crappy food, play to mostly empty rooms to people that are turned away from you talking to their friends, for a door fee that doesn't cover your food and gas money. And that's for good musicians. The bad musicians don't tour.