you could be right! it's just a theory of mine based on anecdotes from what i've heard from my friends in bands say about ppl who used to buy their cds/tapes vs now just listen on streaming.

i think you're overestimating how much monthly listeners and streams actually convert into money tho. i asked a friend recently whose band has between 7-9k monthly listeners and they told me the payout was $100-$200 a month. another band i know has 20k monthly listeners and it amounted to < 5k a year. another has 100k monthly listeners and it still didn't translate to enough to actually live off of.

don't get me wrong i think artists were getting ripped off in the cd era too, i just think it's an illusion to act like spotify is actual compensation