I’ve been a pro and amateur folk singing enthusiast. I think the roles should be blurred.
There are many who are good at this but we don’t know their names. They are shut out by the star system.

Nothing wrong with making a buck playing music.
It helps pay for the time it takes to develop a career. But the music biz works for the stars,
the cash cows.

OK so what else is new? The general public is degenerating in their tastes for good music.
It’s harder for anything of quality to surface now.

Garage bands were healthy. Do it yourself. Then came the advent of the rich and famous rock star. Flash, virtuosity, mediocrity and glamor.

OK so what else is new? The avenues for good music generally have narrowed over the years.

Even Al Capone appreciated good jazz. He made it available though he made more with illegal hootch.

Concert venues are less. Covid is partly to blame.

What to do? Pick up a song, an instrument, and make music yourself. Mudcat is good about letting people know who’s out there worth listening to.

Fight the commercialization of the music merchants. They are not musicians for the most part and selling the public crap.