I'd like to agree, and I suppose I do, but ...

A lot of this is pure economics. You know what you're gonna get for your buck with a recording. A live performance is too much of a crap shoot for most people these days. It's an unfortunately conservative age. Musicians get sick. They "interpret" songs. They get drunk and insult the mother of the bride. They don't sound anywhere near as good as their demo tape. They play dance music at tempoes people can't dance to. Of course they do lots of good stuff that a recording can't. But most people don't go to weddings or other events for a musical experience. Let's face it - most of the time you, as a hired musician, are no more important than the floral arrangements.

That's why "being a professional" is such a dubious distinction. All it means is you talked someone into paying you to play. "Professionalism", however, is a different thing. It means fulfilling the terms of the agreement, living up to someone else's expectations. If more "professional musicians" lived up to the name, you'd probably see fewer people willing to settle for a record player and disc jockey. "Disc jockey" - what an image that term conjurs up!