"I don't think a person's merit as an artist should to any degree be judged by their ability to raise funds". However their ability to raise funds might be judged by their merit as an artist.

On the other hand, neither should a person's merit as an artist be judged by whether they have sufficient savings to fund the CD themselves.

When you purchase a CD you're contributing towards paying for the cost of making it. Why should it make a difference if that contribution is made before the CD is made, rather than afterwards?