Ah - the "market" - always a complex matter. It's possible to earn a living from music, and I think that the factors which contribute being able to do this include any or all of:

sheer musical ability
stamina and perseverance
contacts
ability to perform/entertain
ability to make, promote and sell records
teaching
studio arrangement and production

You may think of others. I've always made money from music, but stopped doing it as a full-time professional when the sheer grind of playing the same things, or nearly the same things, night after night, turned a love of the music into a boring job - with loadsa travel thrown in. It wasn't the music I play now, but I could envisage the same thing happening in any musical type.

I would guess that the students at Newcastle would be taught all these aspects of the profession, and be well aware of the difficulties before trying to get on the merry-go-round.