I think Wendie's post really gets at the frustration a lot of artists feel 
right now.

That said, the record company deal has been a dicey proposition for years.  
You sold your soul for a shot at the brass ring.  These days, though, there's 
no brass ring, so there's no point in selling your soul.  In the long run, 
that may prove useful because never before have the dirty truths of the music 
industry been laid so bare and never before has the consumer been as 
infuriated with the industry as have the musicians.

<<It's a DEPRESSING time, friends.  It STINKS.  It's never been easy, but 
right now it's damn near IMPOSSIBLE.  And the purportedly music-loving public 
makes it harder by saying they support artists and then doing/saying things 
that are completely anti that sentiment.  I expected to have a career as an 
artist, not as a hobbyist with a day-job, and until relatively recently it 
was still a possible goal to realize.  When corporations took over labels, 
when label heads became penny-counters instead of visionaries, when a huge 
demographic of pre-teens were allowed to dictate popular music, when A&R 
people became afraid they'd lose their jobs, when faceless conglomorates took 
over radio, when distributors went bankrupt and record stores closed down, 
when indies were wiped out -- that's when the music business died.  I don't 
blame any artist for wanting to re-focus or give it up.>>