A frequent side topic on many threads covers "real musicians" - you have to gig five nights a week to consider yourself a real musician. And then the - if you don't play originals, you're just playing someone else's music, might as well be a juke box -vs- play covers - it's what the crowd wants to hear. Then the classic - if you have expensive basses, you're a bedroom hack, it's all in the fingers.
Why do we care so much about what everyone else is doing? We're all bassists and just the fact that we chose bass means that we're largely taking a backseat to the rest of the band. Copyrights are determined by lyrics, chord progressions and melodies. Screw the bass line. If we really wanted to be successful musicians, we'd work on vocal skills and play an acoustic fronting a band. So, maybe it's pent up frustration about nobody really caring about what the bass does until we screw up - then people notice.
If you just enjoy playing at home - that's great! You're still playing bass! If you play originals - awesome! If you're into covers or a tribute - rock it strong! Play a Squier - kudos! Play a MTD - great! Only a very few are actually going to make a living at this. Getting home at 2:30AM for $75-100 gets old quickly for some.
If you are playing bass and find enjoyment in what you do, you're doing it right.
Because: the internet.
The once great ideal of having a digital library of Alexandria where enlightened minds could come together and have respectful, high minded debates turned out to be a real $#!+ show.
People having opinions is nothing new. People having opinions about other people, their behaviors, or their likes is also nothing new. What is new is that we have a live feed directly into everyone's lives now, so we have more opportunities to have opinions about other people's stuff, and an anonymous bullhorn with which to be annoying about our disapproval. Before we just talked smack behind each other's back about the things immediately around us; now we can do it from our keyboards about stuff halfway across the world.
Yay!
What does that have to do with the OP? If not for the joys of the web, I would have no idea that cover bands are getting paid when original artists are not. Heck I would think that cover bands are for musicians that do it as a hobby because I only ever see people playing covers at car shows and county fairs. I would have no idea that some people translate "pro" to a hired gun.
It is completely counter to my reality and my experience; and that's where the trouble with the internet starts.
Does it matter? No. Or it shouldn't. And if I wasn't aware of the fact that Joey Fedora was getting paid to play Mustang Sally for the millionth time, while I literally lose money nearly every time I play because I am trying to do something new, I wouldn't have an opinion about it.
However, the internet is like picking up a paving stone in your yard. You can't unsee the squirming life that skitters away when you do, even when you put it back down. You will know all of those creepy crawlies are still just fractions of an inch away from you when you walk on them.
Not getting turned up about something counter to your world view is a higher ideal, but let's face it, human's have to constantly write down our higher ideals because we stink at them.
Ignorance may be bliss after all.
(I like to think it's both.) 
