All I can tell you is that in moving from NOLA to San Antonio, I was shocked by how bad things were here as far as the live music scene. I began networking with other SA people who would go see music in Austin and we decided that if we couldnt go "see" the music that we wanted to hear, we would make it ourselves. In the intervening period, there has been a shifting tide here. Whether its a spillover or rejection of the Austin "scene" is unknown. But we are experiencing a renaissance of live music in this town. We have a tight knit, albeit mildly incestual, musicians network here and new live music clubs/venues are popping up with some frequency now. Im too old and have too many other resposibilities in my life at this point to try and make my sole living out of music. But if I was in my twenties, unmarried and no kids, there would be worse places to try and make it than SATX.
The point is that it can happen and is happening. I believe these things go in cycles. Rock and roll is hot right now believe it or not. It may sound silly but much of this resides with us. We need to be leaders in our scenes and try to make the best music we can, network with others and try to push what we know is true:"Live music in a small room with good people can be a life affirming experience." Once people get hooked, they'll keep coming back.
I think we are talking about two different things here. I also have as much work as I want these days. There will always be gigs for good players and good bands. However, (and this is the point), the pay is low, and 'all that music' is now typically on Saturday night.
Being a gigging musician IMO and IME is not a career any more. Some old timers who have lots of connections are still eeking by, but not with much.
It is simple to do the math. On average, seems like there are about 20% of the gigs there were 25 years ago (i.e., it is mostly a Saturday night and sometimes Friday night business), and the bar and the casual pay has actually significantly decreased (i.e., the actual pay is the same, but taking inflation into account, the pay is probably half or less compared to 1975).
So, yes, there are areas where you can play 50-150 gigs a year for $100-$300 a night, depending on club, casual or whatever. When you do the math, that will put a decent freelance player just below the poverty level, with no health benefits, no savings plan, and having to pay full self-employment tax.
It just is, unfortunately. Nobody's fault... times change, music changes. If you are a hobby-est or a part-timer, kind of a moot point. A few gigs a month for little money, its fun, whatever. However, for a person with real skill who could have made a living even 25 years ago, those days are pretty much over. Yes, you can teach, work days in a music store or some other low level job, and 'kind of make it' if you don't have a family, or have a spouse that works, but that is a far cry from what it was from the 40's through the mid 80's.
IMO and lots of IME!
Edit: No offense, but your last statement sounds a lot like the jazz guys always talking about 'educating the listener', and also the old joke that we used for so many years: 'watch out, the big bands are coming back'. Once you get into the 'if only the consumer knew what he/she was missing, everything would be alright', that is basically the time to shoot the horse and put it out of its misery! That does not mean that making good music isn't wonderful. I'm still very serious about what I do. However, it is not a living any more.
), that a single guy with a computer and some discs can charge as much as them. It has nothing to do with 'what was', 'what is fair', or 'what we think is good'. It is all about what is hot, what is being played on the radio and purchased on MP3's, and what is 'good' within that slice of 'currently hot reality'.
