you are right. lots of ways to make a modest living, tooo many want to be rock stars rolling in mega millions etc.
alot of the real dough is in selling gear and equipment. if you can demostrate and market - you can make good money doing vendor shows and in store demonstrations. there's lots more niche employment ops, than there are gigastar ops

 

AI plugin crackers are waiting in the wing to vacuum up the business and lock it down for themselves..

 

Growing up, I used to hear my dad and people say how much better it was way back when. I have tried honestly not to be that.
The truth is, LIFE is better overall for everyone for convenience. Maybe not so much for inflation and other things that could do with a workover, but accessibility, definitely.
Music, however, I lived through a period where I could pay the rent for my house by myself and it took less than 10% of my income so, I know the music industry was better. The income for musicians, unlike nearly every other job in the world, did not raise its income commensurate with inflation.

I hate raining on people's parade, but live performing if you are only doing jobs in your home town, may well pay your rent and food, but not a great deal more, unless you are in the handful getting more than 4 gigs a week. Anyone who says otherwise unless they already have a guaranteed name that attracts crowds, or a very rare residency, is full of shit. Streaming is today and is the future until something better comes along, which I hope does for the benefit of not just the corporates, for the musicians more importantly.

Diversifying is the best way for anyone who wishes to be a professional musician is the only way in the 21st Century - Performing then gets relegated to expense money and fun instead of necessity.