Fair points and I can see your perspective, but also think you're kind of too focused on the notion of streaming revenue as the goal for unsigned bands/musicians/artists. Even signed to a major label, the income is negligible.
However in other avenues, such as 'music review' and licensing for film/commercials, there's a genuine thirst for finding the "next big thing" and getting involved with the artist before the 'long tail' even gets started. My favorite example is Chvrches, which turned free publicity into a viable career. Yes, there are only a few at the top who have the quality and capability, but that's kind of the point of curation, review, and promotions teams - if they don't find something new, somebody else will.
Remember all that buzz around whichever indie/unknown group was featured in an Apple commercial? That's more what I'm talking about, because they probably made more from the commercial and initial sales bump than they ever will/would from streaming revenue, and that's just the nature of the business. Hot today, cold tomorrow, better make something new to stay in the game.
However in other avenues, such as 'music review' and licensing for film/commercials, there's a genuine thirst for finding the "next big thing" and getting involved with the artist before the 'long tail' even gets started. My favorite example is Chvrches, which turned free publicity into a viable career. Yes, there are only a few at the top who have the quality and capability, but that's kind of the point of curation, review, and promotions teams - if they don't find something new, somebody else will.
Remember all that buzz around whichever indie/unknown group was featured in an Apple commercial? That's more what I'm talking about, because they probably made more from the commercial and initial sales bump than they ever will/would from streaming revenue, and that's just the nature of the business. Hot today, cold tomorrow, better make something new to stay in the game.