Problem 1. Sales and profits of hard copies of music in the industry (CD’s being the most profitable in its history) and also hard copies of sheet music (a rare thing now), have vanished. MP3 and music ownership has dwindled to a tiny % of what previously drove the industry. Streaming is more like radio royalties and tiny %. By losing 50% of historic income, musicians and entertainers are stuck with just income from performances, and licensing; which is why many concerts are expensive, some artists are touring until death instead of graceful retirement, and also you see artists selling out to cringeworthy commercial tie ins.

Problem 2. De-regulation of media ownership (thanks Clinton!) has largely ruined and homogenized American musical cultures for a few decades and destroyed radio, by allowing giant conglomerates to buy up radio, publications and TV stations which was previously illegal to do so. This leads to many complications.

Problem 3. Budget cuts to enrichment and education, causing entire generations of people to never have the opportunity to have music be a part of their lives as a player (thanks Regan and everyone else!), in effect has stunted cultural growth, and robbed entire generations of musical experience.

Offsetting all of this is the fact that information tech has made so much readily available, and music recording tech has brought the prices down 90% of what it takes to produce and record a national quality release.