Prog musicians juggling music career and work?

Hi,

The thing that scares me, is the fact that so many folks do not know, or understand, the nature of the abilities of the internet and the advanced materials that can gain one an audience. STREAMING is one of them, but so far, all I have heard is people getting worried that it will be too easy to intercept and steal. Heck, you can easily beat that by saying that a month later a CD of the performance will be available for a small price. (... geee let's see ... CD and label under 50 cents, a small case under 30 cents, maybe a flyer with notes about 10 cents, mailing about 2 dollars ... and it's too expensive?)  Or you can take the other route and do what a very famous group did ... helped everyone copy everything and to this day, their fans trade shows to the most crazy extent we ever thought about, and there is not a single concern or comment about stealing (I'm sure that some fans have indulged, but I imagine that eventually they will find themselves busted ... where you gonna "sell", when you can get it for free?

The technology is there, but I really think that record companies are trying hard to make sure that bands do not stream at all, so they can maintain some semblance of control of any band's chances and abilities to get bigger and better than the company's own product. Less competition, means more for you, so to speak.

The other thing, is that I am really worried about the lack of knowledge and appreciation for today's technology and how people can use it, and I find it scary that more bands do not get involved in it, specially the band with connections to a record company ... the ones that could be an "example" and instead are just playing along with the record company because it is sending them some small compensation that would not even come close to what they could make on their own.

I imagine that doing both work and career in music together is insane, but I have met a lot of musicians that also teach music (or an instrument) and it does not exactly interfere with their evening career, although I think that their "creativity" and ability to help along a group's creation (for example) can possibly take a harsh hit, because you did not spend enough effort on it. 

All of this, leads itself to a musician that works in more immediate ways, and is more intuitive, rather than be one that relies on "conventional" methods to create music ... since the intuitive style is more immediate and ready, and possibly only needs to be recorded in order for it to be learned by other members of the group ... but the sad fact, is that if you listen to a lot of the things that are being added to PA, there are very few that are "original" and give you that kick in the butt that the great big bands of 50 years ago gave us ... so we knew it was NEW and DIFFERENT ... something that too many folks today can not appreciate or see, in my estimation.