But the sale of recorded music did enable many musicians to earn income even if they didn't want to or couldn't tour, or couldn't make much money off of touring

But the sale of recorded music did enable many musicians to earn income even if they didn't want to or couldn't tour, or couldn't make much money off of touring, which was the story for most small/indie artists. It was another income stream, and for the smaller artists, a source of revenue that helped justify continuing to record. (If they worked with an honest publisher and/or had control over rights) As you noted, for a smaller number of top artists, record sales served as the sole source of income, and enabled them to do amazing stuff. XTC springs to mind - Andy Partridge apparently had terrible stage fright, hated touring, and basically stopped after the late 70s. During the 80s they recorded some truly groundbreaking albums on the strength of their songwriting and studio talents, and were able to survive on record sales based on a strong fan base and very limited radio airplay to promote record sales. The KLF is another example. I worked for their record label in the early 90s, and they did absolutely no touring at that time (or ever, AFAIK). Revenue was from the sale of singles, the White Room album, special releases, and foreign licensing.