I don't understand why somehow lots of people are discovering the economics of art as if it's some new situation, when the notion of the "starving artist" has b

I don't understand why somehow lots of people are discovering the economics of art as if it's some new situation, when the notion of the "starving artist" has been around for ages. Rewards in creative fields have always been distributed on a very steep pareto curve, and the expected financial ROI across all aspirants is non-positive. This situation isn't some new development of the internet age.