Making a living off ones art isn't easy. It's hard work generally just polishing the skill to a point people might appreciate it enough to pay for it in some wa

Making a living off ones art isn't easy. It's hard work generally just polishing the skill to a point people might appreciate it enough to pay for it in some way - then starts the hard work of getting people to watch, listen, look, etc. If you manage that without some stroke of serious luck it can be years to build a sufficient base that a high enough percentage of them buy something every release or whatever your output is. Like the quote says, a lot of people quit. A lot that don't quit don't make it either, and the lucky among them end up sort of art adjacent. You aren't the host, but you're a writer, you're not a rock star but after your band fell apart you ended up doing sound and lights at a venue you frequented, you're not Ira Glass but you're a producer or editor.