Contrasting opinions about the industry

I have always enjoyed reading guitar magazines, even before the days I play much! The "Big Two" here in US are Guitar Player and Guitar World (there are also Acoustic Guitar and Guitar Aficionado. And for a while I enjoyed Guitar One a lot, before it folded) GP is in general higher regarded with a broader spectrum while GW is more trendy with more focus on rock/metal/younger generation. GP vs GW is one recurring topic (they are actually owned by the same company NewBay Media since 2012 :P) Still, they maintained their own distinct identities and it's interesting to see how to differ on the same topic regarding the industry (published on the same day!):
GP's 99 Problems of the Recording Industry
vs
GW's 10 Reasons why today's Music Industry doesn't suck

One could argue they are not actually talking about the same thing: Music industry covers more than recording industry and includes music publisher, instruments, education and so on (the former actually mentioned the high tuitions of Berklee/Julliard) but both of them mentioned the impact of technology (download/streaming, DIY recordings, social media) I guess it's hard for a musician to become your good old rock stars who made a ton of money after releasing a hit record but on the other hand those with creative spirits will be heard these days as there are more channels or space to perform and promote.

Here is the irony: musicians don't get paid much by streaming services like Pandora and Spotify. At the same time, these companies are not making much either and their business models are being questioned (Spotify lost $78 million in 2012. Rhapsody had to cut staff last year.) I guess it takes a company as powerful as Google to be able to make money off music. In fact, it's troubling to see that Google is planning to shut out artists on indie label that didn't sign with Google from streaming their music videos on YouTube.

Finally, here is a local article about artists not being able to afford living in the bay area because of the "well-paid techies." The author doesn't seem to think a mid-level Python programmer is worthy of his 120k annual salary (Well, not me as I don't do much Python at work.)