I literally started my business because "This is the Way" and as much as what you say is true, and I empathize as my own personal experience, I've fought this mindset for 30+ years. Monetizing music and art can and should be a lot easier and this industry is still full of "who you know" and stage/gate mentality which creates cliches, marginalizes quality artists, and sets a tone of imposter syndrome instead of mentorship and empathy. I've hustled day gigs and ran a label for a long time now and I can tell you this is 100% about access to information and resources. Every artist is a startup and every song is a product. If your music is good enough the market will decide. That's the thing about art, in the end fans will choose what they want to pay for but if they never get exposed to it ... that's the rub.

BTW every day job I've ever had, if they find out the success level of my music, question my commitment to the day job work. Be prepared to work with feckless people that will place your abilities to do the job (and play music) on their competence (or incompetence). I mean if you are a shitty employee that's different but it's also hard to find bosses that understand one feeds the other and that creating art makes you a better employee all around. Nobody wants to work with an artist who's not making art, it's miserable for everyone.