[throwboatyface]

I would argue the biggest issue for talented musicians is economic inequality and the rapid increase in the cost of living. If you want to do music as a main job you need to survive on your partner's income or have generational wealth. There's just no room for someone who is talented to keep themselves afloat playing gigs without having 10 roommates and a day job.

[TheOtherHobbes]

The biggest issue for everyone is economic inequality. You could make the same point about an increasing number of mainstream jobs.

The underlying question is: what are the values of the culture? Predatory selfishness is thrilling [1] for the winners, but ultimately self-defeating - literally suicidal from a sustainability POV, physically and socially.

The neoliberal definition of "freedom" is exactly synonymous with predatory selfishness, so everything else can only suffer.

But it's not everyone's definition of freedom. Plenty of people have other motivations, and this economic model aggressively disenfranchises their values.

[1] In a surprisingly unsatisfactory way.