That is a big reason why so many great band/artist start ups fail. ...There are lots of bands and artists with great talent that give it a real strong shot, it ends up taking years with little to no movement, and very few end up supporting them. Going to their shows. Buying their music, and then life tackles them, and they fade away because they simply don't have the financial backing to keep with it. They get older, the bills mount up, have kids/get married, and the band or career in music fades away.
We attended a CD Release party for a local band we think is pretty good. They marketed it like crazy. Tried to get as many friends as possible to support them. They were selling tickets for $8 each. The only people who bought tickets were myself, my 2 podcast partners, and 4 other people. They got 7 people to show up. It's real hard to get people to go to support bands today.
Another band who has been around for maybe 4 years now did a show at Baltimore Sound Stage. It was them, and 2 other bands. We bought tickets to check them out. ...The venue takes a big portion of those ticket sales, and there was also probably 6 or 7 security people there that needed to be paid for. ...They managed to get about 50 tickets at $15 each sold between the 3 bands. It is interesting seeing how loud it was in there for a crowd of 50! ... Most of these bands get stuck doing shows for a percentage of ticket sales, or working for low amounts of money at a bar, and after a few years they never progress, and end up quitting the business or disbanding as a band for good.
I do not believe the younger generation is willing to support artists in the capacity that previous generations did. They would generally rather stay at home and just listen for free fro time to time. So many are really anti social, or just not willing to go out and have a good time any more. Or at the very least, what many consider a "good time" today has changed from what was considered a "good time" years in the past.
One of the band members I talked with even said that all of his friends are gamers, and would rather stay at home playing video games all night than leave the comfort of their home to support his band at the Sound Stage on a Saturday Night. ...It's Sad when your best friends won't bother supporting your band just one time.