Oddly, or not - being good, and being good in a band are two different things. I know several people who are very good players, but they can't work in that group deal. And, there are a lot of people who are just so-so, who work very well in a band, they find that space where they fit and fill it.
I remember when Utube was first on, and one of the deals was that a lot of people were posting vids of them playing. A lot of kids sitting on the bed in their room and just shreadding. We were all sitting around the catering area (the common backstage room) watching a few of these wonderkids and one of the band guys from that night (some medium range metal band type) said something to the effect that, its a long way from playing one song well on your bed to playing it well in front of a thousand people for 90 minutes. I think they are two very different skills.
And, in a way, the current technology that makes recording so easy has not helped, more people are working on laying down tracks, then on jammin in the garage and it shows often. Their CDs sound great, but the stage performance somehow is lacking.
And, of course the record company makes money, heck its possible to have a gold record and still owe the record company money - it's happened more than once. Record companies started to sell a product, the artists were only a means to that end.
However, a lot of the people who were very successful paid attention to both words in the notion of 'music business.' That the music is important, but so is the business, and in a lot of ways, the business is a lot harder than the music. For the life of me, I've never understood where people need the best equipment, but settle for their best friend as a manager, or 'my brother is a lawyer' type deal. The most successful bands have - not the best music, but the best business staff.
