I think it’s actually much harder for small artists to succeed now, even with the proliferation of stuff like social media sites and music apps. Most streaming services pay artists practically nothing, and from what I understand, touring is less profitable than it used to be because the artists are getting a smaller cut of the profit than they used to from merchandise.

Stuff like Bandcamp and Patreon help, but those platforms are pretty small compared to something like Spotify. It’s probably easier to get your name out there because of social media/Youtube, but I don’t think it usually makes up for how little money they make from listeners. This is also ignoring piracy.