"Professional Artist" - an oxymoron?

Trying to make even a meager living off of your talent, (be it as a musician, graphic artist, writer, sculptor, whatever) is a conundrum. It is almost always required that the creative artist/performer overly compromise his art by "selling-out" to some degree ...forcing him to play "bitch" to an "established industry" in order to make a buck. In fact, "industry" conspires to make this unfortunate paradigm thrive in order to protect its' monopoly. Thereby, artists who are able to "earn" tend no longer to be making what I would call an "honest" buck.

It is a fundamental flaw in society that needs to be addressed.

(File this rant under "disgruntled"...)