Estate of the music

With that being said, I'd like to bring up a point which seems to have been evaded in this discussion (or maybe I missed it! ).  Music's place in popular culture and society is surely sinking and has been in decline for sometime.  With the advent of computers, video gaming and so many other distractions, music as a source of entertainment has become less relevant or appealing. It's therefore not surprising that the one which grabs the most eyeballs wins in the commercial sweepstakes.  I am writing to you - the threadstarter, sorry couldn't get your userid - from thousands of miles away in India and here too, genius in composition or virtuosity in singing was valued and celebrated much, much more in years past than it is now. People must be apologetic for the present era to deny it.

Yes, there are people who still have an ear for quality in music (and I am NOT getting into any long argument about the subjectivity of quality here!) but I am, as you are, referring to the general demographic here. The general demographic is after all important to sustain a business and to pay musicians for their work.  Millions of copies of sales for left-field music is not sustainable anymore because people have found new toys to play with and don't have the time anymore.  That is to say, if it may be unsavoury of what is seen as a golden era of rock music,  it is likely that if the same distractions had existed then in the 70s too, very many of those millions of listeners may not have after all bought those albums because these would have fascinated them more than the music.  

To compound matters, there are many more artists releasing their work through various means today so grabbing eyeballs is that much harder, in a very divided and fragmented fanbase.  My suggestion - it may be something that you've already considered, nevertheless... - is to do what this guy Cert1fied who writes intermittently here does. He derives actual samples of live instrument playing from recorded songs (like THAT bass tone in Tom Sawyer, just as an example), loads them into what I believe is a MIDI keyboard and plays his own original parts with these tones on the keyboard.  The effect is pretty good, I must say.  He was last seen searching for an elusive NWOBHM guitar tone. As you said, there are costs involved in hiring fine musicians to play on a record and if the economics doesn't work out, it is surely better to opt for something like this than to not make music at all, which would be a shame (some prominent neo prog musician took that step recently).  It then doesn't pinch your wallet and you still have the satisfaction of making the kind of music you want to and not submit to the world of Rebbeca Black.  And if somebody decides to buy your song just for fun, you get to keep the money too.