There used to be cases of people being discovered, im sure. But a lot of it is not quite the rag-to-riches story they make it seem, especially your example of Billie Eilish.
I have just over 8,000 listens on Soundcloud. I have good reason to believe that the great majority of those are real. It's quite satisfying. My hobby has perhaps connected with some people, in the magical way that music does. If I were better at it, it wouldn't just be a hobby. :)
BTW - my handle is: https://soundcloud.com/cyberferret
(very close to the adjective-animal name thing that another commenter mentioned! :) )
Look at the organic engagement from the tracks I posted 5+ years ago, versus later ones and you can spot the down trend quite easily!
what is your soundcloud handle? I'd like to check out your work and add to those 8k listens! :)
(incidentally, I am patientfrog on soundcloud)
Will check out your stuff! Incidentally, I've toyed with the idea of "usefulmoose" for an artist name. [adjective-that-people-like][animal-that-people-like]. Good formula.