Listening to a live performance, on the other hand, is far more rare than an individual stream, and that scarcity results in actual value. Same with merch.

I'm saying this as a musician.. why should I feel entitled to $X per stream when there is so much good music out there to stream? Just because I put a lot of effort into some thing doesn't mean I'm entitled to a living wage from it. There are way, way too many people who do something extremely similar to feel entitled to that.