>many non-mainstream Soul/Funk/R&B artists were making a
>decent living utilizing avenues other than mainstream .....you
>dismissed that idea....

I never dismissed the idea that there was life outside the mainstream for Black artists... I dismissed the naivete of purporting that there existed an "Internet chitlin circuit" that could sustain careers without these Internet listeners actually buying records and/or concert tickets.

>yet there are Black Jazz artists still making it on the
>grind???

uh... yes. there are.