Im not so sure. I don’t think anyone, anywhere, ever said I really fancy getting a plumber round tonight. It’s something people pay for only when they really have to. Similarly I can’t imagine there are many plumbers who do the work for the creative joy of installing radiators.
I think there are ways for musicians to make money but many of them would involve thinking more like a plumber than a creative.
Edit: Going to expand on this. Most of us if we practice enough can learn to play an instrument. A few of us can get very good at playing an instrument. In my experience far fewer of us can write songs that people want to hear. Even fewer can write really catchy songs that many people want to hear.
This is a big part of why musicians don’t always make money. If you can’t write songs you need a top notch songwriter, or you need to play other peoples music. If you’re excellent this can be jazz, classical etc where the audience is often older and more affluent. There is an established (but limited audience) out there,
Mass market is a little more tricky. There is a lot of competition and shrinking venues. Other avenues are function bands, tribute bands, musicals, cruises etc.
I’ve seen some shocking musicians with some decent tunes get better and get a decent following. I’ve seen plenty of decent musician’s with plenty of integrity but no songs go nowhere.