Is the long term artist career over?

I like this article that decries the death of artist development and ponders the future of music.

It's about how the once-pop act Hanson have managed to build a long term fanbase and carry on successfully making records and touring.

It's all about the last paragraph and is just food for thought.

A better question to ask, then, may be what it means that Hanson still exists. I’d argue they resonate with their fans as the last of the rock stars, a species that still exists but has been deprived of breeding stock. The music industry is dead, reduced to niches, pop stars, and a long tail. But where music once delivered the fantasy that our lives are dramatic, now acts like Hanson deliver the fantasy that music still matters.

Read the whole thing here.