Old CDs and records

Hey OP....stream something of mine 10,000 times. I will make about a nickel.

Sorry, but the vast majority of artists have always been screwed. Up until recent years, relatively few musicians could even enter recording studios, not to mention get signed by any label, get distribution deal, etc. Today, we have home recording studios, distribution via streaming, not a lot of money to create label. The chance of an artist being heard has never been greater, thanks to streaming.

Yes, most artist receive very little streaming revenue, but more obscure artists never made any money prior to streaming, and vast majority never even got recorded. At least the more obscure artists have a much greater chance of being heard by the general public today,  simply being heard must give at least some satisfaction. I know I've been exposed to far more artists via streaming, some I continue to follow. In recent years, I've attended concerts of some of these artists, live performance best avenue for generating revenue for most musicians.

OP, I think your newfound pleasure in vinyl will quickly disappear and you’ll be contemplating getting rid of your physical media again, along with the newly purchased table.

Streaming is just so darn convenient!

 simply being heard must give at least some satisfaction

Yes. I pay my mortgage with satisfaction.

@elmo2

So 16,000 disks. You are a collector. If you play one a day… it would take 43 years to listen to them all. How old are you? When I was working my average was 6 per week. Now that I am retired it is maybe 10 per week.

I did this calculation when about when I was 65 and realized I would be lucky to listen all my albums in during the rest of my life. I think at some point it really is a lot more about collecting than listening. But it is way better than collecting door knobs or stamps, you can do something with them. Nothing wrong with collecting.