That is precisely the story of a close friend. It really messed her up for several years. She was genuinely amazingly talented but her band never managed to be in the right place at the right time.

She did land on her feet, after literally going all the way back to college as a freshman. (She was fortunate to have the resources for that.)

Best anecdote though, on the 18 year olds who she befriended in the program: "The good news is they think I'm 28. The bad news is they think that's old."

There's plenty of "working musicians" not in the industry: playing gigs in jazz clubs, at weddings. If you're a composer or a songwriter, you can find work in films and TV and commercials (lots of ad agency work to go around), or become an in-house composer at a stock music house, or another production staff, like a game studio!

If you try to find stardom, you won't succeed.

I like this answer. There’s more musicians who aren’t well known, but doesn’t mean they’re out of work.

I have much respect for session musicians... probably the most talented type of musician