That is a fair point on the touring side of things, but every city still has theaters and large clubs which are not beholden to Ticketmaster. So, while an independent artist may not have access to a Beyonce-level stadium production, they can still be extremely successful in literally every other capacity.

There was an article recently I read that basically posited that was actually no longer the case - Ticketmaster has bought up the companies that own or have exclusive contracts with most venues and now most venues are fairly locked in. I am sure there are some in any big city that are not but not nearly enough.