The barrier to getting paid is significantly higher though, so in the end it’s more or less the same: if you want to make a living off creative work you’re going to have a hard time

What are the barriers to getting paid, in this era of online streaming and PayPal?

Finding people who pay you.

And good luck surviving off the scraps you get for streaming fees

low barrier to entry lowers cost, so this is exactly the desired outcome

But also quality. For example, YouTube pretty much forces people toward lowest-common-denominator filler content, because if creators don't upload new content frequently enough they'll drop out of recommendation lists even for subscribers. Creative software tools are easily available and distribution is free, but YouTube has a monopoly of information and so creators have very little insight into what/when/how people see the creative product or how revenue is calculated.

Yes, tools are cheaper, but the big barriers to entry remain the hours invested in learning whatever creative craft is at hand.

I mean barriers in the sense of market access. Studios used to be able to gatekeep the market because they controlled expensive studio time and distribution networks. That’s not true anymore.

You clearly didn't read the article either. The studios still control market access, as they control Spotify.

There’s tons of other ways to get to consumers besides Spotify.

Yeah, like what? TikTok, or some other Big Tech platform?

Have you tried to reach customers these days to promote your art?