("thought experiment"--you keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means. What are your terms? What are you trying to show? How does one lead to the other?)

How many artists produce one-hit-wonders and then do basically nothing else, living off of payments? How many other artists produce more in their free time (Zappa, Waits, Infected Mushroom) then others do in their career (Chinese Democracy lol).