While Big Tech sites like Spotify claim they’re “democratizing” culture, they instead demand artists engage in double the labor to make a fraction of what they would have made under the old model.

At least for me, "democratizing" something means turning it into a popularity contest, and I think that's exactly what platforms like Spotify are doing.

Democratic leaders don't want to market themselves - They have to. They're in a popularity contest. If they win, the prize is a fat pay cheque and the power to run the government - ostensibly the actual job. But they can't do the actual job until they get hired by the voters.

Similarly, a musician's job is supposedly to produce music, but until they get hired (i.e. become "famous"), it's a popularity contest against their peers, just like the politician.

This is how self-employment fundamentally differs from salaried employment. Your employer is your listeners, viewers, customers, clients, etc, collectively. Until you establish a base of reliable customers, the popularity contest will never end.

So yes, you have to market yourself, because who else will?

Whether this is a "Good Thing" for the species or not, well... that's still TBD.