If you give it away for free, no one will ever pay! But these days more and more people aren't buying any music at all. They stream from Spotify, Pandora, youtube, and all of these various sites. 'Why bother d/l-ing it when you can just stream?' is the credo.
Touring? Unless you do it on the cheap (cram the band in a van hauling a trailer, all sleep in 1 hotel room - WHEN you absolutely have to, otherwise take turns sleeping in the van while one of the others drives to the next gig), you've got to be at the 'next level' to make money at it. By that I mean $1000 a night, double that (at least) to be able to afford taking time off between tours, and have at least 3-4 gigs every week. If you're a solo player, you can cut those numbers in half. Yeah, $500 a night, 4 nights a week sounds great for the 3 weeks you 'tour'. Then you go 6 weeks before your next gig... you're in the poor house again.
Touring:
http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/427489/bands ... ouring.htmhttps://medium.com/@jackconte/pomplamoo ... .ptagiw8kuhttp://www.metalinjection.net/its-just- ... ey-touring