My partner and I recorded a Christmas album in our basement and put it on Bandcamp for "pay what you want including $0". We made over $400, but as of today, it's only been downloaded/streamed 500 times.
I'm sure if Gary asked around his friends and family what they'd like to hear on his next album, he could probably make more money.
That kind of suggests an interesting tradeoff: do I want the bandcamp money from more dedicated fans, or the convenience and discoverability of streaming services?
Admittedly, I may be making a false dichotomy there.
I've chosen the path that I hoped would make as many people as possible able to listen to my music. That includes not only Spotify, but also YouTube "videos" and free downloads from my website. The Spotify income covers my own Spotify subscription, which is nice, but I didn't make the music for money's sake. :)
And I realize the above may come off as judgemental, but that's not my intent. I hope it can be understood as an observation and an anecdote, not an argument about what others should do.
We didn't make the music for money's sake either, it was a happy surprise to wake up the next morning to find that many members of our community liked it enough to buy it (it's pretty clear that it can be streamed and downloaded for free, so my assumption is that the purchase was willful, with most people paying $15-$20). Reading this bit about Gary definitely made me wonder about the tradeoffs you describe.
The experience also has me strategizing on our next move. I'm applying the Lean mindset and focusing on the feedback we got from paying customers: "longer and more songs", "loved the clear crisp audio", "you played X, it's my favourite". We're doing a St. Patrick's day album next which is focusing on those pillars. I also may have splurged and commissioned an album cover off Fiverr.
I'm sure if Gary asked around his friends and family what they'd like to hear on his next album, he could probably make more money.