An interesting read, and as Loren says, the experience of guys like Robert Rich and Steve Roach should not indicate to the rest of us that if we emulate what they're doing right now, we will have the same success they have. Even Robert admits that he wouldn't have this number of dedicated fans, if he'd always been doing things the DIY, self-released. His work was exposed to a very large number of people due to the efforts of Hearts of Space.
In the same way, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have managed to flourish with very self-released recordings recently, but there's no way they could have done this without having already played the mainstream, mass-market game for a decade or more. A new, indie rock band could not start right up from where Radiohead is, do the same thing Radiohead is doing now, and enjoy the same success.