I'm finding it quite hard to be sympathetic to guys who are so delusionally religious. Sure they've had a hard time of it or whatever - but they wouldn't be the first band that the industry put through the wringer. At the end of the day they still got to tour the world and be part of an act that charted really well and sold millions of records. Teenage shitheads are going to focus on the perky redhead fronting the band - that's just reality. No doubt a solo career will be on the cards for her not long after this. Same thing happened with Evanescence, No Doubt & even Nightwish, amongst countless others I'm sure.
If you're going to take part in and facilitate a system as exploitative as the current record industry model, then you've got no right to complain about it when you get fed up and want to cut your losses IMO. You either speak up from day 1, or shut the hell up and keep taking it in the ass for that paycheck.
You've got a great point, but you've definitely gotta consider the ages of the band members at the time.
I sure as hell know when I was in my mid teens, I had WAY less perspective than I have today and the general understanding of a lot of things just isn't really totally developed at that age.
When I was that age, I was like any other kid who played an instrument that would have done anything to be in a world touring rock and/or metal band. If was told I had to lick testicles to get it, I would have done it, because at the time I just wouldn't have understood what I would be getting into.
I wouldn't anymore, but that's because I've learnt and come to understand things more better and matured as a person.
When you're that young, you wouldn't care if you if the touring conditions and all the other legal business was shitty, all you want is to just be out on the road.
So I can definitely have some degree of sympathy for them.
However, I'd totally agree that if you're at this age, where you do (or at least, should) have an understanding of the nature of things, a better understanding of the world around you and you don't do your research and just jump straight in, well then tough luck, you fucked up.
Also the aspect of just like any relationship, there's always the pros and cons and the compromises, but you stick to doing it because you enjoy the majority of the aspects of it.
Even if it's just 51 per cent, it's a majority. The balance obviously tipped towards the cons outweighing the pros to a big degree for the Farro brothers and that's the point where you ask yourself "What's the point?".
They probably have to go and get day jobs now (I don't imagine earned much more than the average mid middle class American because of how much the label was taking), but they get more time to spend with the family now (and wife, for the older of the two brothers) and of course, for some people the older you get, the more there's that feeling of just wanting to live comfortably, spend less time on the road and enjoy life with the family and friends.