Financial realities of the Barbados "music industry"

Here is a scan of a page from the first financial accounts I ever kept. The year was 1988, Keyboardist Roger Gittens and I worked together in a duo called Double Exposure. In that year I had been out of music school for 2 years or so, Roger and I were relatively new to the scene.

I find it interesting to note that nearly 25 years have passed since I wrote these accounts.
Today's pay on the local Barbadian restaurant/hotel circuit has seen some changes - but have these changes followed rises in the cost of living? What would the $300 pay of 1988 be worth in today's economy? The following year, (1989) my duo was earning Bds $400.00 at the Kings Beach Hotel, and in 2001 my duo regularly earned $500/night in hotels around the island.
In the past year I've heard of local musicians earning Bds.$100.00 to play in a quartet!! There is a well known jazz venue in Barbados that offers $400.00 for a duo and $500.00 for a trio!

A music degree from an American university or college can now cost as much as BDS$200,000, what is the financial sense in pursuing a music career as a local musician? Can local instrumental performers really expect to make a living playing music locally under these conditions?

I don't think so.