I refuse to believe the "future works" argument. It does not strike me as valid. You do not have to have PROFIT ASSURED just to produce a work. For some of us that /aren't/ shallow single-minded creatures, yes, there is a joy to creation. And a joy to having one's work shared and admired by a large number of people, even if it doesn't net us a huge amount of money. Artists are the traditional impoverished sort. This is not a new development -- indeed, the obscene profits made by those agencies which churn out mass-produced art are the new development. And that is soulless. Some of us hold ourselves to a bit of a higher and more idealistic standard still. Also, hiiii. :)

The thing that show really proves is that a LOT of material in schools is...well...useless and irrelevant to a future life, so we forget it. (And so there's a lot of room for improvement and better material therein.)