I identify with some of what you’re saying - I’ve also made more money selling music on Bandcamp than I know I ever will on Spotify or Apple Music (or whatever other streaming platform my music is listed on - virtually all of them)
I wanted to stick to some kind of principle regarding streaming platforms as I don’t like how they work for artists but in saying that I use Apple Music so I am a hypocrite of the first order. If I like something enough I will buy it though and I will try to find it on Bandcamp first.
Let’s just say it plain and clear - ‘all streaming services are total shit’ unless you are Beyoncé or some where up in the higher echelon’s of music stardom. Even extremely well know artists are not making shit from streaming services but it’s not all about making gains financially. It is about finding way’s to be easily discovered, seen and disseminated. In a way it’s simply a process of sharing your creativity that matters.
So newcomer’s - whatever you do, you need to get your stuff out there and your first stop should be Bandcamp imho and possibly YouTube. Yes Youtube is also shit but it’s not about how shit it is - it’s about reaching and building some kind of audience and that is ultimately what you want. If you aren’t bothered then no biggie. Stick it on Bandcamp only but if you want to promote things and share more you can’t do it without Instagram or some other potentially awful social media platform full of ego’s and the most ridiculous competition. It’s truly difficult to see the wood for the trees.
There are massive pro’s and con’s with releasing music these day’s though. The main pro is that as an individual (true of the majority of electronic based artists) you get to call the shots and publish it as you see fit. The problem is that unless you are also a brilliant (social) networker regardless of quality, you will more than likely not get far.
In saying all this I am now in my 50’s - I’ve been through the old fashioned big record label and indie record label route and I can honestly say that was not for me. Things are way better now (yes I am a control freak) but you have to know how to promote yourself or get someone to do that for you and as @reeloy said earlier - be part of a community. To be honest I think this is one of the most important things in terms of getting some kind of following going.
With regards to quality - what is that exactly? I don’t agree that recording music outside of a DAW (or a pro analogue studio) means that it is of lesser quality. It may not be as ‘refined’ or ‘produced’ but I believe things could be changing. Mastering and high end production is a ‘thing’. There are also problems here because a lot of ‘highly’ produced music sounds very much ‘the same’ these days regardless of genre. In my opinion it is refreshing and possibly even more creative and challenging for a musician / producer and or consumer of music to be listening to something that could be regarded as being a ‘bit rough around the edges’.
I am a huge advocate of lo-fi stuff but you can also do that in a way that feels and sounds very special and intriguing and even new. It’s very easy to pick a diamond out of the mud if the diamond is actually there - that is ‘true quality’ and extremely difficult to define. It is ultimately very personal and subjective.