You are right that the two things intertwine. It just feels like a lot of it is common sense, like you have to put out a new record each year and tour as much as you can. Then you make some merch and try to collect your royalties.
But a lot of these ultra successful bands are terrible at business! I was listening to an Animal Collective interview the other day and the guy was like "yeah I have no idea how much money our music generates, I just know we owe it all to our label"
So it's like, I dunno... maybe there's just not enough brain space to be both awesome at business and awesome at music. Maybe it's just a semantic argument
Yeah, it's like you said. Smart people get other people to help about the things they can't or don't want to deal with. If you are in a position to do that, it definitely keeps your focus on the main thing - music.
And the fact that if you are dedicated to creating your original music and playing it, things wont stand in place, at some point the whole business part starts happening on it's own even if you want it or not. If you're sure of your talent, work and craft, you wont spend your brain-space thinking how can a new business model enhance your art :)