I personally disagree with the direction the criticism is taking here.
There is nothing worse than an artist who feels compelled by the public to satisfy the least common denominator. Real art is from the heart and mind of the artist, and his world, harnessing his inner human condition, his specific talents, and so on.
I went that route because Aztec specifically was mentioning the artist's desire to sell in his OP.
While I certainly appreciate your point, from a historic point of few art for arts sake is a concept that is very very new. If you look at the classical "masters", be it in the visual arts or in music, almost everything they did was commissional work.