Pro Tools is not the problem. Home recording is not the problem. You said it ... the industry is changing. It's a good thing. The middle men are being thinned out because of technology. The key for the artist now is making great music and finding a new way to promote themselves. Promotion is the key. As far as the engineers go ... they are facing problems with not only the industry but with the economy as a whole. I think they will be alright. In the end, there will be many bands who need good studios.
I personally think the price of music needs to drop as the middle man goes away. CD's should be no more than $10 and digital albums no more than $8. There needs to be an open standard for DRM and the files need to be lossless. I am not going to buy an album for $10 that is compressed. I do buy at least one CD a month ... and I usually only pay $6.99 if it is through my club.
Piracy is an issue ... but I don't think it is because people don't want to buy music anymore. Face it, a lot of people in this world wouldn't pay for anything if they didn't have to. If cars, televisions, etc. could be copied/stolen without ever getting caught or really putting a burden on someone else's resources (resources ... not bottom line) ... they would do it in a heartbeat. I set sail on the seas every now and then ... but I pay for the good stuff. If music was cheaper ... I would pay for a lot more of it (or if a lot more good stuff came out more often).
