For what it's worth...maybe some are overthinking this.

We live in western MN, land of 10,000 lakes...big vacationland here and lots of live music.
Nobody cares if a small duo is using an arranger..most folks in the audience don't have a clue or care how the music is made...they just know whether they like it or not.

Different venues are looking for different types of music be it Karoke, bands, DJ's or whatever.