Select Artists don't get paid, only Featured and Retired Artists.
I didn't realize RAs got paid. Though I'd bet that's "selective", depending on how they retired.
so I reckon SAs could be considered a pool of potential FAs?
Yes- an SA is someone who worked their way up through the community (meaning they have a high download count). Before, becoming an FA was just the next tier.
Now with this headhunting and paid work bullshit, being an SA means one of three things:
1. They're on their way to becoming an FA, with more downloads / a higher DL count.
2. They refused the invitation to be FAs (various reasons.)
3. They have a lot of downloads / high DL count, but aren't really good enough for TSR to pay.
The headhunted ones go directly to FA. You can imagine how happy this makes the SAs.
EDIT: rereading, I now realize that was rhetorical. Oh well.