> My dim view is that it's just a rapacious monopolistic society. Why are there only three (four-ish) cell phone carriers in the US? Why are there only two app stores? Three (four-ish) major music platforms? The internet should have brought a diversity of choice that has failed to materialize because enforcement of monopoly laws in this space has been nascent and aggressively fought against.
I think some of this aggregation is due to economies of scale, though.
> You could literally grab 5 guys from the mall and __force__ them to be a hit in a few months.
This is sort of a corollary to my hypothesis. Since we have a megasociety, everyone has access to music from everywhere, but limited time. There’s too much music being produced. So we now have a signaling game (advertising and marketing) to determine who people listen to. Signaling games will naturally be dominated by capital.
In terms of breeding grounds for local music, where are you thinking? Nashville?
I think some of this aggregation is due to economies of scale, though.
> You could literally grab 5 guys from the mall and __force__ them to be a hit in a few months.
This is sort of a corollary to my hypothesis. Since we have a megasociety, everyone has access to music from everywhere, but limited time. There’s too much music being produced. So we now have a signaling game (advertising and marketing) to determine who people listen to. Signaling games will naturally be dominated by capital.
In terms of breeding grounds for local music, where are you thinking? Nashville?