corporatism in music

The way we think about music has been profoundly influenced by the needs of corporations. A lot of what we conceive as “best” is distinguished by ability to survive in a corporate environment.

Radio-friendly songs are ones that sound good between ads. Writing new songs may not provide material as compelling as using public domain songs, but it creates publishing income and copyright assets. Attractive singers may not be as good at singing as unattractive ones, but they can get better endorsement deals. And so on.