Does Taylor Swift suck the air out of the room for other musicians? I wonder that she's so successful because the field is dying and she's the last one standing. Like the Avatar movies.
@igmp_join She may not affect niches, but venues are decimated and those that survive are proxy owned by record labels. She has "5 of the top 10 albums on the Billboard 200".
@33MHz I'm not sure how those are related things. that's 3 pretty different data points. and the local venues seem to be tied to their ticket seller more than anything.
@igmp_join yes, I think ~the ticket sellers~ TicketMaster makes exclusivity agreements with venues and record labels. Three points reinforcing that the top gets bigger and the bottom falls out.
@igmp_join It could be the opposite is happening: there are so many people making music, that the far bottom is eating the fractions of pennies that would've made middleclass or working musicians possible. But it doesn't explain Swift's proportions.
@igmp_join Swift could just be bigger than ever because things have never stopped consolidating, so the big thing now will be 10% bigger than the big thing yesterday, after accounting for $ and population inflation.
@igmp_join theoretically, it makes sense that the Internet has fractioned all the indie/niche cultures, so the pay-to-play pop corp stands to gain off their one hit, but nowhere else. (ofc there will be some minor wins like Paramore able to coexist.)
@33MHz “ Welcome to the niche-ification of the music business. Nothing is ubiquitous, you're not competing against everybody else, but yourself. People have the mindshare and the dollars for you, if they're interested. Cont.
@33MHz So if you're not number one? Don't let it bother you. No one can reach everybody. The key is to reach somebody. And if you've got a tight bond, they'll come to see you live.