Other Pop culture becoming an oligopoly.

[BusbyMalone]

I was reading an article the other day that was talking about video games specifically, and how they’re all starting to look the same or have the same design philosophy. They’re either sequels, prequels, or games that are heavily influenced by others. Basically, innovation is disappearing to make way for something that’s safe and was successful in the past.

This basically led to another article where the author talks about the cultural oligopoly that has been prominent during the last two decades or so. This covered video games, movies, tv shows, books, and music.

Movies are an obvious one to look at here, but really they all suffer from the same affliction. So in 2021 only one of the ten top-grossing films was an original (Free Guy). There were only two originals in 2020’s top 10, and none at all in 2019. This is a huge swing from where movies were in the 70s, 80s, and 90s as you can see from this graph:

Spoiler

The top movies have also started taking a larger chunk of the market:

Spoiler

The number of artists on the Billboard Hot 100 has been decreasing for decades, while the number of hits per artist on the Hot 100 has been increasing. Again, a consolidation of power at the top and a lack of variance compared to where it was a few decades ago:

Spoiler

Again, the same for books:

Spoiler

TV Shows:

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Video Games:

Spoiler

As the article says, a smaller and smaller cartel of superstars is claiming a larger and larger share of the market. At the highest grossing level, originality and variance are taking a bit of a nosedive across all of pop culture.

Anyway, interested to hear your thoughts on this. Have you noticed it? Is it a problem? And, crucially, WHY do you think this is happening.

 

[horsechoker]

Bloody Ole!

 

[Red_Aaron]

Isn't the music one going to be somewhat skewed by streaming services essentially making every song on an album a candidate to chart whereas previously it'd need to be released as a single in order to do so

 

[flameinthesun]

Now more than ever at any point in history we have access to any and every music, game, tv show and movie that we want to get our hands on of all levels of quality. If you don't search out unique experiences you will be stuck with commercial options. I feel this argument (not the op, but the argument similar to this article) does not take into account the fact that there are more artists and genres of music than ever before, the same with tv shows, movies and games and amongst all those options there are many great things happening if you look for it.

Regarding the graph before 1980 what was the cinema industry like? How many movies, cinemas were there. How many people went to cinemas, how much was cinema going part of regular life rather than a special occasion etc. That may provide more context to the growth.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Isn't the music one going to be somewhat skewed by streaming services essentially making every song on an album a candidate to chart whereas previously it'd need to be released as a single in order to do so

I think this trend started before streaming services became prominent, but was obviously accelerated by them. Also, there's another graph here:

Spoiler

that looks at how many different artists make the hot 100 each year. Obviously, it's been decreasing severely over the decades which highlights the point about a lack of variance at the top.

 

[BootsyCollins]

We dont watch want we really wants to, we watch what some large marketing machine wants us to watch. Same in all entertainment.
I can listen to only one artist on Spotify f.ex, still when i every friday goes to the ”Release Radar” playlist who are supposed to be made out of music i like its mostly similar artists with big labels behind them and i have to search for the artist i want to listen to to her their new single/album.

Same with movies on Netflix and similar. The digital evolution made it easier for companies to ”decide whats hot”, more than even radio could before.
So why would anyone from this big companies make anything they know wont sell? So the circle continues.

Little suprised by books as for me thats kind of like videostores was before, you walk in and everything is there, but i guess most people read on ipads and such and then have the same type of platforms for their books as we do with videogames, music and movies.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

Now more than ever at any point in history we have access to any and every music, game, tv show and movie that we want to get our hands on of all levels of quality. If you don't search out unique experiences you will be stuck with commercial options. I feel this argument (not the op, but the argument similar to this article) does not take into account the fact that there are more artists and genres of music than ever before, the same with tv shows, movies and games and amongst all those options there are many great things happening if you look for it.

Regarding the graph before 1980 what was the cinema industry like? How many movies, cinemas were there. How many people went to cinemas, how much was cinema going part of regular life rather than a special occasion etc. That may provide more context to the growth.

Absolutely agree with this.

The OP is true, but there is also far more diversity than there has ever been in media if you look for it. I am tired of most mainstream movies, videogames and music, but outside the mainstream there is a huge and ever growing amount of original, unique and independent content.

Pop culture as in what's popular to the masses is shrinking, but the actual amount and quality of things being produced is growing

 

[VorZakone]

I was thinking about this the other day, regarding music. It seems the same set of artists will dominate music headlines for the foreseeable future. Ed Sheeran, Bieber, Beyonce, The Weeknd, Drake, etc, they don't seem to lose audiences.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Now more than ever at any point in history we have access to any and every music, game, tv show and movie that we want to get our hands on of all levels of quality. If you don't search out unique experiences you will be stuck with commercial options. I feel this argument (not the op, but the argument similar to this article) does not take into account the fact that there are more artists and genres of music than ever before, the same with tv shows, movies and games and amongst all those options there are many great things happening if you look for it.

Regarding the graph before 1980 what was the cinema industry like? How many movies, cinemas were there. How many people went to cinemas, how much was cinema going part of regular life rather than a special occasion etc. That may provide more context to the growth.

Which you would have thought would lead to more variance, but they're getting squeezed out instead by the big guns to a degree that they didn't before. You are right, you can find stuff if you dig for it, but it does take some foraging, which a lot of people just don't want to do. And if this trend continues, it's going to be more difficult to find these unique experiences.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Ole out!

 

[BusbyMalone]

Absolutely agree with this.

The OP is true, but there is also far more diversity than there has ever been in media if you look for it. I am tired of most mainstream movies, videogames and music, but outside the mainstream there is a huge and ever growing amount of original, unique and independent content.

Pop culture as in what's popular to the masses is shrinking, but the actual amount and quality of things being produced is growing

That is true, but it does take some foraging to find it, and you have to be willing to do it. As these trends show, these more unique experiences are getting squeezed out by the behemoths.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I was thinking about this the other day, regarding music. It seems the same set of artists will dominate music headlines for the foreseeable future. Ed Sheeran, Bieber, Beyonce, The Weeknd, Drake, etc, they don't seem to lose audiences.

Nope. A smaller group of artists tops the charts, and they produce more of the chart-toppers

 

[Ibi Dreams]

Which you would have thought would lead to more variance, but they're getting squeezed out instead by the big guns to a degree that they didn't before. You are right, you can find stuff if you dig for it, but it does take some foraging, which a lot of people just don't want to do. And if this trend continues, it's going to be more difficult to find these unique experiences.

It honestly doesn't take much foraging imo. Look at rateyourmusic, spotify, music review websites/channels for new music. Look at rottentomatoes or letterboxd for movies. Look at goodreads for book recommendations. Look at Steam and gaming sites/channels for games. It takes a bit longer than just loading Netflix and playing what's recommended, but it's hardly a chore

Independent movies might be being squeezed out just because movies are expensive to make, but I'd even debate that point because to me it seems like there are still tons of interesting non mainstream movies coming out all the time. Books possibly, because it's so hard to get anything published. But for music and videogames, these are always being made by passionate people just because they love it. They might not have the highest production values, but their quality very often shines through despite that. I don't think there will ever be a dearth of interesting music or videogames

 

[BusbyMalone]

It honestly doesn't take much foraging imo. Look at rateyourmusic, spotify, music review websites/channels for new music. Look at rottentomatoes or letterboxd for movies. Look at goodreads for book recommendations. Look at Steam and gaming sites/channels for games. It takes a bit longer than just loading Netflix and playing what's recommended, but it's hardly a chore

Independent movies might be being squeezed out just because movies are expensive to make, but I'd even debate that point because to me it seems like there are still tons of interesting non mainstream movies coming out all the time. Books possibly, because it's so hard to get anything published. But for music and videogames, these are always being made by passionate people just because they love it. They might not have the highest production values, but their quality very often shines through despite that. I don't think there will ever be a dearth of interesting music or videogames

I don't find them particularly hard to find, either. And I assume a lot of people on here will seek them out as well, but the data tells a very different story. There will always be people who are willing to seek these things out, but if the trend continues it will become more difficult as the more unique experiences die out, or just become less common.

Again, the data is there. There's way more homogeneity across the board.

 

[do.ob]

I don't find them particularly hard to find, either. And I assume a lot of people on here will seek them out as well, but the data tells a very different story. There will always be people who are willing to seek these things out, but if the trend continues it will become more difficult as the more unique experiences die out, or just become less common.

Again, the data is there. There's way more homogeneity across the board.

I think it says a lot about where society is heading, but music especially is so easy to produce and distribute, that I don't think we will ever get to a point where you don't have a huge variety readily available.

 

[edcunited1878]

You can find those smaller artists and make it custom to you, but you're also going to be then segmented into that area because of algorithms.

Overall, mainstream pop culture is very dependent on the past, based on the OP. In addition, there's a lot of paywalls and subscriptions people are willing to pay, which then has to promote the larger acts and content, since that's what is driving these fees. I hear too many songs and the chorus or melody or whatever is something I remember from the 90s or 80s. It's quite boring and just pumped out.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I think it says a lot about where society is heading, but music especially is so easy to produce and distribute, that I don't think we will ever get to a point where you don't have a huge variety readily available.

Maybe, maybe not. But the main thing here is, with all the music available to us, it's still being absolutely dominated by a small collection of artists to a degree that it hasn't done before. And again, we're just talking about music here, but this is across all of pop culture. Which leads to the question: why?

Not sure I got a good answer, really.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

It honestly doesn't take much foraging imo. Look at rateyourmusic, spotify, music review websites/channels for new music. Look at rottentomatoes or letterboxd for movies. Look at goodreads for book recommendations. Look at Steam and gaming sites/channels for games. It takes a bit longer than just loading Netflix and playing what's recommended, but it's hardly a chore

Independent movies might be being squeezed out just because movies are expensive to make, but I'd even debate that point because to me it seems like there are still tons of interesting non mainstream movies coming out all the time. Books possibly, because it's so hard to get anything published. But for music and videogames, these are always being made by passionate people just because they love it. They might not have the highest production values, but their quality very often shines through despite that. I don't think there will ever be a dearth of interesting music or videogames

It actually takes LESS time to find unique content. The average person spends 27 minutes a day on streaming platform MENUS.

To the OP - The money follows our choices. We need to change behaviour. Sadly, there are enough dickheads consuming disposable shite that everyone gets fed shite.

 

[sullydnl]

Isn't the music one going to be somewhat skewed by streaming services essentially making every song on an album a candidate to chart whereas previously it'd need to be released as a single in order to do so

Partly that.

But (going off on a tangent) streaming also changed the dynamic of what is rewarded. Previously if you and I bought a single that would then carry equal weight, regardless of what we did after. It was the purchase that counted and was measured.

But streaming measures how often that song is actually listened to. Which means the numbers sway towards demographics who have more available listening time and who tend to listen to the same songs over and over again rather than having a more varied taste.

And that has a knock-on effect in terms of the distribution of money. A service like Spotify distributes money on a pro rata basis. Which means the money subscribers pay is pooled and then divided based on overall market share. So even if you go through the effort of discovering new, smaller acts, most of the €10 a month you pay won't actually be going to them but will instead still be going to the mainstream acts with the most streams.

To put it more simply: there was a recent study that showed that that approx. 30% of listeners accounted for 70% of total streams. And that then means that 30% of listeners dictated where 70% of the money went. As per a different study, that means the top 0.4% of artists got 9.9% of the money whereas with a user-centric model they would have got about half that.

So appealing to that smaller, more powerful cohort of listeners who tend to have a very limited taste in music becomes disproportionately profitable.

 

[BusbyMalone]

You can find those smaller artists and make it custom to you, but you're also going to be then segmented into that area because of algorithms.

Overall, mainstream pop culture is very dependent on the past, based on the OP. In addition, there's a lot of paywalls and subscriptions people are willing to pay, which then has to promote the larger acts and content, since that's what is driving these fees. I hear too many songs and the chorus or melody or whatever is something I remember from the 90s or 80s. It's quite boring and just pumped out.

Yeah, the algorithms really do trap you into a specific area. "Oh, you like The Beatles. How about this: The Beach Boys" Yeah, thanks Spotify. I do have quite an eclectic taste in music so it's not too bad for me, and I do find Spotify quite good when it comes to recommendations, despite my sarcastic comment above.

And yes, regarding your comment about the past, pop culture is obsessed with it across the board. As the data shows.

 

[do.ob]

Maybe, maybe not. But the main thing here is, with all the music available to us, it's still being absolutely dominated by a small collection of artists to a degree that it hasn't done before. And again, we're just talking about music here, but this is across all of pop culture. Which leads to the question: why?

Not sure I got a good answer, really.

I don't know if it's correct, but my theory is that people are so extremely connected via social media and governed by the algorithms of their platforms, that most of them are being streamlined into a certain categories.
There are probably also factors beyond that, I mean by now most people are aware that Marvel movies are soulless cash grabs, yet they still happily go to the cinema, pay for their ticket and clap at the end. There must be another reason for that.

 

[BootsyCollins]

Maybe, maybe not. But the main thing here is, with all the music available to us, it's still being absolutely dominated by a small collection of artists to a degree that it hasn't done before. And again, we're just talking about music here, but this is across all of pop culture. Which leads to the question: why?

Not sure I got a good answer, really.

Because its forced upon you now in a way larger degree than it ever could before.
So when you have your foot in the door as ”main act” the label will just push them down our throat.

Also, and this is just for music i think as i dont know how the moviebusiness works in this aspect, but i dont think billboard gives a true image of actual sales/streams anymore. Streams are easily manilupated and U2 for example made every IPhone owner also be a U2 album owner also f.ex.

 

[flameinthesun]

I don't find them particularly hard to find, either. And I assume a lot of people on here will seek them out as well, but the data tells a very different story. There will always be people who are willing to seek these things out, but if the trend continues it will become more difficult as the more unique experiences die out, or just become less common.

Again, the data is there. There's way more homogeneity across the board.

I get the data point but I'd need to see more data points to truly understand if there is more homogeneity. For example on the music point, 30/40 years ago the amount of artists the average person would listen to would be many times smaller than the amount of artists the average person of today listens to just due to the variety and amount of artists that are available today. There are a plethora of artists who get no radio play yet have big followings and are successful. If viewed through the traditional lens of a top 10 angle its very easy to say only drake, ed sheeran, beyonce etc are successful. But the reality is a lot of those people who listen to drake also listen to loads of artists, many of whom are successful but not "top ten" successful.

With regards to having to forage for different content and its ease, the reason the average person likes pop or blockbusters is because to them they just want to be entertained. They don't listen to music for its compositional complexity, they just want something that makes them move and is easy to follow. The same with blockbusters. They don't forage for unique content because they don't really want unique content, whilst to some people music is about creativity, having a unique voice sound etc to the average person music goes boop bap bim.

So my view is music fans, movie fans etc rather than complain about the blockbusters, pop songs etc they should celebrate the fact that they have every classic ever made at their fingertips, that every year there are new unique projects (maybe not blockbusters, top ten material) being made and as the years go by just by sheer numbers there are and will be more unique things created. Of course, you will have to look for it.

 

[BusbyMalone]

It actually takes LESS time to find unique content. The average person spends 27 minutes a day on streaming platform MENUS.

To the OP - The money follows our choices. We need to change behaviour. Sadly, there are enough dickheads consuming disposable shite that everyone gets fed shite.

Right, but why now? By which I mean, why has this homogeneity been happening across the pop culture board over the past two (maybe three) decades or so? It seems like we've become obsessed with the past and with the safe, comfortable option. I read a theory that it's down to opportunity cost. There's so much content out there, that you're more likely to pick something safe (sequels, prequels, spin-offs) rather than take a risk on something new. But that would only explain some of it.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

More data points.

The last two Chris Pratt Amazon things have been abominations. Most watched thing on Amazon. They make more.

Once that Algo has kicked in and realised it only needs to feed the idiots to make money…. It’s over. It’s self fulfilling.

 

[the hea]

Marketing dictates our choices more than anything else. No artist, no movie, no book and no tv show will reach an big audience without huge amounts of money poured into marketing. Corporations love to create brands that people stick too, it is far less risk creating another sequal to the last comic movie series that everyone knows and likes than creating something completly new.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I get the data point but I'd need to see more data points to truly understand if there is more homogeneity. For example on the music point, 30/40 years ago the amount of artists the average person would listen to would be many times smaller than the amount of artists the average person of today listens to just due to the variety and amount of artists that are available today. There are a plethora of artists who get no radio play yet have big followings and are successful. If viewed through the traditional lens of a top 10 angle its very easy to say only drake, ed sheeran, beyonce etc are successful. But the reality is a lot of those people who listen to drake also listen to loads of artists, many of whom are successful but not "top ten" successful.

With regards to having to forage for different content and its ease, the reason the average person likes pop or blockbusters is because to them they just want to be entertained. They don't listen to music for its compositional complexity, they just want something that makes them move and is easy to follow. The same with blockbusters. They don't forage for unique content because they don't really want unique content, whilst to some people music is about creativity, having a unique voice sound etc to the average person music goes boop bap bim.

So my view is music fans, movie fans etc rather than complain about the blockbusters, pop songs etc they should celebrate the fact that they have every classic ever made at their fingertips, that every year there are new unique projects (maybe not blockbusters, top ten material) being made and as the years go by just by sheer numbers there are and will be more unique things created. Of course, you will have to look for it.

Right, but why now? I appreciate you don't have the answers here, it's more of a rhetorical question, I suppose. But I just find it fascinating how over the last two decades or so, we've seen this switch. It's just very intriguing to me.

 

[the hea]

Right, but why now?

Consolidation of the entertainment industry.

 

[Smores]

Lack of innovation and a greater access to the backlog of media means unique content is increasingly hard to produce.

 

[BusbyMalone]

More data points.

The last two Chris Pratt Amazon things have been abominations. Most watched thing on Amazon. They make more.

Once that Algo has kicked in and realised it only needs to feed the idiots to make money…. It’s over. It’s self fulfilling.

Right, but that's just TV Shows. This is a trend in Movies, Music, Video Games, and Books. I know no one has all the answers here, I Just find it intriguing why now. Also, talking about algorithms, this trend was happening before streaming became a thing.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

I don't find them particularly hard to find, either. And I assume a lot of people on here will seek them out as well, but the data tells a very different story. There will always be people who are willing to seek these things out, but if the trend continues it will become more difficult as the more unique experiences die out, or just become less common.

Again, the data is there. There's way more homogeneity across the board.

I don't think seeking these things out will become more difficult. Why would it? All it takes is reading a few sites or watching a few channels, and those aren't going to go away. Less mainstream experiences are always going to be available, and as things became easier to produce independently they are likely to increase in number


as to why now, it's a good question. It honestly might be that studios simply haven't realised until recently that this is a surefire way to make bank. It might also be somehow related to the fact that much of pop culture's beloved IPs are 20-50 years old, and in a sweet spot for being rebooted or sequelled whilst using some of the same actors/directors/writers. Perhaps streaming makes it more consistently viable to do this stuff - people might not watch it in the cinema as much but if it's pushed on streaming apps they'll still make their money. It must be a combination of lots of factors

 

[BusbyMalone]

Consolidation of the entertainment industry.

Definitely one of the issues. The gaming industry is going through it big time at the moment, and it's not a good thing, despite the fanboys thinking otherwise.

 

[the hea]

Definitely one of the issues. The gaming industry is going through it big time at the moment, and it's not a good thing, despite the fanboys thinking otherwise.

The consumer is never the winner when there is less competition.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I don't think seeking these things out will become more difficult. Why would it? All it takes is reading a few sites or watching a few channels, and those aren't going to go away. Less mainstream experiences are always going to be available, and as things became easier to produce independently they are likely to increase in number


as to why now, it's a good question. It honestly might be that studios simply haven't realised until recently that this is a surefire way to make bank. It might also be somehow related to the fact that much of pop culture's beloved IPs are 20-50 years old, and in a sweet spot for being rebooted or sequelled whilst using some of the same actors/directors/writers. Perhaps streaming makes it more consistently viable to do this stuff - people might not watch it in the cinema as much but if it's pushed on streaming apps they'll still make their money. It must be a combination of lots of factors

Less of them? I suppose the doomsday scenario would be, that the more these experiences are squeezed out, the less likely they are to get made. They need to subsist on something after all.

Interesting theory on why this is happening now.

 

[BusbyMalone]

The consumer is never the winner when there is less competition.

Nope. But try telling the people who cheered on Microsoft when they bought Bethesda or Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Or encourage Sony to do similar.

 

[Woodzy]

I feel like we need to be discussing the word oligopoly

 

[Sweet Square]

Which leads to the question: why?

It’s just capitalism. The need for expanding profits leads to monopolies and also brings about advances in technology that cheapen production(Which makes the need for profits more difficult and thus the cycle continues at a more intense pace)

This happens over enough time and it will lead to what we have today, which is giant corporations having to rent IP’s out to its subscription base and take very low investment risks(Non stop sequels and franchises)as it’s the way to get any worth while return back.

 

[VanDeBank]

I was thinking about this the other day, regarding music. It seems the same set of artists will dominate music headlines for the foreseeable future. Ed Sheeran, Bieber, Beyonce, The Weeknd, Drake, etc, they don't seem to lose audiences.

Both the words artist and music are applied loosely here

 

[flameinthesun]

Right, but why now? I appreciate you don't have the answers here, it's more of a rhetorical question, I suppose. But I just find it fascinating how over the last two decades or so, we've seen this switch. It's just very intriguing to me.

We definitely need more data to draw more accurate conclusions! But see I'm not sure its only been just now. The further back in history that you go music, movies, the arts become less accessible to the average person. Therefore its easier for the "taste"/"quality" of the time to be decided by a smaller group of people or those who have a keen interest in it. When you open that up to a larger audience then their tastes will have to be catered for as well. And for the average person who has no interest in the deeper meaning of a story or the cinematic complexity of a cinematographer, they will gravitate to the easier to digest "pop" version. Its similar to how I'm in IT, if a friend asks me for a laptop, I can give a breakdown about how laptop A is so complex and bleeding edge etc, but in reality my friend has no interest in that and just wants a nice looking laptop that can play games. Which is the same as playing your friend a song with a complex composition or complex lyrics and them going yeah I get artistically thats great...but im just looking for a song to dance to when I'm drunk.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I feel like we need to be discussing the word oligopoly

It's a clumsy and silly word, no doubt