People get manipulated at a certain level about everything. No one, with any amount of money, can manipulate millions of people to buy more than one song or unit by an artist. Period. If they could, then the music business would be bigger than oil or the arms industry, or government. Billy Ray Cyrus would have had more than one hit. (If you could make people buy things that easily, why couldn't Coca-Cola and Bill Cosby sell the new Coke?) No, the argument doesn't wash. There is, of course, manipulation in sales, but it works mostly in promotion and has little effect on repeat customers and loyal fans. And without repeat customers and loyal fans, you wouldn't have stars selling at Taylor's level.

No, instead, one could argue against capitalism itself, and that, I beleive, is at the root of many of the allegations that popular music is all manipulation. I find such arguments assume the worst of people, seem elitist, and are, at the core, cynical

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music