At the core of the "problem", we have a fractured marketplace ever since the death of radio and MTV as popular methods for young people to discover music, repla

At the core of the "problem", we have a fractured marketplace ever since the death of radio and MTV as popular methods for young people to discover music, replaced with social internet services catering to increasingly diverse tastes. There are fewer focal points where an artist can hope to reach such a wide audience as Madonna or Michael Jackson were able to exploit. Sure, you can pay CNN or Fox to do a "news" story on you and get some media coverage, or you can pay Clear Channel to get some FM radio play, but that's not exactly reaching the right demographic, and they're simply not trusted sources of information for current music trends. The old model of pumping up super stars by buying exposure is pretty much bust.