True up to a point. There's a difference between content and production values. Production values are the frame. But you have to put something strong in the fra

True up to a point. There's a difference between content and production values. Production values are the frame. But you have to put something strong in the frame, otherwise the frame looks empty. Give Paul McCartney a shitty USB mike and a shitty guitar and he'll still sound like Paul McCartney. Whatever he creates will be unusually musical, even if it's not polished. Give most people world class studio time with a top engineer and they'll produce something mediocre at best, no matter how how much effort goes into it. Good tools get out of the way and sound right without much effort, but all that really does is remove one layer of distraction/excuse. The gear fetish market is driven by people who are mostly just collectors. Some musicians are also collectors. They will buy special vintage guitars, synths, studio processors, and so on because they're useful and the sound works for them. But mostly it's middle aged middle class professionals - dentists, doctors, lawyers, some software developers - buying equipment as a hobby in itself, because buying is a lot easier and less stressful than creating.