Fantasticly well said! Unfortunately, I’ve studied the history of entertainment quite extensively. I wrote a show about it called “King Of Vaudeville.” IM me if your interested to hear more about it… =)
Before there was television, film, or even radio… there was a stage circuit called Vaudeville. Thousands of little theaters offering rotating programs of muliple acts all day every day. They started small and independent too… Until the format caught on and consolidated into the hands of a few gangster boss titans who crushed and muscled out any other independent talent. When film came along… it was a new platform. Once again new frontier talent emerged until those same gangster bosses found a way to crush the competition. The internet was the same thing… At first liberating, but it’s human nature for the bullies to consolidate power and control for their own personal benefit. Ironically, the “little guys” have strength in numbers but all too often they willingly give up that power to a few golden voiced bullies for what they perceive as individual gain in the short term. If every artist and union rep out there was willing to recognize a wolf as and enemy instead of a friend, say “no,” and not break the line then we’d have a consolidated effort to change the industry for the better. I’m hesitant to think that history will play out any differently this time.