The metrics. We've actually entered a new era of payola and chart rigging that is more subtle and obscured by algorithms. The arrival of the digital age actually showed that Nirvana was selling more than many other artists that were on the charts. Yet "the numbers don't lie" has steadily been manipulated to the advantage of the record companies, all three of them. It's much easier to churn out formulaic pop made by a singer and a producer than it is to nurture a band.

The metrics also become a self reinforcing system. Popular comes to mean the same thing as quality to the consumer.