Yes, that’s always been the case, and it’s gotten only worse since the 1970s and the rise of neoliberalism too… the expansion of both venture capital firms and of private equity have not helped in that regard.
And this is the whole problem with treating music (or any culture) as a commodity. The value in Springsteen catalog doesn’t just rest on it’s value vis-a-vis the market for pop music. It tells us something about a point in time, about the people who lived through that time, and what people found valuable to talk about through culture. What is popular on the charts matters, too, but not nearly as much as the discussion being had in the music and by the fans.
