Comment by alexpotato

Anytime these discussions pop up, it's good to link to the documentary "Everything is a Remix" (here is the 2023 updated version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9RYuvPCQUA" )

It highlights how essentially everything in culture is a remix of some previous version of the culture (or some aspect of it). E.g. even language is largely a remix of earlier languages with some occasional creation of new words.

Also, while true that there is definitely an oligopoly, it's also clear that the Long Tail is both huge AND easy to access. In the past, you could only see movies by going to the movie theater and there were only a limited number of theaters. Now, you can both create and consume media in niches as small (or combined) as you want.