As corporations have taken over entertainment industries spanning music, television and cinema from the old school show business moguls that made those industries capture our collective imaginations, the contributions to pop culture and societal discussion that they know make have been drastically degraded to the point that entertainment product could be seen as being homogenised just like fast food or other corporate product. With a focus on brands, known quantities and repetition to create product rather than relying on talent to create innovative art and entertainment, the corporate influence has done much in the past few decades to erode the significance of music, television and cinema in broader culture. When was the last song that captured your heart? When was the last movie that generated broad discussion of its themes, characters and stories? Why did it take the rise of Netflix and streaming services to bring back strong television shows rather than relying on pointless reality TV escapades? Steve and Ben examine the long degrade in the product distributed by the entertainment industry over time and pose the question of whether or not it will ever be like it used to be.
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