
Who sits in the 41st chair? - mcguire
http://scottbot.net/who-sits-in-the-41st-chair/
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mcguire
Particularly interesting is the section, "Popular Music":

" _The authors go on:_

" _' experts fail to predict success not because they are incompetent judges
or misinformed about the preferences of others, but because when individual
decisions are subject to social influence, markets do not simply aggregate
pre-existing individual preferences.'_

" _In short, quality is a necessary but insufficient criteria for ultimate
success. Social influence, timing, randomness, and other non-qualitative
features of music are what turn a good piece of music into an off-the-charts
hit._ "

Scott's point is that (a) this applies anywhere social influence is strong,
and (b) social influence is strong in a lot of places.

