i think the major labels are to blame 

what is considered "mainstream marketing" isnt the same as it use to be.

this is why shows like TRL(which was the BIGGEST plug for a mainstream hit) are now six feet deep in a tomb.

remember when people used to send emails to the show talking about their favorite song or wanted to leave a comment? Sounds a lot like Facebook and Twitter doesn't it? so why would u want to send requests and state opinions when you can do that on your social media.

and who the hell is gonna sit in front of the TV for an hour and a half to watch their favorite pop/mainstream video when it takes less than two minutes to find it and watch it on youtube?

...not to mention that mainstream society today has a MUCH smaller attention span versus ten years ago- and the laziness factor has gone up. SO, the product of that has kept people out of record stores and lessened the imagination of most folks. that is why "hits" today have much shorter and much more repetitive hooks that people will be able to repeat to their next door neighbor while he's mowing his fucking lawn!!

...point being, the plus side of this is that companies can no longer market what THEY THINK is a hit and spoon feed it, now you can go online on YOUR OWN social medias and youtube channels and form YOUR OWN opinions and music tastes; however, the flip side of that is that the newer generation(and the weak minded mainstream groupies from before) dont want to hear about Tupac's stories of thug life and hard times anymore, they just wanna either "crank up that soulja boy" "do the stanky leg" "do the ricky bobby" or whatever stupid repetitive pointless hooks these retarded ass record labels are thinking of these days.

FUCK THE INDUSTRY

consumer all day man, if you dont buy it,they wont put it out.

like all the people complaining about all the movie remakes bein made,BUT THEY STILL GO AND WATCH EM

Yeah, promotion still is a big part of being heard. Now days promotion is done on youtube, blogger sites, face book, etc. The mainstream still jams these artists down the consumers throat. You also could blame the consumer as well. There are much better mainstream artists than Soulja Boy yet he still gets platinum? People do some crazy shit just to fit in.