“...replaced them with puppets...”
The group RUSH had a poor showing on their third album. The label didn’t like the long song at the end. They told the group to make shorter songs that would get radio time.
RUSH decided to do it their own way and be true to themselves. And if they got cut, well at least they could hold their heads up. The first song on their next album was 20+ minutes long. “2112” - Which was a great seller, and provided them the freedom to do whatever they wanted to in the following years.
The group has talked about how hard it is for new bands to gain traction, and how hard it is for a band to make money in this day of digital music.
Not idiots, businessmen. As the video talks about, the cost of promotion is so great now they won’t take chances by trying anything new, just like movies. It’s all about the bottom line. Making money is what drives them, not making great music.
Tom Petty told the story of when he made “The Last DJ”. He played the record for a room full of record company execs, and said you could hear a pin drop afterward. Finally one of them said “That’s not about us is it?”