Zappa also said the worst thing that happened to music was when the young guys started running the record companies, because they thought that because they were young, they better knew what young people wanted to hear, as opposed to the old cigar-chomping guys who said, “Who knows what it is, put it out there and see if it sells.”
I’ve seen that clip from Frank on youtube.
The tastemakers repeatedly pounded their heavy first on the industry. ASCAP wouldn’t publish hillbilly, race records, or the hybrid known as rock and roll (BMI would).
The tastemakers repeatedly told the Beatles and those American acts who’d gigged in Europe with them (and thought they’d be a smash over here) that “the guitar group sound is OUT”.
After Woodstock, the hipsters became the “tastemakers” and said “that sucks, nope, I don’t like that, wrong image, etc.”.
At least before that era, the suits were older and saw it as a business, rather than entertainment. They knew that they didn’t understand WHY something was a hit, knew that if it BECAME a hit, they could reap rewards, and generally were smart enough to stay out of the way (don’t try MAKING something a trend). Seizing upon a trend/fad wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Trying to predict it (or steer it) causes problems.