Rather than listening to commercial advertisements, or mainstream Top 40, fans can turn to friends. And, in most cities, they can turn to a variety of niche marketers, from college radio stations to Internet chat groups. Of course, in doing so, they have to pay more for information than they would if they simply relied on mainstream media. After all, commercial promotion has influence only because it provides useful services, relative to the alternatives. Critics also ignore the reasons that fans might have for preferring purely commercial sales pitches.
Promotional campaigns signal potentially popular products and stars.
Many of us sample the CDs placed on the listening station in modern superstores, even though we know that the space has been sold. Each consumer can choose the level of commercial influence which suits him or her best. If the biases of commercial promoters are too strong, fans can pay for the promoters themselves, through direct subscription. When fans pay the entire bill, they exercise a dominant influence over their sources of information and evaluation. In almost Marxian fashion, subscription finance allows fans to construct their culture as a conscious project, employing critics to assist them in this endeavor.