The music industry has consolidated over the years, but this increase does not have a direct affect on the diversity of music out there.  Interestingly, there has been changes in television channels that started out playing music 24/7.  An example would be MTV because back in the early 1980s the channel played music for the most part.  Now the channel plays very little music, and focuses on commercial value with many reality shows and advertisement.
            Recently I watched MTV for an hour.  There was nothing during that hour that was on that was not trying to sell something.  The show that was the focus was the reality show "Made" that showcases young people getting changed into something else that they wish to be.  During this particular episode there was this young girl who wanted to be made from geek to beautiful for prom.  The episode is an advertisement by promoting a certain lifestyle, look, consumerism, makeup and clothes.  This is all within the “content” aspect, never mind the regular commercial parts of the hour.  In effect there were the “official” ads, but the “content” was its own commercial.  The girl wanted superficial beauty through makeup, the prom dress and a boyfriend.  The person termed “Made Coach” was a model who has been in many magazines and was wearing tons of makeup.  There is a larger advertisement within the “content” that was selling a lifestyle and image that it suggests every girl should want and want to be.  The difference between the content and official ad was that one was advertising subliminally and the other was in your face.
            The other example of consolidation that I want to discussion is the Billboard charts.  The Top 100 used to be as recently as the 1990s filled with diversity and less commercial music.  Now the list is filled with music that is very similar and the artists for the most part (about 70% of the most recent list) belong to just a few big companies.  Jordin Sparks’s Battlefield and Kelly Clarkson’s Already Gone are very similar.  Though there is a great deal of underground and local based music groups/singers the companies have made it tough to make it “big”.  The Billboard Top 100 is a perfect example of how consolidation of power within the music industry has changed the way it works.