No, let's not bring back the suits
Jason Snell tells it like it is:
Nunziato’s argument is that the old days, when corporate suits made business decisions about what music would be the most marketable, were good days. Because when the suits made all the decisions, there wasn’t an infinite amount of music to choose from.
The curation aspect of what those music-industry suits and their A&R men and their talent scouts and the rest, that did (and does) have value. Today, more than ever, people who can identify what’s worth listening to (or reading, or watching) are incredibly valuable. There’s so much stuff out there, that it’s impossible for any person to try it all. We need to look to people who match our tastes to recommend things to us.
As Snell later points out, someone can write a song and, if it connects with people, can be out into the world in seconds. It’s incredible, and not something to be stifled by cynics.