'Nobody knows' what goes on in creative industries

I'm currently trudging through a book called 'Creative Industries: Contracts between Art and Commerce' (pdf link) by Richard E. Caves.

It reads like an economic text and it's fascinating. The book pieces apart the creative industries; art, cinema, music, and places them in economic contexts to give an explanation on why people consume creative products the way they do.

And the answer?

'Nobody knows.'

Not the big studios or small, not the avant garde artists living in lofts, not even the rap mogul with bejeweled teeth.

The masses tastes are as whimsical as they are profitable, which makes every commercial production more or less an educated guess.

If they turn out to be a hit, great, money and fame flows. If they don't, well there's no way you're ever going to recoup all those hours lost in the studio.