Merit, Branding, Perception, and Experimentation

This applies to music, but also other forms of art.. I'm getting the impression that one is validated before you even see them. First off, if someone is introduced to millions of people, they'll probably acquire an instant fan base, and that opportunity might have nothing to do with merit. They could be relatives of someone with power, or many other scenarios (please list any you can think of), or attractive to the one doing the scouting. I use "branding" because if you're name is linked with a certain brand, record company, or artist, you're gonna have success you wouldn't have had.

I'm thinking of perception, branding, all of that stuff. Are people subconsciously programmed to like or dislike someone (or a band) because of what is said.. Before many successful artists are introduced, it's always "Grammy-nominated singer" or "You probably know her from Comedy Central", etc.

I was thinking of all those videos of buskers who are world-famous, but can't get any attention on the street or playing inside a place with a piano in it, like a hotel with a bunch of people coming in and out. One artistic CEO was saying how if you took a great piece of art, in this case a painting, and put it in a flea market, it loses almost all of its financial value. I also think the same might be vice-versa - if you took a flea market painting and put it in the NY Museum of Modern Art or any places with inherent prestige..... Maybe someone wrote a song with the title "Corona" right before the outbreak and got popular because of certain keywords, which is quite important in the internet-age.

I think Paul McCartney wrote a bunch of songs for someone (I saw it mentioned here somewhere) else to record as an experiment. Paul also used the pseudonym "Clint Harrigan" and released the album, "Thrillington", and on wikipedia it says John Lennon was the first person to say it was Paul publicly... I wish he had done an experiment with instrumental music, since his voice is so recognizable.

Does anyone know of any other experiments? I've done a few as a musician. For example, I told a girl I used to know (a huge music fan) I had a Pink Floyd demo (it was actually my song) and e-mailed it to her. She replied and said it was great, which surprised me because I sent her the same song months earlier with a different title saying it was me, and she gave me some cliched response with no real praise. I've also done the opposite, when I sent her an actual Pink Floyd instrumental demo, and saying it was mine and she said it was alright.

I'd recommend checking out the documentary "Find Your Way: A Busker's Documentary" which is on Amazon Prime... If you know of any documentaries about what I'm talking about, please list them below. Thanks.