The media economy is a political construction, not a natural market

Evidence

It is necessary to dispel this foundational myth of capitalism immediately in order to dispel a similar foundational myth of the cultural industries: that there is a media economy in which competition is high, cultural products are expensive to produce, audiences decide what is popular, and since most products fail to recoup their expenses, big companies naturally arise to build catalogs, profiting handsomely from hits and thereby covering their losses. … It is all untrue. Just as there is no naturally occuring economy, there is no naturally occurring media economy. There is only political economy, a system of social relations constituted through law and institutional behaviors, one that is currently arranged hierarchically and could just as easily be arranged differently. The one we have is driven by power, not exchange of goods and services. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 62

It is necessary to dispel this foundational myth of capitalism immediately in order to dispel a similar foundational myth of the cultural industries: that there is a media economy in which competition is high, cultural products are expensive to produce, audiences decide what is popular, and since most products fail to recoup their expenses, big companies naturally arise to build catalogs, profiting handsomely from hits and thereby covering their losses. This story is repeated ad nauseam in the media management literature, both popular and academic. It has taken on new power in the era of “disruption,” in which “network effects” are considered natural. It is all untrue. Just as there is no naturally occuring economy, there is no naturally occurring media economy. There is only political economy, a system of social relations constituted through law and institutional behaviors, one that is currently arranged hierarchically and could just as easily be arranged differently. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 62

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines political economy as social relations constituted through law and institutional behavior, contrasted with a naturalized market story.
• XREF: Echoes the Milgrom law-merchant materials: institutions and law constitute markets rather than markets being natural. — connects to: Market economies require deliberate political construction, not natural emergence — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 364; Markets are constructed artifacts requiring sustained political maintenance, not spontaneous phenomena. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 773; Financialization is a political project tied to US hegemony, not a market efficiency outcome. — Natascha van der Zwan, Making Sense of Financialization, 35 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media: How Wall Street…, 62