23 How important is pop music in our lives?

I’ve just seen a documentary on television about the creation and importance of pop music bands. I was frankly shocked by some of the data presented in the programme. I have never thought, for example, that pop music contributes more to export in Britain than the steel industry (although I don’t believe the same is true for Hungarian pop music). Also, they say that the British public spend more on pop than on fruit and vegetables. Because it’s such a huge industry (even with illegal downloading of music), the question of who will be the next big sensation is simply too important to be left to random factors such as talent or chance. Designing a band is much the same as designing any other product: take a basic, successful model and adapt it.