In Darknet Diaries Ep 27: Chartbreakers, Jack Rhysider describes how cheap and easy it is to buy your way to the top of the Apple Podcasts rating chart or onto the New York Times bestseller list.

After listening to this, it's pretty easy to extend the logic to every other rating platform. Paying for review manipulation is basically part of the marketing budget.

I want to be clear I don’t disagree at all you’re correct. Corporate control of art means they will go to any lengths to ensure profit.

But also, I really kinda glossed over the overarching problem, which is that the film industry is now driven by reviews and vibes reviewed by c-suite folks that answer to shareholders and don’t give a fuck about the actual film or show or whatever

This has always been true with the plastic arts but we’ve reached a zenith.

I will die on the hill that art cannot be considered a financial investment. It by definition has to take risks and investment people cannot handle that

Yeah fedi needs a letterboxd. I kind of wonder if bookwyrm would be a good inspo for it.