Carnegie Hall, specifically, is known for enabling sub-par performers to rent the space (along with all its prestige and history, of course). Yes you can "get to Carnegie Hall" on talent alone - OR you can just pay your way in. Rentals start at just above $1,000 (for one of the smaller auditoriums on a weekday) and go up to $20k (for the main Stern auditorium on a Saturday night). To put this in perspective, if you get the most expensive rental and sell out its 2,800 seats at just $10 per ticket (the rental fee includes ticket marketing and sales by Carnegie Hall, by the way), you will pocket $8k in profits.
In the music world, this is a well known punchline to the "how do you get to Carnegie Hall" joke. Lots of people get in that way, such as the Tiger Mom's daughter, as one famous example. (And let me tell you... as a classical music lover duped into attending these performances because of the Carnegie Hall brand - they suck).
There is an interesting parallel to another front-page post on HN today, Entrepreneurs don't have a gene for risk – they come from families with money (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10151566). This quote fits especially nicely: "So while yes, there's certainly a lot of hard work that goes into building something, there's also a lot of privilege involved - a factor that is often underestimated."
Ah yes, Florence Foster Jenkins being the famous example [1] who was wealthy and hired Carnegie hall for a concert, in spite of being tone deaf thought she would sing Mozart's difficult Queen of the Night aria: and record it. [2]
She is famous for saying "people may say I can't sing but no one can ever say I didn't sing".
These lines of reasoning (it's talent/money, not work/grit/focus) appeal to those who don't want to take responsibility for their own success or failure.
The line of reasoning that money or social status play no role appeal to those who have it and who want to think of themselves as entirely "self-made." It wasn't the millions of dollars I got handed or the premium education, no, it was pure grit and hard work.
You see this all the time with rich people. They're the kids of even richer people but yet still are "self-made" who "started out with nothing" and did it through "hard work."
In the music world, this is a well known punchline to the "how do you get to Carnegie Hall" joke. Lots of people get in that way, such as the Tiger Mom's daughter, as one famous example. (And let me tell you... as a classical music lover duped into attending these performances because of the Carnegie Hall brand - they suck).
There is an interesting parallel to another front-page post on HN today, Entrepreneurs don't have a gene for risk – they come from families with money (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10151566). This quote fits especially nicely: "So while yes, there's certainly a lot of hard work that goes into building something, there's also a lot of privilege involved - a factor that is often underestimated."