The more ways a work is conveyed and dispersed to a wider audience, the more likely it is to recieve wider attention. I know that sounds tautological, but think of the "other playwrights" from the Shakespearean era about whom the general public knows nothing. Not because these were all terrible playwrights, but because a lot of Shakespeare's works were most fortuitously preserved in print by his actors years 'n' years after they were performed live. The more people who hear your material, the more it is performed, the more it is recorded in a variety of media and passed around, the better its chances for longevity and a wider audience.

Commercial success??? That is often too much a matter of sheer luck...

Just my $0.02, fwiw....

V