When I said you can't win 'em all, I was responding to this:...
That is how I read it too.

Lose a Steve & gain a Roderick, or whomever. Listeners like schmaltz & clunky & dogs barking Christmas carols too. No clunky, no sale. But, first and foremost, it has to be heard. "Popular" in media is getting up to bat more often, not a better average. Whiteman was a world class showman-promoter and Gershwin was not too shabby at it neither.

Been 100 years. Listeners are still into it. That's a "good" song.