"There is severe dislike of the pedestal placement of a handful of artists by the establishment. There may be just a little irony in there somewhere."

It has ever been thus, imo. It's not something new. Indeed some artists get preferential treatment. We have not seen an 'eclectic' presentation of music on radio for decades now. Stations select what they play and if it's supported by their audience, they keep playing that. I think radio stations would be well-advised to create shows that feature new or less well-known perfomers, because it seems obvious that they are losing their listening audiences here and there, much as churches are losing theirs. There's only so much same-ol that people will take. I think. Of course, not having been right about anything for a year now, I expect this won't make sense.