"Classical music wasn't always 'classical,'" writes change agent Seth Godin.
Once something makes its way to the mass market, the mass market doesn't want it to change. And once it moves from that big hump in the middle of the market to become a classic, the market doesn't just want it to not change, they insist.
So classical music gets stuck because the new stuff isn't like the regular kind, the classics. French food got stuck, because no restaurant could risk its 3 stars to try something new. A convention can't change cities or formats. Schools can't start their curriculum over... the culture gets stuck because the masses want it be stuck.
Inside most fields, we see pitched battles between a few people who want serious change to reinvigorate the genre they love -- and the masses, who won't tolerate change of any kind.
