Of course you were surprised - the music industry doesn't like to advertise what a bunch of snakes they are, and media consolidation helps, so that what used to be common knowledge/stereotype, is now obscure.
They want to hide that, but they also want to build up the mythos of the artist because it helps them sell more records. Apparently Tay Tay is more marketable than this dude: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Max_Mart... (arguably the best songwriter since Lennon/McCartney)
