The 95% Rule: Why Great Art Happens at the Margins (And Why That Matters)

A few weeks ago, a new Pat Finnerty video popped up in my YouTube feed, which is always a moment for celebration. I've loved his videos doing music criticism all while poking fun at Rick Beato’s work from before I found out he was a Scranton kid too (and yeah, I've probably become even more loyal to his content since I found out we had a home-area connection, but even that will make more sense if you stick with me through this essay).

Finnerty's video tackled LoCash's "Isn't She Country" for his "Little Stinkers" series. Being a music nerd, the whole modern interpolations trend gets way under my skin too. And, as he so succinctly described it for you non-music nerds, these modern interpolations are so aggravating because they're "like Weird Al without the weird." I can't do better than that, so hopefully now you roughly understand what modern interpolations are and why I agree with Finnerty that they stink.

I brought Finnerty's video (and the protest that ensues, and a whole bunch of other stuff) to the attention of Dave Nadig and Jason Buck on an episode of Click Beta and it resulted in Buck adding what can only now be referred to as Buck's Law (even if it's an interpolation of Sturgeon's Law): 95% of produced content has and always will be slop, true art only exists at the margins, and the people who operate in both celebration and defense of the remaining 5% matter greatly.

Enough preamble. This is how a cultural critic from Scranton, PA of all places, fits together with the genius of Bob Seger, the deplorability of LoCash, and helps explains why living in the margins is not only way more fun, but the authentic artist’s way our world needs now more than ever.

The Interpolation Insurrection

LoCash (formerly known as LoCash Cowboys which, judge this book by its cover, it's fine, and if you’re reading me I already know your instincts are not wrong) - they're the epitome of modern pop-country radio music. It's not my scene, kind of in the same way life insurance brokers make up a very (very) tiny portion of my finance industry friends. I get what it takes to be popular in domains like this. I get what it takes to swing for hits. I just don't love a lot of the methods they take to get to their definition of success.

The closest method anybody knows about “how to make a hit” is to copy the format of a former, already proven hit. It's as true in writing words down (hero's journey!) as it is in singing words out loud to the same song structure or even melody (interpolation!). The line here, between what is still art and what is a knockoff is what's in question.

Buck's Law tells us that people copying people in the name of reaching for success AND artistic expression will result in crap 95% of the time. But, to focus on the crap for a moment more, and let's give this a label, Finnerty's Law states: of the 95% crap that exists in all content categories as an equal-to-100%-whole, some portion of the crap must be called out IN ORDER TO PROTECT the sanctity of the 5% remaining art.

So, when LoCash takes Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," changes it to "Isn't She Country," and uses it to sell product placements for products they demonstrably don't even care about, Finnerty's Law must be enforced.

The Slop Economy vs. Cultural Authenticity

My Click Beta question effectively was about Finnerty's stance that if LoCash was going to promote Chevy in this awful interpolation, we, as consumers, should apply pressure back on to Chevy, demanding that they stop paying for garbage product placements like mentions in LoCash songs, and instead, make Bob Seger's "Like a Rock" their official theme song again as penance.

A slippery slope? Maybe. A little. But hey. No slope a Silverado with a proper tie line couldn’t drag itself up and out of.

Nadig and Buck both reflected, via their responses, that yes - art requires sponsorship and it's on artists to find creative ways to get paid, as it is now and always has been throughout history. However, in a case like LoCash's, bad is bad and a little social pressure might not save the world, but it might work as a Bat Signal (or the green calling out to Swamp Thing), for the 5% authentic creators out there to step their game up.

AI (as of 2025) is bad enough for enacting an avalanche of lazy creations. LoCash piling on is almost somehow worst. The authentic artist economy needs a rallying cry, at Bob Seger volume, to wake up and push back.

Why Bob Seger Really Matters

I know what you're thinking. "Night Moves," "Against the Wind," and all those hits (and there are a ton of hits) - how can THOSE be the authentic artists’ call to boldly create and not to be scared to shout down the crap and their sponsors? Well. I can explain.

Most people probably don't know just how loyal to his roots Bob Seger stayed over the course of his career. Our guy stayed loyal to his Michigan roots for starters. He never relocated (or re-LoCash'd) to New York or Los Angeles or even Nashville after his hits. He stayed in greater Detroit, writing songs from the perspectives of those people, his people, and he made sure to keep his audience alive from the ground up. Seger always made time time to play local shows even when he was touring the world over. Always.

This regional loyalty makes Seger's connection to Michigan all the more legendary. Despite national and international success, he consistently kept his home base in the greater Detroit area and was known for playing local venues even at the height of his fame. As one source noted, Seger "could pack a stadium in Detroit and struggle to fill a club the next night in Chicago" - a working testament to the depth of his regional connection (and maybe a good cross-line rivalry too).

Seger's work stands in stark contrast with the manufactured, for-profit only interpolations of group's like LoCash. There's no artificial sweetener in Seger's cultural touchpoints ("We weren't in love, oh no, far from it / We weren't searchin' for some pie in the sky summit / We were just young and restless and bored…"), and even when he lets a company (a LOCAL COMPANY, ahem, let’s point that out) like General Motors run with his song for an ad, there's probably a damn good reason the original 3-6 month campaign ended up stretching from 1991-2004. Like. A. Rock.

Cultural Resistance as Creative Act

Finnerty started a protest ("No Seger, No Sale"). At the end of his first video on the topic, he called on his fans to join him in the YouTube comments for a Silverado ad, demanding Chevy bring back "Like a Rock" or else they'd never by a Chevrolet ever again. Within days, the comments on the YouTube video in question were turned off to stop the protest. Finnerty moved his people on and posted a follow-up video.

This was the basis for my Click Beta question to my buddies.

Asserting that heritage, quality, and authenticity still matters, matters. And, the act of protest, as Dave pointed out, "Big problems tend to lead to great surges in great art." So maybe Finnerty isn't the solution, but calling out commercial crappiness like this is part of the path to protecting that 5% again (and again, and again).

Building at the Margins

Buck's Law stands. Slide over Sturgeon. “95% of content is going to be crap.” But - we have to hold that line. So Finnerty's Law stands too. We have to draw the line, and then, we have to build in the margins to protect it. Maybe we push our 5% good stuff up to 6% once in a while too. Who doesn’t love a good underdog fight?

And if I step back deeper, I see why this matters in way more categories than music. Authenticity never gets totally crushed out of art, but from time to time it does shrink as the opportunities to finance it go away.

I have zero doubts that in the past several years it's become nearly impossible to make a living as a creative person. I'm living proof of that. I have a finance industry job helping people - who need, want, and can pay for me to help - and that largely helps me be my own patron to put stuff on the internet like these notes.

But still, we have a responsibility to be patrons of art that matters. We have a responsibility to call out crap. We have a responsibility to -

Have some fun and take the time to reflect while we’re doing it? Yeah. That too.

The Power of Making Better Things

I'll land it on Pat Finnerty's YouTube genius. The greatest part about the 5% quality in the margins is that a small audience, at least, gets how precious their tiny plot of virtual real state is to them. If Rick Beato didn't make great content that Pat Finnerty couldn't find a way to sarcastically comment on (in a tone that matched me and my greater-Scranton-area friends growing up), I wouldn't have found him, let alone find myself, and you, this deep into an essay.

This is why it matters the most.

Creating authentic art is how we find our people.

And even if you don’t feel like it’s “art” - reflecting, sharing, and discussing authentically is the point.

Amazing things happen when we embrace life in the margins.

You’ll find your friends. You’ll find your people. You’ll give them something to smile about. You’ll figure out causes to fight for. You’ll find the value in sharing your creations is a means of figuring out who will get behind it, with you.

Buck’s Law says 95% of content is crap, but you, in the margins, at a minimum - your genuine reflection is requested.

And Finnerty’s Law says the 5% good stuff must be defended.

Me, you, Nadig, and hey - Bob Seeger know what to do from here.

Hold the line,

Like. A. Rock.