Don't blame the artist. Kind of the same with politicians. Yeah, a lot of it has to do with exceptional marketing professionals, but ultimately...you gotta blame the people that buy the product. But there is much to be discussed about a system that doesn't provide for a variety of artists to be given the same chance at being judged. If a larger section of artists got the same airtime as the heavily paid-for promoted ones, it might be easier to see who is producing the most exceptional stuff.
Would be nice to be able to know how much money was spent producing the product as well, since some people can produce a great product with just themselves and a small group of other people - while the major stars with backing have dozens if not hundreds of people involved in creating the product that gets labeled under the lead artist's name, almost to the point where it's not right to call it that artist's product any more.
Not everyone is going to respond the same to a given product either, since we are all a bit different based on our biological makeup and background. What gets one person off, isn't necessarily going to have the same effect on everyone else. Can't really say something is complete shit, just because it doesn't float your boat, when other people respond to it a lot more. Never got into jazz much at all, but I can at least tell that it's not because the artists are crap. Just not my thing at this time.