Carnegie Hall, specifically, is known for enabling sub-par performers to rent the space (along with all its prestige and history, of course). Yes you can  &quot;get to Carnegie Hall&quot; on talent alone - OR you can just pay your way in. Rentals start at just above $1,000 (for one of the smaller auditoriums on a weekday) and go up to $20k (for the main Stern auditorium on a Saturday night).  To put this in perspective, if you get the most expensive rental and sell out its 2,800 seats at just $10 per ticket (the rental fee includes ticket marketing and sales by Carnegie Hall, by the way), you will pocket $8k in profits.<p>In the music world, this is a well known punchline to the &quot;how do you get to Carnegie Hall&quot; joke. Lots of people get in that way, such as the Tiger Mom&#x27;s daughter, as one famous example. (And let me tell you... as a classical music lover duped into attending these performances because of the Carnegie Hall brand - they suck).<p>There is an interesting parallel to another front-page post on HN today, <i>Entrepreneurs don&#x27;t have a gene for risk – they come from families with money</i> (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10151566" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10151566</a>). This quote fits especially nicely: &quot;So while yes, there&#x27;s certainly a lot of hard work that goes into building something, there&#x27;s also a lot of privilege involved - a factor that is often underestimated.&quot;