[ZenGum]

Maybe the conclusion about perception is the wrong way around.

Maybe the music is in fact not terribly pleasant; the violinist not noticably better than an regular professional musician; the violin is merely priced at $3.5 million, but isn't noticably better than $1,000 jobs ... but when people are charged $100 admission and led to expect something amazing, they "perceive" it to be so regardless of its actual quality.

Maybe subway crowds are more discerning judges of music than the placebofied sheep herded into overpriced concert halls.