I view them (and Gorillaz) as counter-examples.

I feel like more people are familiar with Miku than her music.

I rather think that makes them examples on point, specifically on the point that:

> success today is not about the quality of the music but instead about the audience's connection with the artist

...although I would rather say "sense of connection", since in all three of these cases there is in the narrow sense no "artist" involved at all.

More broadly, this seems a fairly uncontroversial point, given how crowded by supply our current media markets are made. Certainly it seems like it would be uncontroversial on that supply side, at least if what I hear from artists and writers and musicians in my circles is any guide.