Not so long ago, almost the same music songs were consumed by everyone as the radio stations were the place to listen to music, no streaming services, no youtube, no internet at all. Even the songs you would never have listened more than once became popular due to the money spent by the record companies to promote them and the lack of alternative music sources. Now we can just choose where and how we consume from consolidated bands to independent ones and the long tail of music can reach anyone with an online connection.
Media used to be the same, only a few sources were available and we were all consuming the same (at least region wise). Now there are plenty of independent, local, and amateur sources on top of tweets, blogs, and so on. Anyone can choose where to browse and where to stop and read or watch to get details about anything interesting for him/her. The problem is that there is information overflow so after 5 minutes the same info is reproduced in all the channels, be that professional media or friends we get in touch with.
We need to focus some more on what is relevant to us and not that much on what the media want us to focus on. It is not easy but it is healthy for our heads!
I think the choice (for example music) is also somewhat of an illusion, as while the possibility is there, practically most will be lazy and work from algorithm and suggestion. Spotify and Netflix drive this too and are incentivized to push what lowers their costs, increases their profits.
Also, the monetization/ advertising model pushes for mass consumption, which again will favour popular. Tweets that get a lot of likes/shares are the ones that comment on topics that are already getting attention.
I would say that the centralized media still controls the independents because they will lead and the independents need to follow if they want to get paid.