This essay claims that the publication of “Cycles in Symbol Production: The Case of Popular Music” in 1975 proved to be an important moment, as this innovative article would later stimulate intellectual diversity in the sociology of culture. I support this claim by first offering a detailed overview of this article, showing how it brought together important themes of organizational adaptation, genre trajectory, and product diversity. I then offer examples of how subsequent research has addressed these themes, both in terms of supporting and extending the original arguments made in this classic article.