  Human symbol systems such as art and fashion styles emerge from complex
social processes that govern the continuous re-organization of modern
societies. They provide a signaling scheme that allows members of an elite to
distinguish themselves from the rest of society. Efforts to understand the
dynamics of art and fashion cycles have been based on 'bottom-up' and 'top
down' theories. According to 'top down' theories, elite members signal their
superior status by introducing new symbols (e.g., fashion styles), which are
adopted by low-status groups. In response to this adoption, elite members would
need to introduce new symbols to signal their status. According to many
'bottom-up' theories, style cycles evolve from lower classes and follow an
essentially random pattern. We propose an alternative explanation based on
counter-dominance signaling. There, elite members want others to imitate their
symbols; changes only occur when outsider groups successfully challenge the
elite by introducing signals that contrast those endorsed by the elite. We
investigate these mechanisms using a dynamic network approach on data
containing almost 8 million musical albums released between 1956 and 2015. The
network systematically quantifies artistic similarities of competing musical
styles and their changes over time. We formulate empirical tests for whether
new symbols are introduced by current elite members (top-down), randomness
(bottom-up) or by peripheral groups through counter-dominance signals. We find
clear evidence that counter-dominance-signaling drives changes in musical
styles. This provides a quantitative, completely data-driven answer to a
century-old debate about the nature of the underlying social dynamics of
fashion cycles.
