I’d go even further and say that in most cases these days, even true genius is likely to be overlooked unless it coincides with a gift for self-promotion.
Only the absolute rarest of masterpieces can rise above the noise just based on the brilliance of the work itself. And even then, there’s a pretty good chance someone better at marketing will just copy it and receive all the credit.
Shakespeare could have been just as brilliant a writer, but if he hadn't run a theater (and therefore had the power to put on his own plays), we might not have heard nearly as much about him.
Only the absolute rarest of masterpieces can rise above the noise just based on the brilliance of the work itself. And even then, there’s a pretty good chance someone better at marketing will just copy it and receive all the credit.