Oh no, The Beatles had no obstacles at all. Not like bible-thumping parents who were outraged at the long hair and wild beats and lyrics. If any group proved music could change the world it was The Beatles. Now go program your cell phone and play some video games
"Obstacles" are differnet than "competition," Justin.
The fact is, the Beatles had far less
competition for their primary audience's time and attention that any act does today.
That's at least as significant a reason why we won't ever have an act with the gravity of the Beatles again, as becuase no one can ever write songs like they did or produce records like George Martin did. The Beatles were phenominal, to be sure, but they were mortals.
And I honestly don't think music "changes the world" in any significant way. It affects individual and small collective experiences/views - and those can, ideally, aggregate into some cultural influence but, "change the world"?
That's a bit of an overstatement.