the gender politics of 'industry plants'
and misogyny surrounding the reception of music by female artists
preface:
for music elitists who hate pop music and listen to underground, indie jazz artists who have 3 listeners on spotify, i appreciate you. the comments of this article are not a safe space to shit on the artists i discuss here— the point of the post is not to debate the quality of these women’s music, but rather how their music is received after they achieve mainstream success. enjoy the read <3
ever notice how any time the phrase ‘industry plant’ is attached to an artist, it’s always a woman?
it happened to clairo. gracie abrams. it’s always a woman being put under interrogation, and this interrogation is almost always done by a man who pretends to be edgy, different, and an anti-capitalism, pro women’s rights force.
recently, the last dinner party has faced ‘industry plant allegations’.
after their rapid rise to fame last year, the band were interviewed, and in an article by the independent, responded to claims that they were industry plants. they argued that the claim is ‘typically levelled at “just young women who are successful.”’.
in another section of the article,
‘The band also talked about their decision to stage an elaborate photoshoot to launch their Instagram account, roping in friends to set dress and styling themselves.
Comments included “Their first shoot clearly shows loads of money; they’re obviously industry plants,” said frontwoman Abigail Morris, who added: “But we did that all ourselves.”’
incidents like these make me think about a very little known piece of tiktok history that occurred in 2021. satirical comedy creator Brooklyn Webb, better known as XoBrooklynne, put on a stunt where she released an album with a song titled ‘My Crown’. she was viciously made fun of on the internet, and weeks later, revealed that the whole album, promotion, music video and theatrics were all engineered by her, to prove that the internet is inherently misogynistic. when people tried to refute her, claiming she was attempting to cover up the horrible reception for her music, she shot back with proof, video footage of her developing her music and project proposals where it was outlined as a joke.
because who would believe that young women could just… make music… and come up with performance art… and make statements through their comedy… and get big on their own, right? i am not one to support nepotism or those with insane industry connections, but a field like music is all about those connections, whether you’d like it or not. and i’d have no issue with the term industry plant if it wasn’t so obviously targeted at women. if you google search ‘male industry plants’, it leads you to winding reddit threads and articles, but not a single mention of a male artist or name. search up ‘female industry plants’, and a flurry of starlets come down your timeline. that, my dear readers, is what i call misogyny in real time.
sabrina carpenter is another big ‘industry plant’. yes, industry plant, as in she didn’t post youtube videos singing when she was a tween, wasn’t a disney actress and kid, didn’t start her music journey back in 2016-17 with songs like why and thumbs — and then achieve the impossible: rebranding herself as a sexy, adult, comedic, disney converted popstar with worldwide acclaim, all while seemingly escaping major drug addiction/rehab/mental health/paparazzi struggles. i could continue about sabrina carpenter and how interesting the internet’s reception of her persona, brand and music are, but substacker jade hurley has already posted the most mindfully sound critique and review on everything sabrina carpenter in her post your fave is selling a pedophilic fantasy .
enough about all that nonsense though. onto different nonsense.
when clairo got famous, she was marketed as a self made, indie princess of sorts. however, her father had a connection with a record label, and that led to her being labelled as an industry plant. while she admitted that she knows she’s had it easier in the field than others because of her network, she pointed out the sexism of this label, because calling a female artist an industry plant rapidly disgraces all her achievements and musical talent. yes, gracie abrams’ father is jj abrams, but she’s also a rising star with a fanbase because her music is great (it doesn’t matter if you disagree, you simply cannot ignore her widespread appeal).
one tiktok creator, @wilsonisverycool (names can deceive you) posted a video in which he said “fun fact, every artist i dislike, is an industry plant, and every artist i do like, got there naturally”, propping up a thumbs up and a smug smile after his revelation and captioning the post ‘Gracie abarams’.
you can dislike an artist. actually, you’re more than free to. but this term is being thrown around so much… and the way in which he words his statement proves the reasoning behind this entire article. ‘got there naturally’ as if gracie abrams’ connection to executives somehow manufactured her singing and songwriting ability… as if she just came out of nowhere when she has been slowly growing a fanbase for years now…
i also came across another emerging artist recently, molly grace (her tiktok is mollylikestosing). her new single ‘FEMME’ is doing numbers on the app, and in the screenshot above, she’s reacting hilariously to industry plant allegations. and honestly we need more of that. because laughing at the claims is the only way for female artists to ridicule this utter bullshit.
and my final point to completely debunk the world of industry plant spotters is that CHAPPELL. GODDAMN. ROAN. was alleged to be an industry plant. chappell roan, who has been in the industry for 10+ years, busting her butt, facing setback and failure and rejection time and time again before finally receiving well deserved success and snaps. and she’s definitely not in the same boat as some of the artists i’ve previously discussed, who have some level of connections… but the fact that she was under fire for these claims proves that the ‘industry plant’ term is entirely rooted in misogyny. it is utterly a sick way for redditors and chronically online woman haters to discredit the hard work, talent, and strides women are making in pop and indie music.
to finish, here are all my top industry plant music recommendations :)
clairo - the best clairo album in my eyes is sling, just because i resonated with so much of the tracks on that album. my favourite song off of sling is ‘blouse’. and as a bonus, my favourite album off of charm is ‘slow dance’.
the last dinner party - i LOVE prelude to ecstasy, their first and only album, and there’s no way to get into them if you don’t listen to the masterpiece of a song ‘nothing matters’. chef’s kiss.
gracie abrams- i very recently got more into gracie, and ‘packing it up’ is my favourite song out of her new album ‘the secret of us’. i’m a sucker for a sweet love song.
chappell roan- her only album out at the moment, ‘the rise and fall of a midwest princess’ is full of certified bangers, but my favourites have to be ‘after midnight’ and ‘naked in manhattan’.
1links to articles used:
Last Dinner Party point out discrepancy with ‘industry plant’ claims
Chappell Roan with Drew Afualo
thank you for 90 subscribers !!!!!
i did not think i’d reach so many people with my writing on here and i’m grateful for everyone reads, likes, and restacks <3
happy happy happy new year.
this post is SO perfectly worded. i fucking love ur writing so muchhh. and seriously when do u EVER see claims like such for male artists, or ANY claims really for even things they do which SHOULD ruin their lives. misogny in the music industry (and tbh, literally everywhere) is insaaane.