Girl-bands, posh boys, and music’s double-standard
November 21, 2024
Photo of Boygenius. L – R: Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus at Pryzm 2023 by Raph_PH Background enhanced. Licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic.
From Industry Plants to Nepo-babies, Sadie Souter explores how we pigeonhole women in the music industry
You might have heard the term Industry Plant floating around, in the comments section of a TikTok hit, in a pretentious conversation about obscure music, or in some angry reddit threads. But what does it actually mean?
Essentially, it’s an artist who presents themselves as organic, indie, or self-made (think: bedroom-pop) who turns out to be backed by a big record label. Usually, these allegations are thrown at musicians who blow up rapidly or seemingly out of nowhere and are, on the whole, aimed at women.
Surfacing in the 2010s, the Industry Plant accusation has followed countless female artists like Clairo, Lana del Ray, Lizzo and Billie Eilish. But, with the internet’s obsession with nepo-babies and TikTok’s tendency to skyrocket new talent, the label is more widespread than ever.
Shock! Horror! Young women can shoot to fame based on their own talent?!
It makes me wonder, if the industry could really do that, just plant global sensations, wouldn’t they do it more often?
The music industry has its fair share of posh boys with daddy’s home-studio and label connections
Phoebe Bridgers, of Boygenius, having herself been branded a plant, spoke to NME about the sexist double standard in the music industry, saying, ‘If you have wealthy parents, you’re not allowed to make music as a woman, but you’re rewarded for it as a man. Every white boy who is mediocre is an industry plant by that standard.’
The music industry unashamedly has its fair share of posh boys with daddy’s home-studio and label connections, but, hey, it’s all about the music mannn! It doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to acts like The Strokes, Inhaler and Fred Again (a fully-fledged member of the British aristocracy).
In the last few years, I keep hearing this term circulating girl-bands, especially ones that seem to be breaking out of the self-important indie boy box. Bands like Wet Leg, the Isle of Wight duo who make irreverent, crunchy bangers, and The Last Dinner Party, the pre-Raphaelite rock group who write gothic-girl anthems.
The Last Dinner Party (TDLP), in particular, have only risen to chart-topping fame relatively recently, winning the Brits Rising Star Award in March 2024. Their debut single Nothing Matters is an undeniable ear-worm. Its music video is a feast of high-camp, Romantic maximalism, featuring a decadent, candle-lit banquet, nosebleeds in bathtubs and running, Brontë-style, through the English countryside.
These artists represent what big music labels deem ‘PALATABLE’
And even though TLDP have been gigging in London since 2021, having met in fresher’s week at uni, the band still face constant online speculation. These Industry Plant accusations could be disastrous, stunting a revival of female-fronted bands. This is something that the music industry hasn’t really seen since the 90s grunge riot-grrrl takeover, by bands like Hole and Bikini Kill.
Perhaps, it’s reductive to write off these allegations as exclusively misogynistic. By calling out these girl-bands, we are effectively drawing attention to the white, middle-class, conventionally-attractive Venn diagram they usually fall into. For instance, the lead singer of TLDP, Abigail Morris, has received flack for attending an elite private school.
These artists represent what big music labels deem ‘PALATABLE’ to the public, so there’s something to be said about unpicking why they have been spotlighted. Young, white, wealthy (‘NICE’) women are less threatening to the status quo, less intimidating to the predominantly male execs in the industry.
Scrutiny must be put on the music labels not the acts themselves
POC, working-class or more radical left-wing artists just don’t get the same leg-up. A study by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that creatives with more privileged upbringings were twice as likely to find jobs in the cultural sector. In the music industry, they found 22% of employees were from working-class backgrounds compared with 60% from ‘privileged’ backgrounds.
The term Industry Plant reveals a whole system of engrained sexism in the music industry, the perpetuation of white-washed beauty standards, watering down of political agendas and a lack of diverse representation. Criticising these industry-backed musicians is, therefore, not inherently sexist but scrutiny must be put on the music labels and not the acts themselves.
That’s not to say that The Last Dinner Party or other talented female artists don’t deserve their fame, but it’s about time we start questioning and uprooting the language we use and what it means for female artists and the music industry at large.
So, next time you hear the term Industry Plant kicking about, question who it is making the claim and, maybe, whether it even matters – good music is good music after all.
