Chappell Roan won Best New Artist at the Grammys, and her speech called out the commercial music industry for not giving resources like a living wage and healthcare coverage to artists to protect for times when they would be needed.
Citing her own experience when she got dropped by her label and found herself without healthcare or job opportunities in the pandemic, Roan ended her speech with “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”, a question that strikes at the heart of the issue of major companies in music caring for the very people they make their money from.
Of course, as of now as it has been historically, in this area - no, artists, labels don't got you. It has almost always been the case that the "not-yet-famous artist" is the most marginalized member of the music business. And in today's day and age when the idea of making money directly off of one's music is nothing but a funny joke, it's downright impossible to support oneself. About the labels, well, we could hold out hope that the for-profit over-capitalist system that runs media wakes up one sunny morning and has, well, a change of heart.
This is a masterclass in how to not cheapen personal stories
Again, true to form, singer-songwriter music is very listenable when done right
‘How The Tables Turn’ is one for the people
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