A couple of Tweets from my editor at Trebuchet Magazine set off a discussion:
If you ever needed any sort of proof that the mainstream music industry is an utter stitch-up, Courtney Barnett is surely it.
— Sean Keenan (@SeanInSpain) June 2, 2015
Good luck to her and all. I'm not saying *she's* manufactured or inauthentic. Just that her rise is a bit implausible.
— Sean Keenan (@SeanInSpain) June 2, 2015
Anybody who actually follows any grassroots music knows most “appears out of nowhere” narratives are bogus, and any million-selling act who wears “authenticity” on their sleeve is probably not as genuine as they seem. Nobody becomes famous overnight without serious PR money behind them. But what makes the hype industry pick one busker-level talent over 1001 others? Is it purely random who gets the hype?
It can be depressing when you see talented musicians slogging away for years and never getting beyond a devoted cult following, while Ed bloody Sheeran ends up headlining Wembley Stadium.
But mainstream music is really more part of the celebrity industry than anything else. Sometimes the actual music is an afterthought; Look how Mumford & Sons threw away their entire identity and invented a new one when audiences had become bored with it, or how chancers like Brother kept trying to reinvent themselves by jumping on different bandwagons.
I can understand why so many real musicians making real music don’t want to be part of that circus.