Hot Take/ Musical Confession Thread!

Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Being an industry plant used to be an open concept that proved to be a highly successful formula. New Kids on the Block were basically engineered from the ground up, same for NSync, Backstreet Boys, One Direction. So by default, many solo careers are owed to this idea.

At some point, the term became pejorative and listeners/fans took it as a slight that their tastes were somehow being spoon fed to them via synthetic methods.

I don’t mind it either because not all artists can truly be organic. People in the industry have visions for an artist just like artists do for a song. Whether they’re a plant or not doesn’t take away from the fact that they have talent,
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Yeah, even someone like Justin Bieber, who was discovered by Usher via YouTube videos isn’t a “industry” plant per se, at some point he got a hard Major Label push before he had ever released anything. Whether they developed organically or were developed in house, once a band gets a major label push they become “industry plants” Nirvana wouldn’t be “Nirvana” if they didn’t get picked up by DGC.
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Being an industry plant used to be an open concept that proved to be a highly successful formula. New Kids on the Block were basically engineered from the ground up, same for NSync, Backstreet Boys, One Direction. So by default, many solo careers are owed to this idea.

At some point, the term became pejorative and listeners/fans took it as a slight that their tastes were somehow being spoon fed to them via synthetic methods.

I don’t mind it either because not all artists can truly be organic. People in the industry have visions for an artist just like artists do for a song. Whether they’re a plant or not doesn’t take away from the fact that they have talent,
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I think plant has always been pejorative. Manufactured bands have always had a certain amount of derision from some folks dating back to at least The Monkees. Hell, radio didn’t want to play The Archies because it was a cartoon band.

Plant is a completely different thing and usually seems to be based on nothing but an amount of I guess jealousy over success. I think the two bands I’ve seen it applied to the most are Muse and Coldplay.

I haven’t seen it used in years though. It isn’t something you see in the press and fortunately, here we don’t see that kind of stupid.
 
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Lee Newman said:
I think the two bands I’ve seen it applied to the most are Muse and Coldplay.
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Really? That’s weird knowing both started out on the small circuit and released EPs on very small indie labels before being signed…

I’ve actually only really seen it in the last year or two and it’s nearly always been against a female artist or group that ascend quickly.
 
Joe Mac said:
Really? That’s weird knowing both started out on the small circuit and released EPs on very small indie labels before being signed…

I’ve actually only really seen it in the last year or two and it’s nearly always been against a female artist or group that ascend quickly.
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I think outside of the UK or in the US, there is a feeling that those two bands just exploded from nowhere. Again, since I really only get to talk about music here, don’t see it used much/at all nowadays, but there was definitely a feeling 10/15/ 20 years ago that these guys were grown in a lab somewhere to be juggernauts.
 
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Joe Mac said:
I think with those it’s just open though, they’re manufactured pop bands. There is no pretence on any side that they’re anything else.

I think this idea of “a plant” in more recent years has come in indie band circles and has more often than not been a way to use some indie snob’s undefinable bullshit idea of authenticity to undermine new and upcoming artists, particularly female or minority ones.
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Exactly. I do think their is an absurdity when an indie band has parents who are highlighted in blue on Wikipedia, but at the end of the day that doesn’t make the work they make any less authentic unless they playing poverty which I haven’t really seen anyone do. And it is very telling that a majority white male audience throws this term at mainly female and minority artists
 
debianlinux said:
Taylor is literally non existent in any of my spheres. I never hear of her or talk about her or anything. Until now, right here, in this thread. This thread is some fucked up manifestation. You're literally self-inflicting the actual thing you're talking about. That's a choice and you're not choosing to stop so I can't take your complaints seriously at all.
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*thing doesn’t happen to me so it obviously doesn’t exist*

🙄
 
Fleetwood-Matt said:
Exactly. I do think their is an absurdity when an indie band has parents who are highlighted in blue on Wikipedia, but at the end of the day that doesn’t make the work they make any less authentic unless they playing poverty which I haven’t really seen anyone do. And it is very telling that a majority white male audience throws this term at mainly female and minority artists
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I think playing poverty is extreme but there is definitely a high degree of appropriation of working class culture from middle and upper class acts, and that really does get on my fucking goat. Own your privilege.
 
debianlinux said:
Taylor is literally non existent in any of my spheres. I never hear of her or talk about her or anything. Until now, right here, in this thread. This thread is some fucked up manifestation. You're literally self-inflicting the actual thing you're talking about. That's a choice and you're not choosing to stop so I can't take your complaints seriously at all.
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I mean I complained about her openly one day when it was at its most relavent to me and then immediately moved on to a different topic. Saying she is omnipresent isn’t some wild accusations when so many other people also said she gets brought up no matter the level hermit someone is. If you don’t take the complaints seriously fair enough but that doesn’t diminish the fact that multiple people agreed it’s annoying to them and we are valid for calling an annoying spade an annoying spade every now and then. If it was the only thing we talked about id be more inclined to agree with you but obviously that isn’t the case
 
Joe Mac said:
I think playing poverty is extreme but there is definitely a high degree of appropriation of working class culture from middle and upper class acts, and that really does get on my fucking goat. Own your privilege.
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I can totally agree with that. But when I listen to acts The last Dinner Party (the band that inspired the post) I don’t get any vibe that they are appropriating it. They are obviously art school kids
 
Fleetwood-Matt said:
I can totally agree with that. But when I listen to acts The last Dinner Party (the band that inspired the post) I don’t get any vibe that they are appropriating it. They are obviously art school kids
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Yeah absolutely wasn’t alluding to them, more a general point. I do like the album, just ordered the CD today lol!
 
Fleetwood-Matt said:
I can totally agree with that. But when I listen to acts The last Dinner Party (the band that inspired the post) I don’t get any vibe that they are appropriating it. They are obviously art school kids
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I read the Guardian review of the Last Dinner Party album and they mentioned that the “industry plant” stuff is almost a complement in how advanced and developed their sound is but they point to “Covid years” where the band was essentially able to “woodshed” their sound for a couple years prior and then when they posted a live show on YouTube the band became major label bidding war fodder.

www.theguardian.com

The Last Dinner Party: Prelude to Ecstasy review – the year’s most hyped band totally deliver

The five-piece ground their Sparks-like tendency towards excess and musical theatre with consistently well-written songs primed for festival singalongs
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Viking Dan said:
With what The Smile is doing and what A Moon Shaped Pool was...maybe its time "Radiohead" called it a day.
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I enjoyed AMSP way more than anything The Smile has done. That being said, I am fine with “Radiohead” (why the quotations?) calling it a day. They have an excellent catalog of music and if they feel like that chapter is done for them than so be it.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I enjoyed AMSP way more than anything The Smile has done. That being said, I am fine with “Radiohead” (why the quotations?) calling it a day. They have an excellent catalog of music and if they feel like that chapter is done for them than so be it.
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Quotation because, in a media vacuum, just hearing the music my immediate take would be - "Oh, new Radiohead."

Adding Tom Skinner changes the equation for me.

If they could fold Colin in (who it think is a severely underrated when discussing Radiohead) I'd probably pull that "maybe" out the take.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yep and with them appearing to remain on good terms why bother? Leave the options open. Looking at how blur left it seems to make more sense, if the want and inspiration hits you can do it but there’s no pressure to ever have to if it doesn’t. Why burn bridges?
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On the other hand The Pixies are a perfect case for hang it up.
 
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