The music industry is a bloody mess. From the absurdly broken state of modern charts, to artists’ obscenely miniscule rate of pay for Spotify streams, the modern music industry has a list of glaring issues as long as your arm. But, as human beings are want to do, we can’t help but keep adding new things to the list to complain about. The latest such talking point in music circles being buzzy up-and-coming bands such as Wet Leg and The Last Dinner Party being accused of being ‘industry plants’. Though the discourse I’ve seen online has raised some noteworthy points, I think the reductive label these bands have been assigned with ultimately fails to stand up to scrutiny.

Let’s start at the beginning; what do we mean by an ‘industry plant’? Rather than doing the legwork of rising through the ranks, gigging extensively and releasing music as independent artists, gradually playing to bigger crowds and racking up bigger numbers in the hope of eventually getting their “big break” – plants are acts that get their big break handed to them on a silver platter. Trust fund kids buying their way to success, nepo babies using their family’s clout to open doors, or products of a boardroom used as a soulless vessel to be shaped by the whim of studio executives. That kind of thing. 

According to some, acts like Wet Leg, Olivia Rodrigo, The Last Dinner Party and Picture Parlour count among their ranks. Critics site their rapid rise to mainstream success as a sign that someone behind the scenes must be pulling some strings. Other acts have been grinding away making great music and touring grassroots venues for years without getting their dues, and yet someone springs up seemingly overnight and walks away with Grammys and BRIT Awards mere months after their debut, or ends up touring with some of the biggest names in music before they’ve even released a single song. It’s easy to see why people feel disheartened and hard done by, and are keen to assign blame. 

Thing is, to my mind the accusations don’t stick. Money and connections can offer a leg up and open doors, but they’re no replacement for talent. At some point you need to be able to stand on your own two feet. Plenty of young ex Disney stars used that connection as a jumping off point into the wider music industry (or were pushed in that direction by someone in their circle) and most of them crashed and burned in a very dramatic and public fashion. Olivia Rodrigo has been a notable exception to the rule by having the talent and work ethic to stand on her own two feet, and by staying down to Earth and managing to maintain a high degree of creative control. Wet Leg may have not existed as a band for very long, but its respective members have been gigging in the industry for far longer. Led Zeppelin only existed under that name a few months before their debut, that doesn’t mean they popped up overnight, they had long careers in other projects and as session musicians prior to their big break. 

Most actual industry plants are the product of the major labels themselves, rather than people trying to curry favour with them. They very much exist, and are more prevalent in the modern industry than they once were. Music, like most industries, got swept up in the wave of capitalist greed that pursues the quickest profit from the most cheap and disposable product. Instead of taking the time to develop an artist, labels seem more focussed on tapping into flash-in-the-pan virality. It’s not the pursuit of art, but the pursuit of ‘content’. It’s this kind of boardroom driven thinking that gives us wearisome interchangeable boybands and DJs delivering remixes of remixes of remixes.

Industry plants are all about chasing trends, not about taking risks in the hope of starting one. Most acts recently accused of being plants can hardly be called trend chasers; much of the buzz they’ve been generating is because they have a unique selling point. Between Wet Leg’s vulgar tongue-in-cheek humour and The Last Dinner Party‘s feral costume drama aesthetic and energetic live shows, the last criticism you can level at them is being bland and indistinguishable. To suggest that industry moguls are willing to stick their head out for something unique, never mind supposedly orchestrating their style in the first place, is giving the suits far too much credit.

One notable thing that all these recent “plant” acts have in common is that they are primarily women. Male acts haven’t really entered into the recent discourse, even when a more convincing case can be made against them than their female peers. Irish band Inhaler haven’t faced half as much criticism, even though I’m sure the frontman having Bono as a father would have provided plenty of clout and connections that wouldn’t have been available to any of the acts previously mentioned. Hell, Harry Styles started his career in a boyband thrown together by Simon Cowell, which is about as industry plant as it gets. Whatever your thoughts about his solo work, you can’t deny he had a massive head start. There’s a distinct undercurrent of sexism in the recent wave of discussions. An unspoken subconscious bias; “women with guitars? no way they’re successful by their own merit, must be something dodgy going on!“. 

Thankfully not all of the discourse has been so toxic, and some noteworthy points have indeed been raised about biases within the UK music industry. While their success is still well earned, and we should always be glad to see new music flourishing, the fact is some of these acts have had an easier ride than their peers to some degree. One doesn’t need to have millions in a trust fund or be the child of a record executive in order to have access to privileges which others don’t. Many breakthrough British acts of recent years have studied at prestigious music schools. The mere fact of being enrolled suggests a level of financial support and access to industry connections above the norm. That doesn’t make success a done deal, they still need to have good songs to their name and make the most of the opportunities presented, but it’s still worth acknowledging that having those resources and safety nets still constitute a head start above bands based in far flung and left behind communities.

So much about breaking into the mainstream relies on being in the right place at the right time. The trouble is that it’s the industry, not music fans, that determine where the right place is. Music is so centralised in the UK that sometimes it feels like anything outside the M25 may as well not exist. It still takes playing a great show being seen by the right person to get noticed, but playing a great show in a trendy club in Brixton is gonna get you noticed a lot faster than one in Preston, or Taunton, or Huddersfield… or pretty much anywhere outside of London and Manchester. The best band you’ve never heard of could be playing in Hartlepool or somewhere right now, but as they aren’t frequenting the hype machine venues in the big cities they may never get the break they too deserve. But just because so many talented acts don’t get the attention they deserve, doesn’t mean those actually getting the attention don’t deserve it. These recent “plant” acts have often presented some of the most interesting new music around, fully deserving of their break into the mainstream – it’s just worth noting they too may have missed out on getting the attention they deserve had they been based elsewhere.

Whatever financial, class and geographic biases are at play however, there’s no reason why any of the bands caught in the middle of all this should be taking flak for issues that are the fault of the wider industry. Naturally all music fans wish more bands they love would get the big break they deserve, all bands wish they they could get the mainstream attention they’ve worked so hard for, but turning on those that get their wish is just petty and mean-spirited. Blaming up and coming musicians for a culture built by industry moguls is like scapegoating migrants in dinghies for problems caused by greedy bankers and businessmen. I was not a fan of Wet Leg’s debut, but I celebrated their many awards wins all the same as a triumph for new music as a whole. The acts that manage to rise up out of the mire and into the spotlight are always to be celebrated, especially when they’ve worked hard to hone their craft and present us with something new and exciting.