The release of the 67th Grammy nominations has only proved that women are dominating the current music scene. Beyonce led the awards by receiving eleven nominations and newcomer artists Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter both bagged six nominations each.
The Grammy Awards celebrates a total of 94 categories, honoring the best recordings, compositions and artists of this past year. As nominees are chosen by the members of the Recording Academy, it can create extremely varied opinions with the public, often leaving many thinking that the selection is unjustified or is missing a promising artist.
When looking into this year’s nominees, we praise the success of the many women that are nominated, however, it is also important to reflect upon the hardship that they face within the industry, particularly when it comes to accusatory language such as ‘industry plant’ when reaching to the success of a Grammy nomination. But what is meant by this?
What is an industry plant?
The buzz word has been circulating in the media since the early 2010s, deriving its meaning from the hip-hop world as artists appear into the music scene from thin air and break immediate popularity.
The term largely means that a musician or group are backed by an established record label and are funded entirely by the industry, however, they present themselves as to being ‘home-grown’. These self established independents often can been seen coming from wealth or nepotism, losing their authenticity which most audiences look for in an artist. Controversy hits hard particularly when an artist claims that they are fully self made and have struggled through the industry to their position, creating a disingenuous facade surrounding their rise to success.
The term has been thrown around at multiple artists and groups, causing for its true meaning to become muddled and hazed through hate. Its intention often meaning that the musician has undeserved attention.
Industry plants have a renowned reputation for degrading or disregarding an artists personal success, questioning their authenticity as a musician. To be a successful musician in the current music scene, authenticity is entirely necessary when gaining your audience’s trust. Presenting yourself as a self-made small artist, will determine whether likability is possible. However, are industry plants as bad as they seem?
What we must ask ourselves is why would it be a negative if a record label were to back a talented prospected artist? If the musician produces good, quality music that is interesting and refreshing within the industry, isn’t that what the label’s job is to do? It is not the act of being an industry plant that is the issue for audiences, but the active concealment of their beginning story that creates the unease around the term.
Chappell Roan’s Industry Plant Rumors
The queer pop sensation Chappell Roan has risen to a mainstream platform in this past year. With the release of her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in September 2023, her music truly has entered the public sphere with the exceptions of those that proudly claim that they were ‘always a fan before she got famous’.
Roan has been nominated for six awards in total, including the best new artist of the year. This award nomination alone has proved that she has grown to who new level within a small span of time.
Roan’s quick rise can be understood as coming from TikTok, popularizing her song Casual, which gained a lot of traction as she discusses the struggle of lesbian and queer relationships. Although she has gained quick attention, Roan has been on the scene for over ten years, consistently bringing out singles and albums.
With this sudden rise to mainstream fame came the her new found inferiority, where so called fans were accusing her of her being a plant. This term ultimately degrades her efforts in becoming successful, and a term that is commonly used to target not only women, but young women in general also.#
What About Sabrina Carpenter?
The Grammy nominations have showered Sabrina Carpenter in nominations as well, also gaining potential to be awarded the best new artist award. It is known to anyone aware of Carpenter that she has had a wildly successful year, however, does her Disney channel early career help her here?
Unlike is Roan, Carpenter has been in the public eye since she was in Girl Meet World, allowing her to steady her fan-base prior to her even starting music. Starting out as a Disney star along with highly successful artists such as Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus, you would assume that she had gained leverage from this exposure from a young age and would make it clear to the majority that Carpenter’s ‘big-break’ was made easy. However, contrary to common knowledge, Carpenter had released five albums that only ever reached the few average fans including Eyes Wide Open, EVOlution, and Singular Act I. Her music wasn’t selling at the impressive speed that it is today, so, did she just get better?
Fame really hit for Carpenter when she supported Taylor Swift’s international tour in August 2023 and of course with her now Grammy nominated album.
Now, we could pick and choose moments in both Carpenter and Roan’s career timeline to see if there is a definitive time that they have been ‘planted’, but in all honesty, does it really matter? As discussed, they have both been accused by the public to undermine their success. With Grammy’s showcasing mostly women in within their nominees, it proves that whether the term is irrelevant. It is used as a means to test an artist’s authenticity, yet it reads as a accusatory.
Outside of the Grammy’s, who else has been told they’re a plant?
Along with these two Grammy nominees, the term has been used laboriously among the women in the industry. This often perpetuates ideals that women are inferior when it comes to success within the industry.
The most prominent band that have faced the accusation as such were The Last Dinner Party, an all female British band that have taken a particular peak in popularity recently. The band have strong sounding links with artists such as Sparks and Kate Bush, and are known for pushing the boundaries of indie rock with rhythms and melodies that are unique to listeners in a time that songs can often merge into one another.
From the success of their album Prelude to Ecstasy to now sell out shows across the globe, the group have switched listeners opinions, often declaring that they ‘don’t care if they are plants’ and even offering if they can ‘plant more’ because of their sheer talent.
The Last Dinner Party have claimed that they are self-made, specifying that they had got together as a band being friends from before. Although the term has been used a means to degrade their success, they are consistently proving to the public that their fame is due to their talent.
