In today’s world, everyone is hyper visible in society, especially artists. Thanks to platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, overnight fame is more common, drastically diminishing the time it takes for artists to achieve stardom.
Rapid popularity could easily be life-changing, but many see this phenomenon as a double-edged sword. Artists forfeit valuable time for development, and many lose momentum as quickly as they gain it.
As those working in the music industry share their perspectives on this emerging culture, it’s clear that artist breakthroughs are quickly becoming a thing of the past.
“Every issue that we’re facing right now comes down to oversaturation,” Dylan Bourne, an artist manager, told Billboard. “People are just buried in content.”
Industry leaders say there are contributing factors driving this phenomenon: label decisions and unpredictable social media trends.
Finding and replacing viral moments is easier and less costly than formally developing an artist before their debut. According to one A&R executive in an interview with Billboard, music labels “signed more and signed worse than ever before” in the last ten years.
This pump-and-dump model is great for quick profits. However, a “hit” is less valuable than it was, say, 20 years ago. Combine this with streaming being the most popular method of consuming music and the decline of mass media like radio, and you’re left with a volatile industry in an uncertain place.
As for the artists, if they can’t capture an audience beyond a few viral songs, the likelihood of them securing longevity for their careers is low.
For the first time ever, an artist can have millions of streams but be unable to sell out a concert.
“It’s common to hear grumbles about young acts who have hundreds of millions of plays [of a single] but can’t fill a small room for a performance,” said J. Erving, founder of the artist services and distribution company Human Resources, told Billboard. “People need to care about you beyond the song. Where is the connectivity? Are people really dialed in in a deeper way?”
All of this makes the business models of music labels appear questionable, revealing the prioritization of profits over authentic artistry.
Some are returning to the drawing board and focusing on garnering profits from smaller artists with more dedicated fanbases. This approach still circles back to the issue of caring more about money than properly supporting new artists so they can have secure careers.
This volatility will likely continue being the norm for now. Though the future of the music industry is not set in stone, having these conversations is the first step to finding models that allow authentic artists to be discovered and given a real chance at success.
