Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR (May 21, 2021) • Page 39

I still have no idea who Morgan Wallen is lol. I think its funny that album could apparently end up the highest selling of the year yet the only place I've heard any mention of it is in this thread on this site.

 

Listen to more country music I guess?

 

haha same here. you're not alone.

 

It’s the equivalent of the “best-sellers” books from Ben Shapiro and the like.

 

I live in the south, Morgan Wallen is extremely popular in my area. At one of my jobs, they play his music all the time. At least they also play lots of Taylor Swift to cleanse my ears haha

 

My comment didn’t have anything to do with young women in pop music, more about her sudden rise from Disney channel star to “singer/songwriter”.

Don’t want to bring up the industry-plant term but the machine behind her is working overtime. The amount of paid placement behind Drivers License was insane, paid placement on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and TikTok was really apparent.

Nothing about her ascent was organic. It’s not like she was out playing gigs in clubs or anything and was discovered, she was selected out of the Disney machine. But give the kids what they want!

 

she was definitely heavily marketed but no amount of marketing can force people to like a song that they don’t. this heavily resonated with people

 

I’m mostly surprised he’s still doing ~50,000 a week.

 

Who cares if she came up organically or not. Good songs are good songs

 

Have you never heard of marketing?

 

Seriously. You can force it onto the airwaves or into placements, but you can’t give it legs like this.

 

I don’t totally believe much of your posting on Chorus is in good faith, but I’ll pretend like it is for a moment. This is a completely different conversation than whether or not she takes part in writing her own songs. Yes she was in a privileged position already being in the public eye on a Disney show. People were simply pointing out that in conversations such as that, there’s a ton of systemic sexism at play and we should be aware when navigating these conversations. If you “don’t want to bring up the industry plant term” then don’t

 

Tbh I def think Disney gave her an exposure boost and of course put her in a privileged position in the first place to blow up, but I didn't hear about her until drivers license went viral on TikTok. I think that's where a lot of artists are blowing up lately and how older artists are seeing a resurgence. Had no idea she was on Disney originally

Also idk who Morgan is which is surprising cause I live in a country music loving area

 

I really don’t get the whole “ugh she’s an industry plant, so I can’t enjoy her music” conversation. Like yes, she has been on 2 Disney shows, and that did help her get some exposure, but why would she turn down the opportunity to sign a record deal? It’s pretty obvious she’s passionate about music. Also, none of it negates the fact that she’s super talented and everyone is listening to SOUR because it’s an album full of great songs. Connections may help you get your foot in the door, but they don’t help you have the staying power that she has.

Sorry if this sounds super jumbled, I just got off work and am about to head to my 2nd job.

 

Just gonna clarify that my posts weren’t meant to endorse any garbage industry plant takes! Was only saying her Disney connection is what I typically assume people are referencing when they say stuff like that because most people look at a leg up and automatically assume the worst — not that I agree lol. No doubt she’s a legitimate artist with a killer marketing team/campaign and relatable songs — that’s all that matters

 

Why does it feel like people are always super quick to throw the industry plant term around when talking about typically young female musicians? People have thrown it at Billie even though she literally started out playing small venues before blowing up. I’m convinced the people who use that term have no idea what it means.

 

Feels like it always a half baked bad faith argument made from a) a stan that can’t contain their jealousy that someone is sharing attention/competing with their fav or b) John Doe that tweets “let’s get guitars back on the radio” in all caps twice a year and side eyes any artist fortunate enough to have a major label debut

 

I see a lot of this discourse coming from early 30s bros who I guess completely forgot Spears, Aguilera, and Timberlake came out of The Mickey Mouse Club.

 

I like when people act like writing a song is some super impossible feat that someone who happens to be young could never hope to accomplish on their own. I remember the same arguments about “ghostwriters” when Taylor Swift released Speak Now. These songs SOUND like they were written by someone very young. That’s part of what makes them so emotionally resonant and true.

 

these are the same people who wouldn't bat an eye at the fact that The Beatles started when they were all right around 20 years old

 

Right. It's this weird mental gymnastics thing where we conveniently forget that many, many amazing accomplishments in pop music history were from people who were teens or early twentysomethings at the time.

 

I feel like these are the same people who don’t listen to anything past like 2000 because nothing is as good as old rock and roll/ these people are too ignorant to discover new rock music made by women.

 

Don't forget Ryan Gosling. Such a Hollywood plant.

 

Just to clarify, my post wasn’t directed at you, just some thoughts I’ve had in general about the discourse. I hope it didn’t seem like I was targeting you haha