Failed Industry Plants: A Veteran Music Executive’s Perspective on Inauthentic Artist Origins
As a veteran A&R executive with over 15 years signing artists to major record labels, I’ve witnessed first-hand the temptations to manufacture fame through contrived personas and narratives. While sometimes coming from understandable business motivations, these “industry plant” tactics tend to encounter issues when the priority becomes metrics over music.
Defining The Industry Plant Approach
The exact artistic definition stirs debate, but industry plants essentially center on an inauthentic creation strategy. A label or management company sees raw potential in an amateur performer, but simultaneously realizes their current musical direction or backstory needs major re-crafting for mainstream viability.
So teams set to work overhauling nearly everything – dictating new musical styles, visual aesthetics, even fabricated personal histories if necessary. Songwriters and producers may be attached to ghostwrite tracks. The priority becomes analytically engineering songs for viral success versus nurturing the artist’s innate creativity.
The ultimate goal is manufacturing the illusion of an organically “homegrown” startup that seemed to achieve overnight fame. When in reality, industry plants have a major label intricately orchestrating things behind the scenes the entire time. Allowing hot streaks of streaming growth and playlist adds only at strategically optimized moments.
From a business perspective, the motivation is understandable – fans increasingly crave the perception of their musical discoveries feeling organic and untouched by corporate suits. An artist blatantly promoted as “signed by Sony!” in a press release can instinctively trigger skepticism rather than excitement.
So for labels seeking the next hit, secretly grooming an artist to have that irresistible word-of-mouth buzz can seem smarter than transparently announcing signed rosters. But time shows the short term gains rarely outweigh the long term consequences…
Jumex – Struggling For An Identity Beyond The Algorithm
One textbook case is Jumex, a young Soundcloud rapper whose single “Loner” racked up millions of plays virtually overnight back in 2019. At first, listeners praised his angsty lyrics as capturing struggles of modern youth. I even witnessed label scouts excitedly circulating the track as the next viral phenom.
But gradually, fans began questioning if Jumex was actually an industry plant. Memes mocking his seemingly pre-packaged aesthetic went viral – the stylistic mashup felt blatantly engineered to tap into trending topics for streams rather than genuine creative expression. Where was the authentic artist behind the algorithmically chasing hooks?
Investigative fans uncovered clues backing theories. His music video already resembled a Michael Bay film production on a budget most bedroom artists couldn’t afford. Digging into the production company revealed the director was Taco Bennett – renowned for big-budget videos for household names like Lil Wayne and Chris Brown. These didn’t add up to the indie narrative.
Additionally, Jumex’s shifting musical styles showed no loyalty to artistic vision – bouncing conveniently across pop-punk, emo-rap, and boom-bap beats based purely on what analytics dictated was popping that month. This transparent trend chasing was off-putting for fans valuing substance over chasing clout. Was he just a puppet for business strategies?
Briefly signed to Elliot Grainge’s prominent 10K Projects label, things seemed promising. But Jumex failed to achieve another runaway hit. His debut album underperformed both commercially and critically – cementing skepticism he was less artist and moreso bot chasing ephemeral hype cycles. He exited 10K still struggling to find his voice.
In my experience, artists rarely recover careers once branded inauthentic. By allowing business interests to prioritize algorithms over artistry, you risk losing the creative spark audiences actually connect with.
The Baby Goth Backlash – When Viral Success Feels Fake
But even more ethically concerning “plants” than Jumex are when labels manufacture entire artist identities completely from scratch. One infamous example rocking the hip hop world was the scandal fans dubbed “Baby Goth Gate” – suggesting an artist was deliberately created by insiders and passed off as organic.
The entire saga began when a young singer named Baby Goth instantly exploded onto the scene by featuring on buzzing rapper Trippie Redd’s hit 2018 album. This previously unheard-of artist seemed to suddenly skyrocket from nowhere to hot 100 playlists alongside major stars. Fans obviously began questioning…who was this mystery artist who appeared out of the blue?
Investigative YouTube channels raised suspicions – how exactly did this completely unknown teenager land a feature on a high profile hip hop album with virtually zero industry connections or priors? It stretched belief a random viral phenom could organically stumble into this dream opportunity reserved for household names.
The puzzle pieces came together when discovering Baby Goth’s real identity – Bria Bueno, who had left zero footprint online prior to her music fame. No old social media posts, music profiles, nothing indicating she existed as an artistic entity before scoring a monster placement. Almost like she was spontaneously conceived specifically for fame.
So how did Bueno originally catch industry radar if she lacked any grassroots profile? Well, turns out her manager was Maxwell Young – an established industry veteran boasting a business network across radio, streaming playlists, and major label artists ripe for pay-for-play collaborations.
Texts leaked Young boasting how he specifically re-molded Bueno from scratch into the manufactured “Baby Goth” persona – dictating everything about her image, musical style, and methodically coordinating her industry promotions rather than nurturing any pre-existing talents.
This appeared to confirm theories she was deliberately created as an “industry plant” – built by business to achieve fame rather than discovering an authentically exceptional artist. And even orchestrating purchased feature spots to fake organic cosigns.
Now while technically legal, many fans considered the deceptive, clinically pre-planned nature against ethical business standards. It spotlighted the cutthroat strategizing behind fame rarely visible to audiences who just want connection through creativity – not boardroom analytics.
Despite catchy songs, the feeling Baby Goth was a focus group creation left a bad taste many fans couldn’t erase. Present standing remains murky. But the traction damage was done – audiences don’t want the curtain pulled back revealing cold corporate interests. When success feels bought over earned, bonds weaken.
Chasing Fame Through Checkbooks and Feature Purchasing
Baby Goth’s packaged rise echoed patterns I’d seen before – those seeking fame so desperately they attempt buying credibility rather than organically earning it. While technically legal, it damages integrity for all involved.
One recent example was the rapper Smiles, birth name Jack Bruno. As the son of an investment banker with deep entertainment ties, he always enjoyed privileged industry access average artists couldn’t fathom. I witnessed him leveraging connections over original creativity.
Bruno’s early days as the Soundcloud rapper “Raw Fabrics” previewed this checkbook dependence. He openly paid bigger artists upwards of $10,000 to rap over their beats for a perceived signal boost – assuming their cosign legitimacy would transfer through collaboration.
After rebranding from Raw Fabrics to Smiles, Bruno leaned even harder into exploiting his father’s finance and celebrity network. He landed placement on a hot new 6ix9ine mixtape hoping the cosign would make him famous. But fans saw right through…Smiles lacked his own identity beyond the purchased cosigns.
And indeed, this empty hype cycle proved fleeting. As critics panned the Bruno’s dull rapping and uninspired style, it was clear he was smoke and mirrors relying purely on bought credibility. All sizzle no substance. Once separated from the cosigns, public awareness quickly faded rather than organically growing fans. Stardom avoided.
Having unchecked access to money/connections without strategy often creates diminishing returns. As I’ve learned advising new artists, you can’t “buy” an audience. Rap analysis channel King’s Disease predicted Smiles would likely keep pointlessly chasing fame through leveraged purchases without developing actual creative substance or work ethic. A bit sad.
Authenticity Matters – Why Patients And Transparency Wins Long Term
If any key lesson exists from witnessing attempted “plants” flounder, it’s longevity stems from authenticity. Music culture moves fast, but true stars stay grounded in who they are rather than chasing sound-of-the-moment recipes.
Short term hype cycles will always be tempting – I admit feeling pressure as an A&R rep to analyze trends and eek out viral traction by any means necessary. But over time, the artists that resonate most do so through creative integrity and connection. Not responding to overly analytical career planning.
The most enduring talents tend to bubble from grassroots communities rather than boardroom theories about what might go viral. By the time our label metrics can pinpoint a trend, there is already a bubbling underground movement fueling it organically. Labels do best riding those waves gently rather than forcibly attempting to create them.
This isn’t to say properly utilizing industry knowledge and label power dynamics is inherently problematic from an ethical standpoint. Record companies financing marginalized talents can provide invaluable mentorship, growth capital and fan connection at levels unattainable alone.
However, the path towards fame through deception – trying to spark inorganic viral moments or manipulating audiences – often backfires as seen. Music culture moves too fast for smokescreens to hold.
My advice for developing artists balancing assistance without compromising creative integrity:
Stay true to your voice. Seek managers who amplify your vision rather than impose theirs. Never allow anyone – not even the hottest beatmaker or collaborator – sway you towards inauthentic style chasing.
Avoid identity pivots or reboots. The latest sound will always fade. But your unique artistry and reason for creating will not. Financial motives may make fame seem urgent. But careers built on solid foundations sustain storms.
Rather than focus excessively on metrics, immerse yourself in your creative community – the people uplifting each other’s passions. Connect to the human stories beyond the data. From that space is where tomorrow‘s stars organically grow – simply requiring gentle cultivation once firmly rooted.
Patience paired with persistence bears the sweetest fruits. Just remain authentic so when attention comes, you can weather the highs and lows without losing purpose. Chart chasing plants may sprout fast with synthetic boosters but lack nutrients binding artists to enduring audience bonds.
Your creativity is sacred. Protect it, nurture it. Collaboration invites creativity rather than diluting individuality. Trust this process. The rest aligns in due time. No trend lasts forever. But true artistry and connection? That, my friends, transcends all.