2 hours ago, ___∆___ said:

Ed has made signed posters with purchase of his album available again on his website and indie stores - guessing his team are taking a chance of nabbing the #1 again?

Is he that threatened by jade 🤭🤭 i suppose its not out for 3 months plenty of time to boost those preorders

8 minutes ago, Mangø said:

Yeah, I would agree with this. Has anyone ever been confirmed as an industry plant?

Saying that, it is a little odd how Skye seems to have just come out of nowhere - by all accounts she hadn't released anything at all before 'Hairdresser' - but as has been said, maybe most of us just aren't in the right circles to be hearing about her.

She's gone viral numerous times on TT. Her anxiety cover has 24M views on Tiktok alone and countless others have had millions of views and she had 650k followers on TT before Hairdresser even came out.

She seemed to have built a good loyal following and then with the help of the label they've just pushed her out more.

I didn't know about her either but Hairdresser went semi viral on TT and it started climbing on streaming services so just another TT breakout artist I think.

4 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

Is he that threatened by jade 🤭🤭 i suppose its not out for 3 months plenty of time to boost those preorders

It's the tour edition CD he's pushing not Play.

There is still power labels have to push artists and if you think you have a future superstar you’re going to use them all. I don’t see Skye as an industry plant just someone who’s songs have caught on quickly you don’t need to know everything about her and she doesn’t need to be an ass shaking person either

25 minutes ago, Mr. C. Joel said:

It's the tour edition CD he's pushing not Play.

Ah my mistake 🫣 bit weird its already been number 1 before unless he learning from Taylors team

Edit Can only find signed editions of Play on his website ?

Edited June 5, 2025Jun 5 by 777666jason

So what is exactly an industry plant? when labels throw a lot of money to push an artist?

cos then, every artist is an industry plan in a way I'd argue

47 minutes ago, Bjork said:

So what is exactly an industry plant? when labels throw a lot of money to push an artist?

cos then, every artist is an industry plan in a way I'd argue

“The term ‘industry plant’ is a musical term derived colloquially from hip-hop which is understood to mean, “an artist who has a major/indie label backing their movement but presents themselves as a ‘homegrown start-up’ to create the illusion of an organic following”.”

https://bubblegumclub.co.za/music/industry-plants-and-what-they-mean/

I would argue that Skye fits this definition considering she’s signed to Columbia but from checking the coverage about her and her social media this is kind of brushed under the rug. I think it’s just easier to see through the machine nowadays, and if you follow pop music it’s very strange to see a new artist get 2 top 20s with their first ever releases without having any sort of prior claim to fame (like Olivia Rodrigo). I’ve checked her TikTok numbers and they’re not bad but there are people with much more views who aren’t troubling the charts. This feels like another Gayle situation to me.

1 hour ago, 777666jason said:

Ah my mistake 🫣 bit weird its already been number 1 before unless he learning from Taylors team

Edit Can only find signed editions of Play on his website ?

They're being sold through Banquet and I think there's a secret link to them on his own website.

Definitely through Banquet though

8 minutes ago, No Sleeep said:

“The term ‘industry plant’ is a musical term derived colloquially from hip-hop which is understood to mean, “an artist who has a major/indie label backing their movement but presents themselves as a ‘homegrown start-up’ to create the illusion of an organic following”.”

https://bubblegumclub.co.za/music/industry-plants-and-what-they-mean/

I would argue that Skye fits this definition considering she’s signed to Columbia but from checking the coverage about her and her social media this is kind of brushed under the rug. I think it’s just easier to see through the machine nowadays, and if you follow pop music it’s very strange to see a new artist get 2 top 20s with their first ever releases without having any sort of prior claim to fame (like Olivia Rodrigo). I’ve checked her TikTok numbers and they’re not bad but there are people with much more views who aren’t troubling the charts. This feels like another Gayle situation to me.

It's not strange, she's been pushing those songs last year and if you go back loads of people are saying 'is this song out' after her success with Hairdresser (Which climbed the chart pretty slowly and has been hugely boosted by her 2nd single) naturally Family Matters has blown up to be bigger.

It's literally a case of songs going viral on TT because of the platform she already has, it's not weird and clearly this support is 90%+ from a UK following hence why it's not blowing up globally but she's smashing in the UK.

Her music is very fresh sounding and she is a raw talent with clearly strong vocals, alot make themselves into TT influencers who release music that no one cares for.

I'm not even a major fan of Skye but what you're saying makes no sense when she's had her TT account posting video's since 2020 and has also blown up on other socials, she's built a fanbase over time and she is a bit of a quirky 'cool' character that stands out she hasn't appeared last year with label backing and they've pushed her to form an unnatural fanbase?

9 hours ago, No Sleeep said:

That’s not exactly the same considering all the negative press she had online and ageism is a factor. It’s much easier to break a new artist by throwing everything at them and treating them like they’ve already made it than to revive an “aging” pop star’s career. It just doesn’t feel like genuine popularity, I’m not seeing real people talking about her. If you search her name on Twitter there’s barely anything about her and the few tweets there are have like 2 likes. It just seems odd to me.

Negative press is usually only a good thing. Most major artists have a ton of negative press. In fact, I'd argue the only way Katy Perry is unique in this regard is that her negative press comes after 8 years of not being relevant. Typically, the bigger you are, the more controversial you are and the more willing people are to blow the tiniest issue up to find reasons to hate you.

Even when the controversy is warranted, it doesnt hurt you. Look at Chris Brown, he's still capable of selling out stadiums and he's had way worse controversy and press than Katy Perry. People still like his music, so he remains incredibly successful. Kanye had a successful album and a top 5 hit last year.

6 minutes ago, EmailsICantChase said:

Even when the controversy is warranted, it doesnt hurt you. Look at Chris Brown, he's still capable of selling out stadiums and he's had way worse controversy and press than Katy Perry. People still like his music, so he remains incredibly successful. Kanye had a successful album and a top 5 hit last year.

Call me cynical, but I can't imagine they'd have weathered it quite so well if they were women.

2 hours ago, 777666jason said:

Is he that threatened by jade 🤭🤭 i suppose its not out for 3 months plenty of time to boost those preorders

The thing to take away from this is that Ed has already released 3 tracks, 3 months before the album release... And Jade has released 4 (about to be 5!)

How much will be left as "new" by the time they are out?

4 minutes ago, Jessie Where said:

Call me cynical, but I can't imagine they'd have weathered it quite so well if they were women.

I think Taylor's the only female i seen get so much bad publicity (still dont understand how or why ) for so long and still be successful

5 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

I think Taylor's the only female i seen get so much bad publicity (still dont understand how or why ) for so long and still be successful

I'm guessing you weren't around to see the crap Madonna got in the early 90s... and still keep her successful career alive and relevant for 2 decades after.

4 minutes ago, ChrisJK said:

The thing to take away from this is that Ed has already released 3 tracks, 3 months before the album release... And Jade has released 4 (about to be 5!)

How much will be left as "new" by the time they are out?

Tbh I like both so it makes no difference to me, eds throwing something out every few weeks apparently and we know jades will have 6 songs (MC is still on the album) but I think thats a discussion for another thread [since I got confused and turns out the signed leaflets are for the tour edition (original poster didn't specify) ]🫣

3 minutes ago, ChrisJK said:

I'm guessing you weren't around to see the crap Madonna got in the early 90s... and still keep her successful career alive and relevant for 2 decades after.

Was around just a whipper snapper in the 90s 🫣 90s baby

10 minutes ago, ChrisJK said:

I'm guessing you weren't around to see the crap Madonna got in the early 90s... and still keep her successful career alive and relevant for 2 decades after.

Only when she softened up her image with Evita and becoming a mother… Erotica was a big step down commercial success-wise from her previous work and it took her a while to recover.

4 minutes ago, No Sleeep said:

Only when she softened up her image with Evita and becoming a mother… Erotica was a big step down commercial success-wise from her previous work and it took her a while to recover.

The negative press I am referring to is the Sex Book/Erotica backlash... Which filtered through to Bedtime Stories.

But the US went from publishing the "I Hate Madonna Handbook" to giving her her biggest #1 with Take a Bow.

Yes, it took her a while to turn it round, but she managed it

so Lorde would be an industry plant, she gave this image when she appeared as some youngster doing her stuff in her bedroom

but she signed up with Universal at 12 or something and prepared by the label since

12 minutes ago, Bjork said:

so Lorde would be an industry plant, she gave this image when she appeared as some youngster doing her stuff in her bedroom

but she signed up with Universal at 12 or something and prepared by the label since

I would say so. I don’t think it’s anything new to the music industry but the way they go about it is a bit more sneaky nowadays. It’s just frustrating when you see an artist like Tinashe for example who built a following organically and did get signed to a major label but wasn’t granted the same level of promotion. Labels nowadays like to hide their association with an artist they’ve probably spent years developing and market them as “relatable” and authentic when really they’re just as manufactured as any early 00s pop group.