by Jade Reynoso
When Chappell Roan accepted her Best New Artist Grammy on February 3, her call for artist healthcare sparked an unexpected chain reaction. Her speech has now prompted Universal Music Group to launch a new mental health initiative, though questions persist about label responsibility toward developing artists.
Roan used her Grammy platform to advocate forcefully for artist welfare. “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists,” she stated.
This declaration came from personal experience. After being dropped by her label in 2020, she found it difficult to pay for medical care. In her speech, Roan spoke about her own experience. “I got signed so young … and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt, and like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic, and could not afford health insurance. It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and to feel so betrayed by the system and to be so dehumanized to not have healthcare. If my label would have prioritized artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to.” Many artists who were going through similar struggles in the industry found resonance in her statements.
The speech struck a chord because it tackled a core issue facing the industry, especially for up-and-coming musicians. Top earning musicians bring in a lot of money for labels with the artists only keeping a certain cut of it. Up-and-coming artists frequently lack fundamental assistance from those same labels who are earning money from other artists. Roan demonstrated incredible bravery in calling for change despite just getting her breakout moment and the risk of the spotlight being taken away still there.
In his Hollywood Reporter piece, Jeffrey Rabhan, a former music executive, referred to Roan as “uninformed” and urged her to “put her money where her mouth is.” Many artists came to her defense with singer Halsey first posting an Instagram story defending Roan. She called Rabhan’s op-ed a personal attack and claimed it was “loaded with assumptions and accusations that generalize the experience of every artist to that of the most successful.”
Roan also responded to Rabhan on her own Instagram story with a screenshot of his op-ed with the caption, “@jeffrabhan wanna match me $25k to donate to struggling artists? My publicist is @/biz3publicity let’s talk.” Since then, many other artists have matched her donation in support of the initiative, including Noah Kahan, LAUV, Charlie xcx, and Sabrina Carpenter. However, corporations and other industry insiders are also starting to join in including BMO Stadium, SJM Concerts, Live Nation, Sumerian Records, and many more.
Her speech and the backlash received from it has seemed to unite and push artists and companies alike to do better for their artists. Roan ended her Grammy acceptance speech with, “Labels, we got you — but do you got us?”
