On Feb. 2, after winning the Grammy award for Best New Artist, Chappell Roan gave a speech calling for record labels to provide their signed artists with better healthcare and financial support.
“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,” she said. She also said she felt “betrayed by the system” and “dehumanized” by not having healthcare.
Roan received criticism over her speech and sparked American music executive Jeff Rabhan to write an opinion piece about it for the magazine, The Hollywood Reporter. The title of the piece was “Chappell Groan: The Misguided Rhetoric of an Instant Industry Insider.”
In this piece, Rabhan said that Roan was “far too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be today.” He compared her wishes for artists to have a livable wage to how hard other artists like Taylor Swift and Prince worked to get to their financial levels.
He also said that Roan has risen to the level of fame where she could do something instead of “just talk at” the wage issue. “Why isn’t Roan pushing her artist peers to put their money where their mouth is and donate 2 to 3 percent of their advance to a fund that supports fellow artists?” said Rabhan.
Artist Halsey defended Roan on her Instagram story, criticizing the editorial. “I hope you’re embarrassed of the absolute personal attack that you’ve ran and disguised as critical journalism,” she said.
She also said that an artist is the “ORGANIC MATERIAL” behind producing a product, and they should have access to health care. “If you want to profit off of someone else’s art; that artist should have the basic living means to feel safe enough to create that art,” Halsey said.
Following Rabhan’s editorial, Roan responded on her Instagram story to the comment about donating. She challenged him to match her $25,000 donation she made to the organization Backline, which goes toward artists dropped by their music labels.
“Mr. Rabhan I love how in the article you said ‘put your money where your mouth is’ Genius !!! Let’s link and build together and see if you can do the same,” Roan said on her Instagram story.
After that, Roan followed up with a series of posts of some artists she felt “deserve more love and a bigger platform.” The posts contained artists Devon Again, Sarah Kinsley, Hemlocke Springs and Baby Storme.
Roan’s post caused other artists to match her donation. Noah Kahan and Charli XCX, who were both at the Grammys, made posts on their Instagram stories about their donations.
“I’m inspired by you,” Kahan said. “Happy to get the ball rolling. Money where my mouth is!”
Charli XCX said in her post that Roan’s speech was “inspiring and thoughtful and from a genuine place of care.” She said she would match Roan’s donation.
Not every reaction from music executives has been negative. Tatum Allsep, Music Healthcare Alliance’s founder and CEO, said in an interview that he was “jumping on [his] couch” during Roan’s speech.
“I was like, ‘Gosh, thank you for bringing this up.’ The conversation was started. What’s really important to know for all the young artists who are listening is you don’t have to go without if you are making a living within our industry,” Allsep said.
