When Yungblud addressed criticism of being an “industry plant” earlier this week in a lengthy, and especially vulnerable, Instagram post, artists from SZA to Anthrax’s Scott Ian rallied to support him. “The amount of hate and disbelief around me from strangers
on the Internet or bitter musicians really weighs on my heart,” Yungblud wrote, “as all I’ve been trying to do for the past 10 years is spread love, build something I believe in and unify people in a safe space.”
But that pejorative term isn’t reserved only for those in pop or rock music. Country music artists, including mainstream stars like Ella Langley and viral figures like Oliver Anthony, have all had “industry plant” lobbed their way too.
Most recently, it’s been Stella Lefty. The Chicago-area singer is blowing up thanks to her single “Boston,” a country-and-pop crossover that helped her find an audience on TikTok. But the 23-year-old is also finding her origin story called into question. It doesn’t help that Lefty’s father, Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky, is a reported billionaire, or that Noah Kahan has a songwriting credit on “Boston” — the track interpolates a portion of Kahan’s hit “Stick Season.”
Lefty calls the chatter and discourse “unnatural.” In an interview with Rolling Stone last month, Lefty said that even her appearance, specifically her smile, is being dissected. “People are constantly like, ‘What’s happening with your gums?’” she says.
But Lefty also accepts that such criticism comes with the gig. “There’s always going to be people who don’t like me or my music, or something about me. At the end of the day, I just focus on the people that do,” she said. “This is what I decided to do. Double-edged sword.”
Lefty’s manager, Adam Alpert of Disruptor Records, is more aggressive when it comes to dismissing claims of “industry plant.” According to him, the phrase is a red herring.
“Industry plants don’t exist,” he says, “no matter what anybody says or thinks from the outside of the music business.”
Still, whenever there is perceived “overnight success,” conspiracy theorists will be quick to cry “industry plant.” It’s happened with Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, and even Taylor Swift. But as Alpert says, there’s one thing that distinguishes all of those artists, including Lefty: legitimate songs.
“You have to make great songs that people like,” Alpert says. “All these artists that people call ‘industry plants’ are having success because they’ve done just that.”
Read Rolling Stone senior writer Marissa R. Moss’s profile of Stella Lefty here.
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