11 Vicious Songs Attacking the Music Industry
With musicians only taking home 12 percent of the music industry billions made each year, it’s no surprise that frustration has been channeled into song by many rock and metal legends. These tracks take on the music industry, throwing away the concept of “don’t shit where you eat.”
Punk rock has run the anti-industry gamut for decades, with the Sex Pistols becoming infamous for calling out one record label in particular — EMI. Following the band’s expletive-laden appearance on Grundy, EMI dropped the Sex Pistols, perhaps caving to media outrage. Turned out to be their loss, as Virgin released the explosive Never Mind the Bullocks to massive success.
Following The Dark Side of the Moon, you’d think Pink Floyd would be untouchable, right? Nope. Music industry greed only tightened around Pink Floyd as the band readied their 1975 album, Wish You Were Here. There are plenty of anti-industry messages to be found in Wish You Were Here, including the extremely blunt “Have a Cigar.” There’s no mistaking lyrics like “We heard about the sell out / You’re gonna get an album out” and “We call it ‘riding the gravy train.’”
How ironic is it that Korn’s “Y’all Want a Single” was actually used as a single? During the recording of 2004’s Take a Look in the Mirror, Epic Records felt like a hit single hadn’t yet been written. Jonathan Davis responded a middle finger their way, fitting “fuck” into “Y’All Want a Single” a total of 89 times.
Check out these 11 Vicious Songs Attacking the Music Industry in the Loud List above.
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