NME and Picture Parlour: A debut gone wrong, or right?
Those clued into the UK indie-rock world and the content of British publication NME (New Musical Express), have likely heard about the controversy surrounding their latest cover stars, Picture Parlour.
The Manchester quartet, who have only just released their debut single, had been crowned as last week’s act on the cover of “The Cover”, which appears to be a brand new section on NME that spotlights emerging (and potentially independent) acts. Every Monday, a new act is chosen to be showcased on the page, and so far, three other acts have been featured. As this section is less than a month old, social media users receiving first wind of Picture Parlour’s feature may understandably believe that the act have been featured as the face of the entire online publication, when they have actually been featured in a specific series dedicated to showcasing rising artists.
Now, furious music fans and followers of UK indie music are calling out the publication, leaving largely negative comments on the band’s socials, and are fueling much discussion about issues of nepotism, equity and payola in the music industry.
Here’s the information I have gathered about the band, the feature and the online reaction:
Picture Parlour are a four-piece indie/alternative rock outfit from Manchester. Prior to June 19th (as stated in their NME feature), the band had no online music releases. On the 20th of June, the band had an Instagram follower count of 7,762, and a Spotify monthly listener count of 1,393 (which presumably grew from 0 as they had no previous releases). From their NME feature, writer Sophie Williams stated: “London-based Picture Parlour have fast become one of Britain’s most talked-about new acts. Led by an ‘if you know, you know’ attitude amongst new music fans, each move that they have plotted in the past six months seems to have been geared towards their gigs”.
From the twitter reaction, the consensus is that the music community find it unbelievable that an indie band with no releases, an insubstantial social media presence and little live experience have been regarded as a fast-growing sensation. Assuming that people also believed the band to be cover stars of the entire publication, the argument is that this does not just happen to the average indie band.
As a journalist and publicist having received and sent hundreds and hundreds of pitches, and having watched bands in Ireland, the UK and the US grow from the ground up, I find the last statement to be correct on a general scale. Small and independent bands that have put their blood, sweat and tears into securing press coverage have enjoyed being featured on prominent media outlets, however, a band with no previous releases rising to the top so quickly after only being together approximately six months, is the stuff of dreams.
The UK has a bigger community of indie music blogs and media outlets than Ireland, and many of their publications are dedicated to British music acts only. This gives UK bands a higher level of accessibility and opportunity to receive coverage than what is available in Ireland. However, due to the popularity and volume of indie bands in the UK, the industry is highly competitive and greatly saturated, making it just as difficult to get noticed. Unless acts have a substantial track record of releases, have gigged extensively (especially securing support slots for larger UK acts) and have thus “made a name for themselves”, it’s rare to see them featured on top publications that predominantly feature mainstream news. Due to this, the music community has determined the thought of organic, equitable presswork methods as the reason for Picture Parlour’s rapid success, as implausible. From their NME interview, the band give insights into their pivotal opportunities so early in their career:
“Towards the end of last year, The Windmill put us on a Friday night slot,” Parlour says…..And afterwards, people were like, ‘Fuck off, that wasn’t your first gig!..... We had to ask [promoter] Tim [Perry] if that was a normal reaction to shows at The Windmill. He told us it wasn’t – and immediately invited us back to play the following week.”
Those in the industry understand that it is all about who you know in the music world. Nepotism and payola have always been relevant to the industry, but Picture Parlour’s debut is fueling intense discussion about inequitable frameworks. However, it only takes a minute of research (or a full read of the article) to discover that the band are fortunate enough to have ties to UK industry top-dog, Martin Hall:
“Without any financial backing, they had to ensure any personal funds spent on rehearsal spaces always resulted in new material, meaning they work on multiple songs at a time; Lynch, meanwhile, still holds a full-time contracts manager role. The fervour around their early live shows, however, has led to Picture Parlour landing a deal with the same management agency as Wet Leg, and though they are currently unsigned, the record deal offers have recently started to flood in”
Martin Hall also helped ignite the careers of James Arthur, Pixie Lott and The Script, so as a contact to have in the UK industry, he is gold. What is unclear in the case of Picture Parlour, is how this “deal” with the management agency occurred: Were they lucky enough to start their journey having close ties, or did Hall discover/hear rumblings about the band through his own network, and decide to approach them organically, leading to a relationship with NME. For myself and onlookers who are merely interested in how this has unfolded, we are curious if the band were just lucky enough to have been scouted purely for their talent - the way the music industry should work.
“We’re sitting with NME right now. That’s massive for us. We’ve worked really hard for this – and this is just the beginning.” - Picture Parlour
Hypothesizing that this was all conducted organically, Picture Parlour had every right to accept such a prestigious feature. Bands on twitter have pitched in to state that if they had the contacts and/or the opportunity to be in a similar situation, they would have went for it:
Until the band, their management or the NME publication issue a statement that offers insights into the relationship, all the twitter community can do is speculate. What’s fascinating is that the “all publicity is good publicity” concept, which is unraveling before our very eyes, will stand to the band’s growing presence. In order for individuals to determine their stance, streaming the band’s debut single will help formulate their opinion - which is exactly what the band and their management will want. Whether you are fuming, openly curious, or quietly intrigued by the situation, you will stream the song or engage with the discussion content. The band appear to be dealing with negative responses rather humorously:
This brings me to my personal thoughts on the situation: The music industry is a business, but business can be navigated through organic methods. Networks and rapports can and are built through natural communication and long-term collaboration. In the case of Picture Parlour, I will have questions regardless of the truth. If payola played a role, how much? How much does it take to buy your way to “the top”? If the experience was a direct result of hard work, organic networking and the luck of opportunities, how did the management deal occur? Did they invite label representatives? Did an A&R scout seek them? We in the music industry want a sneak peek into how to make it big. If you could fast-track success naturally, wouldn’t you?
Musically, I think Picture Parlour has a great sound. I enjoyed the debut single. If they had been in the industry longer and had a fuller discography to showcase, I do believe that they would have been on the cover of “The Cover” at a later point in their career anyway. But as a debuting band, it’s incredible to compare such an early feat to the lack of success earned by acts who have been working tirelessly for years. It’s like the music industry equivalent of rags to riches, overnight. It’s a magical thought, and a jealous reality for musicians who have come across the story.
Ultimately, NME likely tried to craft an inspiring story about an unknown band exhibiting the talent to be able to rise to the top. Arguably fostering a misleading sense of “you can too!”, if any inequitable methods have in fact been utilized, then they have instead exposed their role in the industry’s issues, and have inadvertently subjected an emerging band to waves of online abuse. The whole incident could be spun into a well executed PR stunt, where, the social media grumblings of artists and the interest of confused music fans have resulted in a very memorable debut for Picture Parlour.
