Photo Credit:Chris Pizzello AP
The 67 th Grammy Awards was on 3 rd February 2025 at 4 A.M EAT. Chappell Roan won New Artist of the Year against artists like Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, Raye, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims. During her acceptance speech, Chappell Roan addressed some big issues she had with the music industry and record labels while delivering her acceptance speech.
“I got signed so young, I got signed as a minor,” she began. 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 feel so betrayed by the system, and so dehumanized to not have health [insurance].”
She added: “If my label would have prioritized artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to. So record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a liveable wage and health insurance and protection. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
Chappell Roan, with over 40 million Spotify listeners, criticized the music industry and record labels for dehumanizing and mistreating new artists. “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 in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists,” she said.
The artist also expressed gratitude to her fellow nominees saying, “Thank you to my fellow nominees whose music got me through this past year. Brat was the best night of my life this year. Thank you all who listened to get me here today. Dan [Danniel Nigro] and Island Records, Amusement Records, my friends and my family, and, above all, my Papa Chappell, who I named myself after.”
