Is it on Chappell Roan to “put her money where her mouth is?”
Should Chappell Roan “put her money where her mouth is?”
Commentary: Music executive Jeff Rabhan’s misguided Hollywood Reporter column sparks controversy in the industry. Is he right?
Chappell Roan wouldn’t be Chappell Roan without causing a scene. Roan won Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammys, delivering a speech that resulted in online back and forth, mostly in the form of guest columns in The Hollywood Reporter.
Roan dedicated her speech to the upper echelons of the music industry, imploring record labels to pay artists a living wage and provide health care, saying:
“I got signed as a minor, 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. It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system.”
At the ceremony, Roan’s speech received a standing ovation. However, Jeff Rabhan, the former Chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University, was not a fan, writing a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter titled “Chappell Groan: The Misguided Rhetoric of an Instant Industry Insider.”
Rabhan’s complaints seemed to stem from a good place. “Her rise to stardom, fueled by viral moments, major label backing and an industry desperate for the next alternative pop starlet, proves she’s no longer a struggling artist. She should do something about it — rather than just talk at it,” said Rabhan.
This sentiment is fine on its own, but the rest of the piece devalues his point, as Rabhan goes on to bash Roan in a condescending tone, saying things like “See? There’s still room for puppy dogs and ice cream in this story.” Rabhan’s argument was destroyed by his own need to be correct, to one-up a newcomer in the industry.
But Rabhan’s argument also doesn’t stand if one knows the history of Roan’s career. As she said in her speech, Roan was signed by a record label when she was 16. Five years later, in 2020, she was dropped after her single “Pink Pony Club” underperformed. And five years after that, she won the Grammy for Best New Artist. Rabhan calls Roan “too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be.” Roan may just now be breaking into the scene, but that does not mean her career just started.
Additionally, the music industry is not exactly well known for taking care of young talent. Rabhan points to Taylor Swift as someone Roan should call on to donate money to help struggling musicians. Like Roan, Swift signed a record label contract before she turned 18. Unlike Roan, she achieved massive success before her 18th birthday. And, as mentioned by Rabhan, Swift does not own her masters; they belong to her former manager Scooter Braun.
Swift had the good fortune of maintaining and growing her fanbase over the years, meaning she could afford to rerecord her old albums (an idea suggested by a former client of Rabhan’s, Kelly Clarkson). But she was also exploited by the music industry at a young age. She could (and should) use her platform as one of the most famous voices in the industry, but the point is that Swift shouldn’t have to be relied upon to help upcoming musicians. The point is that the music industry should treat artists better so they can afford to pursue their art.
“Demanding that labels pay artists like salaried employees ignores the fundamental economic structure of the business. No one is forcing artists to sign deals. For the one-millionth time — if they don’t like the terms, they can stay independent, own their masters and take the financial risk themselves,” said Rabhan. While that may be true, any independent musician would describe how difficult it is to remain independent. A January 2025 survey of 1,500 independent artists by Ditto Music uncovered that 82 percent of acts cannot afford to tour. 75 percent of these musicians financed their music through personal savings. So to imply that staying independent is a feasible option for a musician is laughable. Some have done it successfully; many have not.
Post-Rabhan’s piece, many have come to Roan’s defense. The Hollywood Reporter published a counter piece by Letters to Cleo lead singer Kay Hanley, and Noah Kahan and Charli XCX have each matched Roan’s $25,000 donation for artist healthcare. Roan challenged Rabhan to do the same. In response, Rabhan posted on X, saying “You don’t want my money you want my time and I donate it every day.” Roan puts her money where her mouth is.
Why can’t Rabhan?