What Happened to Supporting Music

Lately I have found myself thinking a lot about something that really hit me after watching the video of YUNGBLUD breaking down and reading the statement he put out afterwards. It made me stop and think. Not just about him as an artist, but about what we have become as a music culture online. Because the reaction to it said just as much as the moment itself. Instead of empathy, there was laughter. Instead of understanding, there was judgment. And it honestly made me realize how far we have drifted from what music is supposed to be about.

Lately I have also been feeling like I cannot scroll through social media without seeing people tear apart other musicians. “They suck.” “They are not talented.” “They do not deserve it.” That kind of thing is everywhere now. And it is starting to feel normal, like it is just part of music culture online. But it should not be. Because behind every one of those artists is a human being. Someone who wrote the songs. Someone who practiced when nobody was watching. Someone who played the tiny clubs where barely anyone showed up. Someone who loaded their own gear, drove their own van, and kept going when it would have been easier to quit.

And lately I have been thinking more about what that kind of constant negativity actually does to people. It does not just bounce off. It chips away at them. It makes them question themselves. It makes them wonder if they are good enough. It makes them wonder if they should even keep going.

YUNGBLUD is a perfect example of this. And whether you are a fan or not is not really the point. He spent years doing what every artist has to do. Small venues. Small crowds. Building a fanbase one person at a time. His Black Hearts Club was not handed to him. It was built through connection, consistency, and showing up over and over again.

Then came that moment at Ozzy Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning concert performing Changes. That performance changed a lot of people’s perception of him. Even people who had written him off before started to see something different. They saw respect. They saw emotion. They saw an artist who genuinely cares about the music and the people who came before him.

You would think a moment like that would quiet the noise. But it did not. If anything, it got louder. People went right back to calling him an industry plant. They picked apart his appearance. They questioned his talent. They acted like none of the years of work mattered at all.

And lately I have been thinking about how easy it is for people to say those things without ever stopping to think about who is reading them. Because they are reading them. Musicians see everything. Their families see it. Their friends see it. And it gets inside your head whether you want it to or not. Even strong artists have moments where it affects them.

I also hear people say he came from money. And yes, from what is publicly known, he did grow up in a more financially comfortable situation. But that is not the same thing as buying success. Money does not write songs that connect with millions of people. Money does not build a fanbase that shows up night after night. Money does not survive years of rejection, criticism, and proving yourself over and over again. Money might open a door. But it does not make people care.

If success could be bought, every wealthy kid would be a global rock star. That is not how this works. At some point, the music has to stand on its own.

What makes this even harder is that it is not just small artists dealing with this. It is happening to stadium acts. Festival headliners. Artists who have been in the industry for decades. Nobody is really safe from it.

And lately I have been noticing how intense the pressure on musicians really is. AI is changing how music is created and consumed. Venues sometimes expect bands to pay just to be seen. Streaming pays almost nothing unless you are at the very top. And artists are expected to constantly post, promote, tour, and create content just to stay visible.

It is exhausting. The odds are already stacked against them before the hate even enters the picture.

And lately I have been asking myself why the hate feels so normal now. Because it is not just random people anymore. It is fans. It is other musicians. It is people in the industry. It is articles written just to get clicks.

And I keep coming back to the same questions. Is it jealousy. Is it frustration. Is it the feeling that someone else got what you wanted. Is it easier to tear someone down than to deal with how hard this industry really is. Maybe it is all of that.

But whatever it is, it does not help music. It does not build anything. It does not make anyone better. It only makes everything more divided.

Do people really think it makes them look cool to say another musician is talentless. Do they think it makes their own band stronger. Because from where I am standing, it does the opposite. It just shows how broken the conversation around music has become.

If you are spending more time tearing other artists down than supporting your own scene or your own work, maybe it is worth asking why you are even here in the first place. Because this should be something we are all in together.

You do not have to like every artist. Nobody does. Music is subjective and that is what makes it beautiful. But there is a huge difference between saying something is not for you and trying to destroy the person who made it.

Somewhere along the way we lost that understanding. Music has always been about connection. About emotion. About shared experience. About finding something in a song that makes you feel less alone. It should still be that.

Before you leave the comment. Before you post the insult. Before you tell someone to shut up and play. Remember there is a person on the other side of that screen. Someone who has given their life to something you are judging in seconds.

And ask yourself if you are adding anything good to music. Or just making it harder for people to stay in it.

Because we do not need more noise tearing artists down. We need more people willing to keep music alive.

Peace, Love and Loud Music,

Mickey

https://youtu.be/oJZmO5mByVY?is=3bQD8Ev1V5ypH6xP