When we think about music, we think about the impact an artist’s music has had on us, the songs that shaped our memories, the emotions we have felt and how their presence has changed our lives in more ways than one. While that is our personal connection to it, the overall influence stretches way further than that.
The music industry influences the artists who work within it. Ever-evolving technology influences how music is created and performed. We, as fans, contribute to the pressure artists face to deliver their best work. The more we understand these relationships and connections, the more aware we become of the role we play within the bigger picture.
We don’t realize how complex it actually is, until someone comes forward and explains it in a way that makes sense. So when our girl JoJo started her Hot Topics in Music series on social media, we were sat and ready to be educated. And she isn’t just talking about the industry and its flaws nor is she judging from a high horse, she is simply helping us understand all these different layers and behind the scenes operations we haven’t been fully aware of.
JoJo breaks it down for us, but it’s not about voicing her own opinion at all. All she really does is pick a relatable topic she can speak on and then she lets us share our thoughts and views on it in the comments. By starting the conversation, she opens up the floor to anyone who has either been affected personally or feels strongly about it for different reasons. And sometimes, you actually do get a really interesting or even whole new perspective.
Music is deeply personal, but the industry surrounding it is much bigger than any individual listening experience. Our perceptions of talent, authenticity, success and artistic value are shaped by forces we don’t always see. JoJo’s videos encourage us to look beyond what we hear and consider what shapes it. And there truly is no better person to educate us on all of it than one of the most talented artists and THE pop icon of our generation.
She is using her experience, curiosity, and intelligence to become an educator in her own industry — without necessarily setting out to be one. She calls it an “anthropological investigation” and we call it important lessons from Professor Levesque. If there’s someone we trust to give us valuable input and an authentic perspective, it’s definitely JoJo. In her we trust!
It’s not every day that you learn about why major artists choose to sell their masters and rights to their own music and how that comes about. We watched JoJo re-record her first two albums and Taylor Swift re-record four of hers, until she was finally able to buy back what was rightfully hers. And while we will always fight alongside our favorite artists and support them the best way we can, we don’t always understand the complexity and process of it all. But now, we slowly start to get not just that, but also why more and more musicians today decide to go independent.
We have witnessed Raye‘s journey to independence from sharing her struggles and frustration on Twitter/X in 2021 to finally signing an independent deal in 2022. And her hard work and persistence paid off big time, leading to sold out shows, making history at the 2024 Brit Awards and debuting at No. 1 on the Official Charts in the UK with her last album ‘THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE’. She did THAT and it honestly speaks for itself, but there is so much more to the story and those types of journeys that we don’t know about — unless a documentary is released one day or they publish a memoir that explains it all.
Important side note: If you haven’t read JoJo’s memoir Over The Influence yet, take this as your sign to order it now. It’s one of my favorite books I have ever read and definitely my favorite memoir by far. Especially, because I experienced the audiobook version and there is just something so comforting about hearing someone’s story, narrated in their own voice. There is a reason why this is the only book that made me wanna write a full book review article on it. Trust me, it’s worth your time!
No back to the series. From talking about owning or selling masters and rights, AI-generated music and artists going independent, to the variety of contributions that lead to credits on a song and the changes around live singing – our favorite new music professor is giving us the tea. And it’s only just the beginning, there is so much more to cover, so much more to talk about.
At the end of the day, JoJo is and will always be not only one of our favorite women in music, but one of the greatest vocalists the industry has ever heard. She is real, she is honest and she is not afraid to speak her truth. If you haven’t been influenced by her brilliance yet, it’s not too little too late to give a legend her flowers and recognize her as one of the greatest of all time.
