Sam Fender claims that the music industry is “rigged” against the working class.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the UK singer/songwriter claims that the majority of professional musicians are privately educated and expresses his sadness that so many great composers may go unheard as a result.
“The music industry is 80 percent, 90 percent kids who are privately educated,” he says (via NME). “A kid from where I’m from [North Shields] can’t afford to tour, so there are probably thousands writing songs that are ten times better than mine, poignant lyrics about the country, but they will not be seen because it’s rigged.”
Fender has been openly critical of the music industry before, such as on the song TV Dinner from his album People Watching, which came out on Friday (February 21). The track criticises the treatment of pop stars in the music industry.
Discussing the song, Fender says: “It was wild. I wrote that, then Liam Payne died. You think of the amount of times he was getting dragged through the press and he didn’t help himself, did he? Bless him. I remember watching some videos he was in and being, like, ‘God, what a tit.’ But the reality was that he was just a young lad, famous far too young, who had addiction trouble – and everyone hit him with the pitchforks.”
Fender is a known champion of rock music, having covered AC/DC classics Back In Black and You Shook Me All Night Long with frontman Brian Johnson during a show in Johnson’s hometown of Newcastle in 2023.
“We cannot really do AC/DC songs without the one, the only Geordie legend, the singer of AC/DC, Brian Johnson!” Fender told his audience.
Fender will promote People Watching with a tour in spring and summer, starting at the Paris Olympia on March 4. He’ll play mainland Europe and North America before returning for a UK show at London Stadium on June 6, followed by three shows in Newcastle. Further European dates will follow from late June to August.
See all details and get tickets via Fender’s website.
