Is Nepotism Bad?
“No one remembers how you got a chance, they only remember what you did with it.”
― Stewart Stafford
Nepotism can be thought of as riding on your parents’ (or another person’s) success. Essentially you are getting by because of connections as opposed to skill or talent. But what parent doesn’t want their child to be successful? To that end it’s not hard to understand the motive behind nepotism. While this may be shamed by some, in today’s time with the large amounts of competition even for basic jobs it can be a challenge just getting your foot in the door. Nepotism can occur in any field, music is no exception.
One perspective is that nepotism makes it more difficult for qualified individuals to get a job. Even with credentials (such as having a college degree) you are not necessarily guaranteed a job. There are plenty of artists who got by because of connections as opposed to skill. The fear is that this is harming the music industry because instead of skilled artists we have many who produce tired and uninspired content at a level significantly lower than generations before previously held standards.
That is not to say that it is all bad, though. Some good and talented artists have come out of connections and others may have never been discovered if they didn’t know the right people. Perhaps the solution is to have everyone on the same standard (this is easier said than done, naturally). Despite this you still have power and a say through what you purchase and how you interact with music. In that way, you and thousands of others can literally change and shape both the music and entertainment industry.
How a person got to where they are is irrelevant, the most important thing is what they did with that opportunity. In that regard like so many other things in life nepotism is not inherently bad, what’s bad is entitled people wasting the opportunity or making a mockery of the field with their actions.