Australian EDM star What So Not (real name Christopher John Emerson) has shared his music industry hot take on social media, expressing his belief that original indie music is “dead.”

He shared his view of the music industry in a new video posted to Instagram, where he strolls and talks into the camera.

“The only thing getting money spent on and pushed is something that is already kicking off algorithms owned by major labels,” the DJ said—a timely point to make after it was announced that Universal Music Group and Spotify had struck a multi-year deal this week.

Emerson continued, “Major labels own the streaming services. Major labels own in perpetuity back catalogue, publishing, and masters.”

The DJ claimed that major labels are allowing young artists to create bootlegs packed with viral and familiar aspects of music, which then lets labels re-release songs and “keep the lion’s share” of the proceeds. He also said major labels don’t hand much of their proceeds down to artists but rather train AI models, which they “also own in perpetuity.”

Amid these factors, Emerson believes being an artist will be reserved for those who can make it a hobby: for “rich people or people with rich parents”.

He captioned the video, “Did I mention they’re buying all indie labels too to make money on fees and volume rather than pitching bets on pop stars alone? & they sit on all the boards to build the systems to ‘determine’ whose music got played in what venues/stores/events (and if it ‘can’t be worked out’, they just send the money to ‘top 40 artists’! [aka themselves!]).”

You can watch the video below.

Last year, What So Not teamed up with Peking Duk to host the first-ever Bunnings Rave in Preston, Victoria, which sold out its tickets immediately.

The event had a sausage sizzle, sold exclusive Bunnings rave merchandise, and featured face painting. All proceeds from the sausage sizzle and ticket sales went to Support Act.

What So Not also made headlines for compiling a list of local up-and-coming DJs to give to international touring artists during his Dance Revival tour last July.

The Lights Go Out producer explained his mindset of giving back to young DJs in an interview with Purple Sneakers, “I have all these super-talented kids that send me stuff, and then they’re not getting shows, or they can't even work out how to make enough money to do it properly. They're all working jobs. So, I wanted to go on a mission to find out not who’s the most popular young person that's already got a bit of a platform, but who are the ones that don't have platforms yet?”

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