Written By: Zoë Holguin

 I was scrolling through TikTok this past week and came across this video of a girl talking about how we need more “losers” starting bands. The video sucked me right in— who doesn’t like a good grabber sentence? She goes on to say how there are “too many hot people” in bands now, and how they all look “too cool” and as a result, it’s ruining the quality of music. In my head, I thought, “FINALLY, someone had to say it,” it’s something that all music enjoyers think about. We listen to music not because the lead singer’s hot, it’s all about the quality of the art. I’ll be honest when I watched the video I immediately thought of Will Toledo, frontman of the band Car Seat Headrest. The man is the definition of a scrawny, white guy that you’d feel scared of if he came up to you at a house party; doesn’t mean the music isn’t great. So that begs the question, is there a relationship between the quality of music and attractiveness? 

So why do looks matter?

We’ve all heard of “pretty privilege,” right? Urban Dictionary (credible source, I know) describes this phenomenon as a person having, or receiving more opportunities for the sole purpose of being beautiful. It’s usually a term used for women, but it can apply to any attractive person. I’ve definitely tried to use my charm to get free stuff, a very steep learning curve for sure.

With the rise of TikTok, we see a lot of beautiful people branch out into the entertainment industry only to be subpar at best. Some would say that it’s another cash-grab decision made by their agent. I’m looking at you, Dixie D’amelio. She’s not the only TikToker turned songwriter though, there’s @aryiaofficial who just has terrible music. His song, “She Don’t Like Boys” is just awful in all ways. The music itself is a generic pop-punk sound, lyrics that fetishize mentally ill women, and auto tuned vocals. Despite receiving a bunch of stitches on TikTok, he then made the decision to release a part 2, equally as garbage. He’s not the only one; Machine Gun Kelly, Tramp Stamps, GAYLE, Bryce Savage, YUNGBLUD,  the list goes on. These people make objectively garbage music but have a fanbase that enables them to make more.

I am focusing on music in the alternative rock scene and all of the subgenres within it. Its growth in popularity recently has piqued an interest in mediocre, conventionally-attractive musicians to promote their craft. 

The Issue

While technically there is no harm being done to the general public, and one might consider me irrational to care this much about something so trivial— I have no excuse. I am being extremely dramatic, I know, but some of my favorite artists are average-looking dweebs. When you’re a musician not blessed with the facial structure of Handsome Squidward, or a body like Hercules, all you have is your talent. Especially if you’re just starting out, you have to work hard to make sure the crowd thinks you’re good. Just look at Radiohead for example, in their photoshoot for Pablo Honey they all look like losers. But you know what, you can’t deny that their music isn’t something worth talking about. 

Now, I’m not saying that only dorks make good music, or hot people can’t be talented. We all know that would be a delusional statement, look at Damon Albarn and Alex Turner. I’m just saying that hot people have it too easy sometimes. Their attractiveness, and how easily it is to utilize it, makes it almost too easy for them not to try. All I’m saying is that the Michael Ceras in the world deserves some hype too. So I leave you with this— don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m joking but, as @GSElevator on Twitter once said— music was better when ugly people were allowed to make it.