Madeline Edwards Rips Music Industry Professionals For Being More Concerned With TikTok Stats Than Her Opening Up For Music Legends Like Willie Nelson & Bob Dylan

She’s so right.

With the onset of social media, and TikTok in particular, it has completely changed the music industry… in some ways, for the good, but in many ways, for the worse. It seems like every year, it becomes less about an artist’s music, or songwriting, or pure talent, and more about how many “followers” or “likes” they have on any given platform… frustrating, to say the least, when you’re someone who loves music and cares about the integrity of it.

At the same time, the amount of indie artists who can now get immediate viral exposure is a definite positive.

So when the TikTok video below came across my feed, where Madeline Edwards, a rising star in the country/roots music world, ripped “industry professionals” for their lack of awareness when it comes to names like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, I had to watch the entire thing because she’s speaking from personal experience, and I agree with her wholeheartedly.

Madeline was born in California and raised in Houston, Texas, and first burst onto the scene in 2021 and released her debut album Crashlanded in 2022. She previously joined Chris Stapleton on his All-American Road Show tour, and is opening shows on this last leg of the 2025 Outlaw Music Festival tour which features Willie Nelson as the headliner. After cutting ties with Warner Nashville, she just released an indie album, FRUIT, back in mid-July.

But she took to TikTok to let everyone know that apparently, the people who actually work the music industry don’t actually care about the fact that a young artist is opening for legends like Dylan and Nelson… they just want to know the TikTok numbers. Shocker.

It’s frustrating because those two in particular shaped generations of music, and in terms of their writing, are cornerstones of the American pantheon and the greats of all-time. It’s easy for younger generations just how important and ground breaking they were, but her point about encouraging other artists to “stay indie” is spot on and ironically, so much easier to do because of the aforementioned apps in the modern world:

“I’ve been experiencing a recent phenomenon specifically with music industry professionals, where I mention in the next month, I will be going on the road opening for some of the greatest icons in American history: Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow. And these industry professionals give me the same reaction to those names as if I had just told them, ‘By the way, I’m throwing a little party at the local pub in downtown Nashville.’

I don’t know when it became not impressive, or not cool, to open for some of the greatest songwriters of our time, but this is the kind of industry that we work for now. Where you can compare those kinds of names, and that big of a tour, with a question like, ‘But what are your TikTok numbers like?’ My advice to every single artist out there is, please stay indie.

I promise you will make a lot more money and you will get a lot more say over your career, and you get to really cool s*** like for really big people. And apparently, that’s not impressive anymore, so please stay indie. These people don’t know what they’re talking about, and if opening for Bob Dylan isn’t cool enough for you, then you can go f*** yourself.”

She mentions “industry professionals,” so it’s unclear if she’s referring to executives or perhaps just some entry-level employees at a label or agency who work with socials, management or marketing, but the truth is, it’s just a job for a lot of people in the industry. It’s not a passion or a dream… it’s a paycheck. I’ve written about country music long enough to have had plenty of conversations with people in the country music industry who don’t even listen to it, don’t care about it, they just want to do their job and go home to watch whatever is on Netflix. It’s sad, it’s beyond sad, really… but it’s business.

One of the top comments summed it up best:

“Someone who doesn’t think Willie is cool doesn’t know what cool is.”

AMEN.

@makingmadeline true story. #ontour #willienelson #bobdylan #fyp #singersongwriter #americana #independentartist #tour #musicindustry #viral #truestory #storytime #nashville ♬ original sound – Madeline Edwards

The 2025 Outlaw Music Festival tour rolls onto Buffalo this weekend, and I recently went to their show in Charlotte and it was magical. Madeline’s right, the “industry professionals” don’t know what the heck they’re talking about… not that I ever really thought that, but all I can say is, they’re MISSING out. And maybe they don’t deserve it anyways…

Check out Madeline’s new project while you’re here:

2025 OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR DATES

August 8, 2025
Darien Lake Amphitheater, Buffalo, NY

Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Turnpike Troubadours
The Red Clay Strays
Waylon Payne

August 9, 2025
Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA

Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Turnpike Troubadours
The Red Clay Strays
Waylon Payne

August 10, 2025
Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY

Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Turnpike Troubadours
The Red Clay Strays
Waylon Payne

September 5, 2025
Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME