I don’t think anybody actually even knows what that means any more.
It seems like these days, any time an artist gets popular they get accused of being an “industry plant.” It’s obviously not a compliment, trying to insinuate that somebody is only popular because of wealth or nepotism or because they’re being promoted by their label and not because of their talent or hard work. But these days it seems like it’s just thrown around to mean any popular artist that someone doesn’t personally like.
The latest artist being accused of being an “industry plant” is Ella Langley, who’s become one of the biggest artists in country music thanks in no small part to the success of her latest hit “Choosin’ Texas.”
Now, Ella is far from an “industry plant” by any definition of the word. She didn’t come from wealth and wasn’t able to buy her way into the music industry: In fact, when she was just 13 her family lost their home for financial reasons. She worked at a trampoline park in Alabama as a teenager, and went on to Auburn University to study forestry while also pursuing a career in music.
She started posting music on YouTube back around 2018, and moved to Nashville in 2019 to start building connections as a songwriter and performing at local writers’ rounds.
During COVID, Ella started livestreaming and gaining new fans through her online platforms, and it wasn’t until 2021 when she signed her first publishing deal as a songwriter while also releasing her own music with help from her growing platform on TikTok.
Ella finally signed her first record deal in 2023, 4 years after moving to Nashville, and released her debut album Hungover in 2024.
It was that album, and her duet “you look like you love me” with Riley Green, that really gave Ella her breakout moment and eventually her first #1 single in late December 2024, more than 5 years after she first moved to Nashville and nearly a decade after she first started pursuing a career in music.
That’s a pretty long journey and a lot of hard work for an “industry plant.” The classic 10-year overnight success.
Of course Ella is currently having a monster run with her single “Choosin’ Texas,” which recently became the third-longest running #1 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart after spending its 18th week in the top spot. (It’s currently behind only Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with 22 weeks, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” with 19 weeks and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” with 19 weeks).
With its 18th week at #1, “Choosin’ Texas” also breaks a 23-year old record held by Beyoncé for the most weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 chart by a female artist this century, a record that was set by Beyoncé’s single “Baby Boy” back in 2003 when it spent 17 weeks at the top of the charts. And to say Beyoncé fans aren’t taking it well might be an understatement.
Obviously many are upset that a song they’ve never heard of has broken Beyoncé’s record:
It’s always a song I’ve never heard taking something from Beyoncé 😭.
— 👑 (@ScorpiLocs) August 17, 2026
But many are accusing Ella of being an “industry plant” or, even worse, of “payola” – buying her position on the charts:
This is obviously the biggest industry plant of all time and I’m sick of her fraudulent asspic.twitter.com/LJ2K8Gouil
— arirunpop (@arirunpopofc) August 17, 2026
This post makes me uncomfortable…. I almost blocked. Biggest industry plant ever.
— I’m your dads 1st wife (@BitchUthought53) August 18, 2026
Be so fr the payola is insane nobody knows this song 😭
— duo covers (fan account) (@duowlingocovers) August 17, 2026
so fraudulent payola is out here breaking records set by actual artists. this shows actual talent isn’t needed anymore just simple payola and bot streams to run your song number 1 for weeks
— THEFATDINGOBICH (@thefatdingobich) August 18, 2026
It’s still wild to me that there are people who HAVEN’T heard “Choosin’ Texas,” because it seems like that song is everywhere these days. But then again, there are a lot of popular songs I haven’t heard too so if you’re not seeking out that genre of music it’s easy to miss popular songs these days.
“Choosin’ Texas,” though, has become a massive phenomenon unlike any country song I can remember over the past decade or so, and it’s no surprise that it’s become such a massive hit.
And it’s only 10 years in the making. Not exactly an “industry plant” overnight success story.