“The music industry is 80 percent, 90 percent kids who are privately educated,” he says (via NME ). “A kid from where I’m from [North Shields] can’t afford to tour, so there are probably thousands writing songs that are ten times better than mine, poignant lyrics about the country, but they will not be seen because it’s rigged.”

The young British rocker Sam Fender has a lot going for him. At home in the UK, Fender’s heavy-hearted, Springsteenian slice-of-life music has tapped into the cultural zeitgeist. His first two albums were both platinum chart-toppers.

Sam Fender claims that the music industry is “rigged” against the working class. In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the UK singer/songwriter claims that the majority of professional musicians are privately educated and expresses his sadness that so many great composers may go unheard as a result.