Liam Payne’s death last week has left the world reeling. At the age of 31, Payne fell from the third-floor balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel suite. The outpouring of grief from his friends, fans and loved ones has been dissected, splashed across headlines and read by millions.
It was, of course, a terrible, tragic event. But for music insiders, the tone feels slightly different: shock, certainly, but also a kind of sad resignation at an industry that chews up young talent and spits them out, broken, once their market value goes down.
