I wasn’t going to comment talk about Miley Cyrus, because frankly I don’t think it’s worth the attention… and that’s what this is all about. Attention, which translates directly into clicks and sales. (I’m quite partial to all three of those things myself, of course, but this isn’t about me.) So I’ll be brief.
To make a long story very short: when Mily claimed that Sinead ‘Connor was a direct influence on her stupid new video, Sinead replied with a fairly patronizing expression of worry that young Miley was being exploited. Amanda Palmer then replied to Sinead, suggesting that Miley was running her own circus and she was exploiting her own assets.
But, regardless of who is pulling the strings, it’s not Miley who is being exploited, it’s Sinead O’Connor. At best they’re trying to borrow some of O’Connor’s credibility; at worst they’re using it to generate more attention to a enterprise that is creatively bankrupt.
I have no problem with Miley Cyrus making raunchy music videos, or making money from that process–that’s the economy of the pop industry now. But Sinead and Amanda are musicians who came to their positions by making remarkable music. I have difficulty finding anything remarkable about Miley Cyrus whatsoever.