“A couple of words for all you hopefuls out there in unsigned bands: Fuck. Off. Seriously, your parents are right. You might as well spend your guitar-string money on lottery tickets - your chances will be much the same.” 

The music industry does not give a damn about you. Your chance of success is minimal and they know it. They are tired of being flooded with the hopes and dreams of people who does not have a chance to get successful. If you are one of the few who sign a contract, it does not mean that you made it. The industry is harsh. They show no mercy.  

It is the characters language and its story, and this highlights its point of view. 

It is like he is speaking to us, and this makes it more sincere. 

More present. 

Because Its a satirical novel. The hidden face of the recording industry is described, its ruthless side, that which no one knows, but which Niven describes with extreme authority (having been part of it for many years). In this world, appearance is everything and nobody really knows what they are doing. 

Example of the use of “us”
“You now owe us 100K.”
(p. 28, l. 23-24) 

Example of the use of “we”
“We receive upwards of three hundred unsolicited demo tapes every week”
(p. 27, l. 4-5) 

Example of the use of “our”
“spilling over the carpets and taking up sofa space until Tom, our work experience, has to lug sacks of them down to the incinerator where you hopes and dreams are - rightly - burned in the fires of hell”
(p. 27, l. 14-17) 

Example of the use of “I”
“In return for her fifteen minutes I guarantee you that Geri Halliwell would have…” (p. 31, l. 12-13)

The use this narrator makes the story feel more shocking, by fully taking the responsibility of what is told, even though it might seem extremely harsh, we feel like there must be some truth in what he is saying otherwise he wouldn’t risk telling it to us without any filter at all. 

His tone seems angry, like he really is tired of people thinking they can be famous. An example of this can be found on page 31, line 1 through 6.

                      “Madonna, Bono the Spice Girls, Noel Gallagher, Kylie… do you really think any of that lot are talented? Don’t make me fucking laugh. What they are is ambitious. This is where the big money is” 
(p. 31, l. 1-6)

He uses swear words like “fucking” and he asks us a rhetorical question and then proceeds to answer it and then make fun of you if you disagreed. 

Its written in 1^st person and that   makes the text very personal. Its is like reading his thoughts about fame.

You might not think that he is funny, because he seems extremely serious about his case, but the humor lies in the way he just completely tears down everything and everyone.

He is very immoral, normally you wouldn’t describe anyone as “malnourished cockless freaks”, but he simply tells us what he thinks, taking no interest in the fact that it might me immoral.

In the same way as he is immoral he also comes across as very discriminatory, this can be seen in the same example as before when he calls indies “malnourished cockless freaks”.

You wouldn’t think that anyone would ever take any advice from a man sounding as delusional as this, but the fact of the matter is, that he is an expert. He has experience, he is an A&R executive in a big record company, so that fact that he is so pessimistic about this, might be because it’s true.

He is very cynical, the reason why he is saying all of this is because he is annoyed with all the work he must do, listening to bad demos. 

Self-loathing means that you feel an intense dislike towards you, or a group that you are part of. He hates that he is a part the music industry, and that they keep signing unambiguous artists, and never producing good celebrities.

In “Juliet, Naked” music has completely taken over all meaning in Duncan’s life. He has no other aspirations than finding out more about his favorite artist and his music, music is everything for him. He has even put his love life on hold because of it. 

the narrator and his colleagues in Kill Your Friends 

Music to the narrator and his colleagues is nothing more than money. If you can’t make them any money you’re out and not fit to make music. They don’t need any talent, they just need you to be ambitious, so you can make them as much cash as possible. 

the "indie kids" in Kill Your Friends? 

The indie kids are nearly described as stupid by the narrator, because they won’t make as much money as he will. However, I think that the indies are actually the ones who most enjoy music, because even though it’s not the most popular artists, even though people may not make as much, or that there are not many of them, they still keep on listening to the music, not because everyone else does it, but because it is music that they actually like.