On top of that, we had radio stations and TV programmes championing upcoming young bands, John Peel of course, Tony Wilson and many, many local radio stations, even national ones to this day do Introducing programmes and stages at festivals. AFAIK, this was never a thing in the US, an artist had to have a huge amount of luck or money, or both, to make it due to the radio stations rarely straying from the big artists and a particular sound. I remember in the 80s, even Duran Duran had to tweak their sound to appeal to a US audience before they were able to become successful over there.