I saw Haim on this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” and they promptly joined the long list of emerging musicians who, to quote a phrase that once was relevant on the show, were not ready for prime time when they made this appearance.

That’s a shame, but it’s also a symptom of today’s YouTube-centric, video-oriented path to music success. In this case, the three-sister band has an interesting sound and some songs with real appeal. But only one of the sisters appeared to know her way around her instrument very well, and all of the vocals lacked strength and conviction in a live performance.

You can hide some of these weaknesses in the studio. Here’s the official video for The Wire, one of the songs the band performed on SNL:

…and here’s the live performance. Notice what happens when there aren’t 130 studio effects in play:

I bring this up not to mock the band, which I think has real potential. I bring it up because these musicians are still young, and in a previous era, they would have been told to woodshed it for a year or two before they were put on this sort of stage. That would have brought along the vocals and the instrumental skills, and the band would have been ready for a potentially long run. But it’s more likely here that the band will have a few months in the spotlight, and then will fade as the next video-oriented group du jour comes along.

In other words, I think their career will slide just as they’re getting good. That’s the price you pay for creating a music industry that’s not built around music.