Actually, there is absolutely nothing „artificial“ about practicing raganuga-bhakti.

Raganuga-bhakti is a sadhana of bhakti, just like vaidhi-bhakti too. It is a process and it runs through the same stages like the path of vaidhi-bhakti.
Raganuga-bhakti is not the post-graduate study of a vaidhi-bhakti practitioner. It may be that the practitioner starts with vaidhi-bhakti, but it is not mandatory.

The practice of sadhana-bhakti is understood as follows:

kriti-sadhya bhavet sadhya-bhava sa sadhanabhidha
nitya-siddhasya bhavasya prakatyam hridi sadhyata
(Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu 1.2.2)

“That, which is accomplished through the functions of the senses, and through which a loving devotional feeling (bhava) is attained, is called devotion in practice (sadhana-bhakti). The appearance of an eternally perfected feeling within the heart is called the stage of the attainment of perfection.”

This practice of devotion then is further divided into two distinct paths with their completely distinct goals:

vaidhi raganuga ceti sa dvidha sadhanabhidha
(BRS 1.2.5)

“Practice is of two kinds, namely vaidhi and raganuga.”

vidhi-bhaktye parshada-dehe vaikunthete yaya ||
(Caitanya Caritamrita 2.24.87)

“Through vidhi-bhakti, one will attain the form of an associate in Vaikuntha.”

aisvarya-jnane vidhi-bhajana kariya
vaikunthake yaya catur-vidha mukti pana
(CC 1.3.17)

“Those who worship according to scriptural commandments, being aware of the Lord’s superhuman prowess, attain the four kinds of liberation in Vaikuntha.”

raga-bhaktye vraje svayam-bhagavane paya
(CC 2.24.85)

“Through raga-bhakti, one will attain the Lord Himself in Vraja.”

raganuga-marge tanre bhaje yei jana
sei-jana paya vraje vrajendra-nandana
(CC 2.8.221)

“He who worships on the path of raganuga will attain Vrajendranandana (Sri Krishna) in Vraja.”

sakala jagate more kare vidhi-bhakti
vidhi-bhaktye vraja-bhava paite nahi sakti
aisvarya-jnanete saba jagat misrita
aisvarya-sithila-preme nahi mora prita
(CC 1.3.15-16)

“Everyone in this world worships Me through vidhi-bhakti. Vidhi-bhakti has no power for attaining the feelings of Vraja.
The devotion of the world is mixed with knowledge of My divine prowess. I do not delight in love diluted with prowess.”

karma, tapa, yoga, jnana, vidhi-bhakti, japa, dhyana
iha haite madhurya durlabha
kevala ye raga-marge, bhaje krishne anurage
tare krishna-madhurya sulabha
(CC 2.21.119)

“Sweetness is very difficult to attain through fruitive activities, austerity, yoga, intellectual speculation, vidhi-bhakti, recitation of mantras or meditation.
The sweetness of Sri Krishna is easily attainable only for the one who affectionately worships Him on the path of raga.”

These two paths run parallel and both run through the stages Srila Rupa Goswami describes:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu sango’tha bhajana kriya’
tato’nartha nivrittih syat tato nishtha rucis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah
(Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhuh 1.4.15-16)

“First of all there is faith, then one associates with devotees, then one begins to engage in bhajana, then one gets rid of bad habits, becomes fixed,
gets taste, becomes attached (to Krishna), then bhava awakens and then prema. This is how the gradual growth of prema of the devotee takes place.”

Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipad elaborates on this famous verse in his book “Madhurya Kadambini”, where he wonderfully describes each stage within bhakti.

Then, in his other book, “Raga Vartma Chandrika”, he focuses exclusively on the path of raganuga-bhakti.

“Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself describes (in Śrīmad Bhāgavata 11.14.26) how the devotee on the path of sacred passion advances and becomes more purified and more obsessed with sacred greed by the day, from the initial stage of surrender to the feet of a guru up to the point in which he directly attains the Lord:
‘The more one’s mind gets purified by hearing and chanting of My beautiful pastimes, the better one is able  to discern the subtle reality (of the Self),
just as the eye is better able to perceive more and more subtle things when it is treated with medicinal ointment’.
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)

“Now it will be described how the rāgānugīya bhakta gradually advances through the stages of anartha nivṛtti (cessation of bad habits), niṣṭhā (fixation), ruci (taste), and āsakti (attachment to the beloved deity), upto the stage of prema (love of God) and the direct attainment of his beloved deity.”
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)

So, clearly we can learn that raganuga-bhakti starts “from the initial stage” of surrendering to the feet of Sri Gurudeva.

guru-padashrayas tasmat krsna-diksadi-siksanam
vishrambhena guroh seva sadhu-vartmanuvartanam
(Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu 1.2.74)

(1) Submission to the lotus feet of the Guru (Spiritual Master);
(2) Receiving diksha-mantras from him and instructions on bhakti;
(3) serving the spiritual master with affection;
(4) following in the path of saints.

It is a fact, that vaidhi-bhakti is more known to the world of devotional practitioners.

Aho! The path of raganuga-bhakti is hard to see even by the demigods!
May the intelligent devotees get to know this path through the diffusion of this light.
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)

But by the mercy of Krishna and His devotees, we can start to practice raganuga-bhakti.

krsna-tad-bhakta-karunya-matra-labhaika-hetuka
pusti-margataya kaiscid iyam raganugocyate
(BRS 1.2.309)

“The mercy of Krsna and His devotees is the only cause of attaining raganuga-bhakti .
Some call this type of devotion pusti-marga.”

Srila Jiva Goswami tells us what a practitioner needs to do at the beginning of his/her raganuga-sadhana-bhakti:

ajata-tadrisa-rucina tu sad-viseshadara-matradrita raganugapi vaidhi-samvalitaivanushtheya
tatha loka-samgrahartham pratishthitena jata-tadrisa-rucina ca
atra misratve ca yatha-yogyam raganugayaiki krityaiva vaidhi kartavya
(Bhakti-Sandarbha 312)

“Those in whom such taste (ruci) has not awakened, but who have a special interest for it, should engage in a mixture of raganuga and vaidhi.
For the sake of establishing an example for the people of the world, the one in whom such ruci has awakened will do the same.
Therefore, as appropriate, raganuga should be performed together with vaidhi.”

It is not that a practitioner of raganuga-sadhana-bhakti is above all rules and regulations and thus he can do whatever he pleases.

Those who say that rāgānugā bhakti is always fully transcendental to all scriptural injunctions in all respects are denounced by Gītā-verses such as ‘those who give up all scriptural injunctions to worship with mere faith’, and ‘food made without regulations’, have always caused disturbance, are causing disturbance and will cause disturbance. There is no need to say anything more.
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)

It may surely be that certain individuals have been or still are causing such addressed disturbances, but it doesn´t make the process of raganuga-sadhana-bhakti artificial.
What is artificial, is the behavior of those who cause these disturbances,thinking themselves to be beyond all scriptural injunctions.

When we hear about the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krishna in Vraja and about the purest love the Vrajavasis have for Them from the lips of a Vaishnava, and we then develop our greed to attain such love in the mood of a particular role-model in Vraja, we can start practicing raganuga-bhakti under the guidance of Sri Gurudeva.

tat tad bhavadi madhurye srute dhir yad apekshate
natra sastram na yuktim ca tal lobhotpatti lakshanam
(BRS. 1.2.292)

“When one hears about the sweetness of their feelings and so forth, and a desire for attaining the same awakens in the consciousness without dependence on scripture and logic, this is a symptom of the awakening of greed (lobha).

“Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has personally given the following definition of lobha (sacred greed) in Śrī Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu:
‘When the heart yearns for the sweetness of the mutual feelings of Kṛṣṇa and His eternal associates in Vraja, and one is not dependent on scriptural injunctions or  logical arguments, then that is the definition of ‘the cause of sacred greed’.”
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)

sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ
(BRS 1.2.295)

Following after the inhabitants of Vraja, one should perform service in one’s physical body and in one’s siddha body, with a desire for a particular bhāva.

To say that the practice of raganuga-sadhana-bhakti is at one point “artificial” is not really the correct nomenclature.

For the conditioned living entity, the process of bhakti in itself is very artificial.
Because we are fully absorbed in our bodily misidentification, we naturally feel “uncomfortable” or “artificial”.

But what really is artificial, is this bodily misidentification. The soul longs for bhakti and for the soul, material consciousness is artificial.

In the process called raganuga-sadhana-bhakti, the subject is not about being artificial or not.

Srila Narottama das Thakur clears up that deep misunderstanding very nicely:

rāgera bhajana patha,
kohi ebe abhimata,
loka veda sāra ei vāṇī
sakhīra anugā hoiyā,
vraje siddha deha pāiyā,
ei bhāve juḍābe parāṇi
(Prema Bhakti Chandrika, verse 48)

“Now I will tell you the opinion of the saints and the scriptures about the path of spontaneous devotion. These words are the essence of the popular and Vedic teachings.
If you follow in the footsteps of the sakhīs you will attain a spiritual body in Vraja. In this way you will gratify your spiritual self.”

yugala caraṇa sevi,
nirantara ei bhāvi,
anurāgī thākibo sadāya.
sādhana bhāvibo yāhā,
siddha-dehe pābo tāhā
rāga pathera ei se upāya
(Prema Bhakti Chandrika, verse 55)

“I will always think of the devotional service of the lotus-feet of the Divine Pair, and I will always remain attached to that.
Whatever I think of during my spiritual practice I will attain in my siddha deha when I reach perfection. This is the means of rāga bhakti.”

sādhane ye dhana cāi,
siddha dehe tāhā pāi,
pakkāpakka mātra se vicāra
apakke sādhana rīti,
pākile se prema-bhakti,
bhakati lakṣaṇa tattva sāra
(Prema Bhakti Chandrika, verse 56)

“The treasure I desire as a practitioner I will get when I attain my spiritual body; it’s just a question of being ripe or unripe.
The ripe stage is the stage of pure loving devotion and the unripe stage is the stage of practice. That is the essential truth about devotional principles.”

Here we find the perfect example of the nomenclature for the beginning of raganuga-sadhana-bhakti: It is like the difference between a ripe fruit and an unripe fruit.

By practicing raganuga-sadhana-bhakti under the guidance of Sri Gurudeva, we will attain that stage of pure loving devotion.

When the greed of a rāgānugā aspirant leads him down the road of rāga, keeping his beloved object in the centre, then it awakens a special taste for the forms and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His associates.
At first the greed of an aspirant will be scattered over many different subject matters and cannot focus on the actual beloved object, but when sādhana bhajana ripens, this greed will give up all other subject matters and will focus on the beloved.
…
After the rāgānugīya practitioner has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Guru, the stream of his bhajana starts flowing as he engages in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord in the company of the devotees. Thus his heart is gradually cleansed from vices like lust and becomes completely immaculate.
The purer his heart gets through this cleansing-process, the stronger the sacred greed will get in his heart.
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, tika to RVC)

On the path of raganuga-bhakti, meditating on the divine pastimes is the main sadhana, however in the primary stage, we are not qualified for lila-smaran (meditation on the pastimes).
Therefore we should concentrate more on hearing, chanting and following the other rules of bhakti. Then, as our consciousness gets more and more purified, we are drawn towards lila-smaran. Slowly our smaran becomes more intense.
Ultimately, when we reach the zenith of bhajan, lila-smaran naturally becomes the major part of bhajan.
The very nature (dharma) of the mind is rāga (attachment, passion), and hence mental worship is the root cause of rāgānugā bhajana.
Still, the external practice of hearing and chanting must not be neglected or given up— this is to be noted specifically.
The perfection of allegiance to the Vraja-people cannot be achieved by giving up external practices like hearing and chanting.
As much as the external practices like hearing and chanting nourish the internal practice of smaraṇa, that much the internal practice also awakens taste for external practices.
Since they nourish each other equally, efforts to fix one’s mind on līlā smaraṇa without taking shelter of external practices will not become fruitful.
And again, efforts to perform only external practices without practising līlā smaraṇa cannot be called rāgānugā mārga’s bhajana.
Hence both are required.
All those new aspirants, who are unable to meditate on their own siddha dehas or on Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s pastimes, but rather find this difficult to do, should initially not be too eager for līlā smaraṇa.
If they, along with hearing and chanting etc., practice some light and easy smaraṇa while hearing and chanting texts like Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s ‘Prārthanā’ and ‘Prema Bhakti Candrikā’, Śrīmat Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda’s ‘Stavamālā’, Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmīpāda’s ‘Stavāvalī’, Śrīla Kṛṣṇa dāsa Siddha Bābā’s ‘Prārthanāmṛta Taraṅginī’, which all glorify rāgānugā bhajana, and at the same time they try to cultivate mañjarī bhāva within the heart, their hearts will easily become qualified to practice līlā smaraṇa.
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, Raganuga-tattva-vijnana)