AtileoTedoldi

0759240
ChainedtotheMedia:
TheMisrepresentationofMusiciansintheMusicIndustry
1.Themediaisanincredibletoolthatgreatlybenefitswesternculture.Most
peoplehavetheprivilegetostayintheknow,andareabletoconnectwiththeworld
throughthemedia.Thatbeingsaid,themediahasbecomealltoopowerful.Weare
becomingincreasinglydependentonit.Wehavebegunformulatinglessofourown
opinions,andreplaceditwiththeassumptionofthemediabeingfact.Themusic
industryhasbeengreatlyaffectedbythis.Becauseoftheideathatoneneedstobe
marketabletoachievesuccessinthemusicindustry,bothmaleandfemalemusiciansare
losingthemselvestothesocietalpressuresofthemedia.Thisisduetotheirrelianceon
themediaforsuccess.Inordertobecomepopularinthemusicindustrytoday,itappears
asthoughitisnecessarytochangeonesphysicalappearance,andtocreatemusicto
pleasethelargestamountofpeoplepossible,thereforeforcefullyhidingtheiridentityas
artists.
2.Women are placed under a microscope. Female celebrities are
scrutinized and objectified by the media so harshly not only to expose
their imperfections (also known as them being human beings), but
for the consumers to buy into the clever marketing schemes set in
place to make products associated with these celebrities sell. In a
book called Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry: The
Social Construction of Female Popular Music Stars, Kristin Lieb writes

about how celebrities are public property. She acknowledges the

roles of the producers that claim to know which norms and
stereotypes [women] must activate to make them resonate with the
masses. Lieb performs a study that requires interviewing women
about success in the music industry, and is able to find some parallels
among the answers. She lists that women are expected to be:
Exceptionally gorgeous Willing to show and tell to all their
demanding audiences Harness the power of personal narrative and
leverage their core product (their bodies and perceived sexual
availability) into other entertainment arenas. Take note that this has
nothing to do with their music or their artistry. Women are expected to
become something to physically look at as well as be a musician (if
even that). The forceful emphasis on outer beauty and women as
sexual beings is a grave misrepresentation of women in the music
industry. We should be focused on their art, rather than what they look
like.
3.Menexperiencethesameissue,butareprivilegedtonothavetheweightofthe
socialpressureinthesamecapacityaswomen.SineadOConnormentionsthisin
referencetoJustinBieber.Inaninterview,shemakesapointtosaythattheveryyoung
maleartistswhoarepracticallychildrenorlooklikechildrenarealsobeingsexualized.
Menarequietlypressuredtobethemanthateverywomanwants.Themediaprovidesa
subtleimplicationthatmenaretobeextremelyfit,withsharpfeatures.Thisimageis

thenpairedwithitsmuchmoreinyourfacefemalecounterpartandisprojectedasthe
ultimatefantasycouple.Thisisnothingbutadesperatebusinesstacticsomusiccansell
tothemasses.Tosummarize,themediaprojectstheideathatyouwillsellrecordsifyou
looklikeafantasy.Musicwascapableofstandingonitsownmanyyearsbeforenow,
anditisstillmorethancapabletothisday.Thefactthatthephysicalimageofanartistis
justasimportantasthemusicdoesnothingbutmisrepresentartistsinthemusicindustry.
Anotherwaymenandwomenaremisrepresentedinthemusicindustryisbytheir
product.Duetothemajoradvancementsintechnology,musichasunfortunatelybecome
anotherwaytojointhecapitalistexperience.Becausemoreandmorepeoplehaveaccess
tobetterqualityprogramstocreatebetterqualitymusic,popularmusichasbegunto
identifyasagenre.InacolumncalledTheDeathoftheAlbum,thewriterstatesin
recentdecades,singleshavedominatedthemusicindustry,withalbumsseeminglyleftto
sufferslowandpainfuldeaths.Artists,alongsidemassivewritingteams,nowcreate
singlesextremelyquicklyandefficientlyinordertocreateaconsistentflowofhigh
income.InanothercolumnnamedInsidethePopSongIndustrialComplex,Nolan
FeeneywritesthatmanypopsongstodayaremadeFrankensteinstyle,withteamsof
writersandproducersweldingdifferentmelodiesandbeatstogethertomaximize
commercialappeal.Thepopularmusicindustryhasbecomeawelloiledmachine.
However,tobeapartofthatmachine,artistsarerequiredtooftenplaymusicthataligns
withtheirimage.Ifitalignswiththeirimagethatistruetothemselves,thenmaybethis
tacticwouldbelessimmoral.Butbecausenearlyallproducersaligntheirartistsimage
withwhatthemediaasksofthem,mostartistsdonotgettoexplorethemselvesas

creativebeings.Theyareboundbytheirproducersandtheidealsprojectedbythemedia.
Musicissupposedtobeafreeflowingart.Themediahasmademusicintoasolvable
equationthatincorporatessocietysideals.

4.Themediacanbesolimiting.But,youcanusethemediatoyouradvantage,if

youknowhow.AprimeexampleofthisistheincomparableLadyGaga.Inabooktitled
LadyGagaandPopularMusic:Performing,Gender,Fashion,andCulture,itisshown
thatGagaknewwhatshewasdoingallalong.GagawasinterviewedfortheRolling
stone,andsaidIf[she]hadcomeoutaswho[she]was,noonewouldbelistening.
LadyGagaisapersonwhocreativelyinsertssocialissuesintohermusic.Inthis
interview,shesaysthatsheknewthatnobodywouldlistentoher,hadshestartedherpop
careerbydoingthat.Sheknewwhatthemediawantedandexpectedfromherasa
femalepopstar,andgaveenoughofthattogatheralargeaudience.Aftershesecureda
following,shebegantoslowlymorphintoherself:anartistwithsomethingtosayabout
whatisgoingonintheworld.Thoughshedidhavetosuccumbtothemediaandits
pressures,sheknewthatshewouldeventuallyriseaboveitandsaywhatshewantedto
saywithherart.
5.Thereareclearlyprosandconstoworkingwiththemedia.Thereisahigh
chancethatanartistcouldendupsacrificingmostoftheirartistryforfameandmoney.
However,withgoodrepresentation,youcanbeatthemediaatitsowngame.Thisstill
doesnotexcusethelengthsthatmen,andespeciallywomengotoinhopesofbecominga
successfulartist.Themediamisrepresentsmusiciansconstantlybecausetheyarebeing
manipulatedintobeingmisrepresented.Themediahasaholdonusasanation,andthat

needstochange.We,ascreativepeople,needtorepresentourselvessincesocietywants
ustochangewhoweare.Weneedtobreakthechainsthatthemediatriestoholdus
downwith.Whenwebuildthecouragetodothat,wewillseethemediabegintochange
inourfavour.

WorksCited
Feeney,Nolan.InsidethePopSongIndustrialComplex.Time186.14(2015):
56,BusinessSourcePremier.Web.7Oct.2015
Marshall,MelanieL.,andMartinIddon.LadyGagaAndPopularMusic:Performing
Gender,Fashion,AndCulture.NewYork:Routledge,2014.eBookCollection
(EBSCOhost).Web.7Oct.2015.
Lieb,Kristin.Gender,Branding,AndTheModernMusicIndustry:TheSocial
ConstructionOfFemalePopularMusicStars.NewYork:Routledge,2013.eBook
Collection(EBSCOhost).Web.7Oct.2015.
"MusicIndustryIs'sexualisingBieber'"News.com.au.N.p.,09Aug.2014.Web.07Oct.
2015.
"Thedeathofthealbum,howsingleshavetakenoverthemusicindustry."UWIREText6
Nov.2014:1.EducatorsReferenceComplete.Web.7Oct.2015.