In a world where everything is a business, it’s not surprising the music industry has its own set of marketing rules. To make it big in today’s society, artists not only need to be musically talented but be everything else as well. In fact, nowadays, there are almost as many jobs involved in creating an artist’s public persona as there are in perfecting and producing the music in the first place. Does this mean there is something inherently wrong with the way music is perceived by our generation? Well, not necessarily. The problem only arises when it stops talented artists from achieving the recognition they deserve and leaves talentless celebrities ruling the charts.
The first important thing to consider is that music celebrity has always been a thing. It may seem unlikely, but the classical composers were like the rock stars of their day, attracting hundreds of crazy fans to their concerts. For example, it was said that 300 people followed Italian violin virtuoso, Paganini, back to his hotel after “applauding him like mad” when he left the theatre. The Rock n’ roll stars of the 60s like Elvis Presley are not just remembered for their blues-y riffs but their signature dance moves and outlandish fashion sense. Today, fans of artists like Lady Gaga appreciate her more for her style than the actual substance of her songs. So, music is not just about the actual notes. Musicians need to be able to perform in order to really wow their audiences. Even the Beatles once performed a show where John Lennon sang in his underwear with a toilet seat around his neck.
Yet, the personality that they bring to their music needs to be genuine. It worries me to see the endless array of occupations that are designed to make artists into people that they’re not. From stylists, to publicists to someone called an artist development manager, it does seem the music industry is hell bent on forcing artists to conform to what is popular.
Even in the rock and indie scene, which is often associated with being more authentic than pop music, artists still feel pressure to be “more indie”. One band that really challenged the stereotype of an indie band being a group of four of five guys with long hair and skinny jeans was Wolf Alice. After being awarded the mercury prize in 2018 for their album “Visions of A Life”, the bass player, Theo Ellis told the story of the rejections they had faced while trying to get signed by a record label. He even called out one manager who he remembered saying, “You don’t look like a band at all!”. Wolf Alice are an extremely talented female-led punk and rock group who were almost denied recognition because “it would be a fuss working with a woman who wore make-up”. It is these kinds of scenarios that make me worry about the commercialisation of music. If an artist can’t be who the want to be, how will music ever evolve?
In a lot of cases, instead of musicians being chosen for their talent, they are chosen for their looks, their personalities and, unfortunately in rock music, their gender. Thankfully, things are beginning to change. With the ever-growing rage at our current political climate and an already brimming underworld of punk music, artists are beginning to get the message that they can be who they want to be. Huge bands like The 1975 and Mystery Jets have radically changed their style to incorporate protest music in their latest songs. They are ready join the fight against the prejudices of the music industry and I hope you are too.