Everything any of us see is marketing and/or heresay.
You're right, most information that actually makes it down to us has been filtered through censors, the opinions of the observers tainting it inherently even before that, then hyped enough to make it worthy of Access Hollywood coverage. But it's gotta work out somehow that there's a kernel of truth when every report says Eminem cursed out this person or that cause, when the boys of *NSYNC are involved with one social cause after another, etc. Call me naive and perhaps rightfully so, but I like to think that underneath all the marketing, there's truth in the people saying the words, and you have to pay attention to what they say and how and when. I like to think there's a derivative verity beneath the muck they heap on them in every way, from the clothes they wear to the words they say.
It's all image and marketing and handling. ANY interview, the artist/group is prepped for. Nothing's truly natural really.
I think there's only so much that you can foist on someone before their entire persona becomes inorganic, and people can sense that. There are baseline truths, and that's why the process of becoming famous doesn't just depend on talent but your ability to play the game. They knew what they were getting with Eminem and ICP from the beginning. They knew what they were doing with *NSYNC and Britney at some point, things that have largely been outgrown or cast aside since. I think being successful allows a certain leeway with what the artist chooses to project about themselves, something I think Avril will never need because she is just as they want her organically. This isn't to dimish her, I'm just stating my opinion.
In one of my marketing classes, we watched a Nightline show mostly about Insane Clown Posse. About how they were this "outsider"/"rogue" band, whose fans were hardcore and hated The Man and society and everything else. They got so popular that they then signed a record deal and appeared on MTV...
The problem there lies with the way our society is structured, that no matter how much you hate it or object to its methods, you have to use the system (and be perceived as letting the system use you) to get anywhere, even if that means to a position that would allow you to change the infrastructure. It's not ICP's fault that they wanted to reach more people and went about it the surest way. It's that much more poignant that, by all accounts, they still did just as they pleased even under the umbrella protection and distribution network of a record label.
Re: "teen pop": I don't like the music, generally.
Fair enough. I don't much like heavy metal or country either, and it's not by virtue of a lack of talent for the genre evident in its performers. Far from it, I'm sure that in niche genres like that you've gotta be even better than the wholesale marketing machine built around alternative rock/pop.
It seems you value alot of things when you listen to music.
*smiles* I didn't really, until now. I don't listen to music because I think the lead singer is cute, never have. I have no idea what the bandmembers of Third Eye Blind or Fatboy Slim looks like, and I love them all the same. *NSYNC has an entire subculture unto its fandom, something I did not know before tumbling headlong into it. I mean, I knew that the boys were purportedly attractive, but seriously, I could maybe name Justin before my friends worked me over. The popslash thing happened when I'd "gotten to know" and began to like the boys. It's
I'm alot simpler...I look for stuff that makes me tap me head or gets stuck in my head or that I want to listen to again.
And who doesn't? We went through a holier than most stage where it's all about the lyrics, man, but mostly, music is what makes us tap our pencils and hum under our breaths, stay in our heads or spring to our tongues. It's grand.
And (hopefully) we both respect the other's reasoning for that.
I hope I didn't come off as disrespectful of your point of view. My comments were about Avril and my opinions as far as what I think she brings to the scene. You don't agree. We can all remain civilized human beings and scream to whatever makes us happy in our cars.
no subject
You're right, most information that actually makes it down to us has been filtered through censors, the opinions of the observers tainting it inherently even before that, then hyped enough to make it worthy of Access Hollywood coverage. But it's gotta work out somehow that there's a kernel of truth when every report says Eminem cursed out this person or that cause, when the boys of *NSYNC are involved with one social cause after another, etc. Call me naive and perhaps rightfully so, but I like to think that underneath all the marketing, there's truth in the people saying the words, and you have to pay attention to what they say and how and when. I like to think there's a derivative verity beneath the muck they heap on them in every way, from the clothes they wear to the words they say.
It's all image and marketing and handling. ANY interview, the artist/group is prepped for. Nothing's truly natural really.
I think there's only so much that you can foist on someone before their entire persona becomes inorganic, and people can sense that. There are baseline truths, and that's why the process of becoming famous doesn't just depend on talent but your ability to play the game. They knew what they were getting with Eminem and ICP from the beginning. They knew what they were doing with *NSYNC and Britney at some point, things that have largely been outgrown or cast aside since. I think being successful allows a certain leeway with what the artist chooses to project about themselves, something I think Avril will never need because she is just as they want her organically. This isn't to dimish her, I'm just stating my opinion.
In one of my marketing classes, we watched a Nightline show mostly about Insane Clown Posse. About how they were this "outsider"/"rogue" band, whose fans were hardcore and hated The Man and society and everything else. They got so popular that they then signed a record deal and appeared on MTV...
The problem there lies with the way our society is structured, that no matter how much you hate it or object to its methods, you have to use the system (and be perceived as letting the system use you) to get anywhere, even if that means to a position that would allow you to change the infrastructure. It's not ICP's fault that they wanted to reach more people and went about it the surest way. It's that much more poignant that, by all accounts, they still did just as they pleased even under the umbrella protection and distribution network of a record label.
Re: "teen pop": I don't like the music, generally.
Fair enough. I don't much like heavy metal or country either, and it's not by virtue of a lack of talent for the genre evident in its performers. Far from it, I'm sure that in niche genres like that you've gotta be even better than the wholesale marketing machine built around alternative rock/pop.
It seems you value alot of things when you listen to music.
*smiles* I didn't really, until now. I don't listen to music because I think the lead singer is cute, never have. I have no idea what the bandmembers of Third Eye Blind or Fatboy Slim looks like, and I love them all the same. *NSYNC has an entire subculture unto its fandom, something I did not know before tumbling headlong into it. I mean, I knew that the boys were purportedly attractive, but seriously, I could maybe name Justin before my friends worked me over. The popslash thing happened when I'd "gotten to know" and began to like the boys. It's
I'm alot simpler...I look for stuff that makes me tap me head or gets stuck in my head or that I want to listen to again.
And who doesn't? We went through a holier than most stage where it's all about the lyrics, man, but mostly, music is what makes us tap our pencils and hum under our breaths, stay in our heads or spring to our tongues. It's grand.
And (hopefully) we both respect the other's reasoning for that.
I hope I didn't come off as disrespectful of your point of view. My comments were about Avril and my opinions as far as what I think she brings to the scene. You don't agree. We can all remain civilized human beings and scream to whatever makes us happy in our cars.