IM BACK!
HIII-,
I’m finally back after almost a year being away. I’ve finished my Masters (EEK!) after submitting my dissertation a few weeks ago, which is amazing. Feat in itself. So thanks to those who have stuck with me for this long, I appreciate it! So sorry i’ve been a sucky blog!
Anyways, i’ve written a dissertation, entitled Making the Brand: Pop Music Branding to Generation Z, which centers itself around the fascination, and growing importance of the image/branding surrounding pop artists. Its increasingly important for an artist to have a brand not only to differentiate themselves from other occupiers in the genre, but also to resonate with those who may be interested in the consumption of their music. My overall question was will the music be overshadowed and ultimately eclipsed by the image/branding of an artists. With the help of extensive lit research, surveys, immersion, as well as delving into the depths of pop artists twitters, I came to a conclusion. Funnily enough it came on the day that it was due, aka the day that the news came out about Jake proposing to Jesy.
Prior to this moment, I knew that image played a pretty integral role in the industry. I mean look at music videos. How much are people spending on videos these days? How much time and artistic energy are artists (such as FKA twigs) putting into creating these videos going on the internet? A lot is the answer. They get millions of views, and argue on twitter about being nominated/lack of a nomination for “PRESTEGIOUS” MTV Video of the Year Award (im looking at you Nicki and Taylor). What really solidified this thing about image and branding with music was the proposal. Now I am not here to judge anything, but the following day EVERYTHING was plastered on FB, Twitter, my other Tumblr (Haroldlovestory, cheeky follow?!), and everywhere else. News outlets were talking about it, gossip columns, it was everywhere. Now, lets be honest. Neither Little Mix or Rixton have had exemplary careers thus far. Ill give credit where credit is due though, LM’s new song is a swing the right way for their career, and I foresee them putting out a great album. Rixton had a good thing with MAMBH, but kind of fell off the wagon after that. Its been lackluster to say the least. They had a moment, but haven’t really done much since, save the numerous festivals and one off events(which is a whole different story which revolves around their shitty management. could write an entire 4k paper about that, which i have so......). Which proves my thesis. We aren’t worried about the music. We didn’t hear about anything except the proposal. Nothing about music. Sure sales may have picked up following the press, but ??? When I say that I angrily wrote my conclusion, I literally did. 500 words in about 20 minutes. All about how generation Z (and not all of them, I know there are some who still appreciate the authenticity of GREAT music ‘Listen with ears not eyes’ ya know?!) are more focused about connecting with someone on the internet and stalking artists for a picture. And I mean I get it, but at some point, the music will fade to the background, and what will we have left?
Writing this dissertation kind of made me mad/upset about the way that things are going in the pop genre right now. There is more focus on how attractive someone is than their actual talent. Shows supporting this notion aren’t doing anything to help either. So, I want to do my part in helping change what my thesis has shown me. Shortly, like in the next few days, I am going to be changing this blog into a music blog. I want to introduce people who love music with music that I have found/seen in and around London while I am still here. I’ve had a blog on Blogspot for the last 3 years I believe, and I just find that it’s easier to keep track of things on Tumblr, as well as gauge what kind of posts people like/dislike. All things said, I hope you all stick with me because it will be fun! If you guys have any questions about my thesis, would love to talk about it, so just slide into my DMs!
