Genre and Representation

Heavy Metal - Slipknot

http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/how-the-hell-are-slipknot-so-successful

The band’s name ‘Slipknot’ gives violent connotations and imagery – ‘knot’ perhaps represents a noose. The band members (shown top right) wear frightening masks, dark make-up and clothing very similar to that of the horror movie genre. The band could want to seem to be intimidating, or stand out against other bands of this genre whilst drawing attention. The clear ‘Halloween-style’ image they present to audiences means that their target demographic is probably mid to late teens and over as well as being well-known for appealing to the ‘angry teenager’.

Slipknot is an American heavy metal band with a 19 year career span, well known for its attention-grabbing image. They have one five Kerrang! Awards and received one Grammy for ‘best metal performance’. The band has produced 12 albums, most with the semantic field of death such as, “Antennas into hell” and “(sic) nesses”.

Like Justin Bieber has his ‘beliebers’ and Lady Gaga has her ‘monsters’, Slipknot’s fans are called ‘maggots’. This website - http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Maggot - is a step-by-step guide in how to become a Slipknot fan. It includes wearing studs, belts, wristbands and band merchandise such as hats, t-shirts and gloves with the band logo printed on (shown above). Their ‘Slipknot or DIE’ attitude suggests that the violent brand image of the band reflects in their audience. A report once claimed that a South-African school boy murdered a fellow student whilst wearing one of the band member’s famous masks. It was said that the violent nature of the band was to

blame, although nothing was confirmed. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/21/slipknot.school.killing

The band’s song lyrics include, “the rain will kill us all” / “I’ve felt the hate rise up in me” / “all hope is gone” and more of a similar tone. The imagery created by these lyrics correlate with the overall brand image of the band – the colour black representing death, for example.

Indie and Folk – Mumford and Sons

   

Mumford and Sons fit under the folk rock, indie rock and bluegrass genres. They have been active since 2007 and are from London. The band has received ten music awards including two Grammys, two Brits, and three Billboards. Their success lead

to their studio album ‘Babel’ debuted at number one in the UK and the US. Their old-fashioned style gives a countryside and authentic tone, appealing to folk-music

lovers.The fans of this group call themselves part of the ‘Mumfamily’ – giving them a name makes them feel included and relevant with the band. The ‘family’ also emphasises

that these fans like to be considered as a close-knit group of people. Their fans consist predominantly of females.

Classical – Katherine Jenkins

The brand image of the band is described as an ‘Amish farmhand’, ‘woodland’ look. A company called Rustic Authentic have created a clothing line inspired by Mumford

and Sons so that the general public are able to dress in the same way. This suggests that their style is in-fashion – with waistcoats, pantaloons and fedora hats with a

forest-colours theme. http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/who-wants-to-dress-like-mumford-sons-this-fashion-lines-for-you

Their lyrics to their songs – in particular “Lover of the Light”, “Below my Feet”, “After the Storm”, “White Blank Page” and “Sigh No More” have religious

undertones relating to Christianity. This links to their vintage ‘old-fashioned’ image, creating coherence.

Pop - Rihanna

Country – Dolly Parton

Katherine Jenkins OBE is a classical singer and songwriter, popular for her classical-crossover work. She won two consecutive Classical BRIT awards and six out of her seven

albums reached No.1 in the classical charts. Her success has led to her becoming the fastest-selling mezzo-soprano. She has performed at the Westminster Cathedral and on

various television programmes.

In all of her performances she is seen wearing elaborate dresses; stereotypical of the classical genre. She has written an autobiography, “Time to Say Hello” perhaps to relate to her audience more personally. She is known for completing charity events such as the London Marathon where she raised £25,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and singing to the troops in Afghanistan. These activities represent the artist as being ‘part of the

community’ and a good reputation is built.

Unlike the artists discussed previously, Jenkins’ fans do not have a name – e.g. Rihanna’s ‘Monsters’. Perhaps this is because her audience is the older generations. Her music is

not aired on popular radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 or 2 as these channels are targeted towards a younger demographic. Instead, her music is aired on Classical FM;

more targeted towards the older populations.

Rihanna is a singer, actress and fashion designer active since 2005. Genres include pop, R&B, reggae, hip-hop and dance. She has sold over 150 million records worldwide,

making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. She has received 8 Grammy awards, 22 Billboard music awards and 2 BRIT awards. In 2012, she was ranked fourth most

powerful celebrity of the year by Forbes magazine with earnings of $53 million that year.

As well as her image, her style of songs has also varied over the years. Her early music was perceived as being a lot more innocent than her more recent songs. She took

inspiration from Barbados with a more ‘reggae’ feel. She was criticized for being too similar to the works of Beyoncé, and so with her third studio album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’

her music changed and shifted into the ‘R&B’ genre.

Rihanna’s brand image has varied over the years to fit in with changing fashions and trends within the media. In her early music, she was influenced by her background – coming from Barbados her style was more relaxed – with long brown hair and flowing dresses. She then merged into the typical ‘pop’ and ‘R&B’ look with short hair – even

shaved on one side. It was at this time she released more of her controversial work with her album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ and songs such as ‘Rude Boy’. When her album “Loud”

was released, her image had changed again – red hair became her main feature.Rihanna’s fans are names ‘Monsters’ which appears on some of her merchandise – such

as phone cases and hoodies. There are ‘fan sites’ (websites ran by fans about their artist) and her Facebook page has over 2 million ‘likes’. Her immense popularity means that she

is regularly ‘mobbed’ by fans – described by the media. This suggests that her fans are perceived to be more outrageous than others.

So do we, as listeners, change our fashion habits in order to fit into a particular group? Stereotypes suggest that we do... and in fact, I agree. The media holds great power over audiences, and so whoever you follow, whether it's Tim McGraw or One Direction, audiences choose to represent themselves in a way that will bring them closer to the artist. Music videos are a great source of gaining knowledge of new trends as it gives audiences an insight into what the artists are wearing and how they wear it. High street stores make this fashion more affordable and accessible to us.

Dolly Parton is a country singer-songwriter active since 1955. She moved to Nashville at the age of eighteen and in 1967 she rose to prominence as a featured performer on a

weekly TV programme. She moved into the pop genre with her single “Here You Come Again”, succeeding in both the country and pop charts. Her single “9 to 5” was her most successful hit of the eighties. She has had 25 songs reach the No.1 spot on the Billboard Country charts. She has also won 8 Grammy awards and 10 Country Music Association

Awards, along with many others.Dolly has a typical country style – with cowboy boots, hats and bandannas. She is known for having large amounts of plastic surgery and her famous blonde hair is also part of her brand image. The merchandise includes denim shirts, bandannas and t-shirts so that fans

can copy her style too.

Dolly Parton’s fans are named “Part’ners”. There are ‘fanpages’ about the artist and she has almost 3 million likes on her facebook page. The Daily Mail wrote an article recently

about super-fan ‘Joe Skelly’ who spent £10,000 on Dolly Parton memorabilia…!