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[DEFINITION]

PLASTIC POP: This is the genre used to define those that become famous for their talent as a result of being on a TV talent show * e.g. Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor

A&R

(Artist and Repertoire): The division of a record label responsible for talent scouting and also for monitoring the artistic development of the new found recording artists

Plastic Pop usually emphasizes the ‘girly’ element from within parent genre Pop; like Pop, Plastic Pop generates music influenced by a number of other genres such as Rock and R’n’B, in order to continue to produce variation within simple love songs. These songs are, usually, performed by a group as Pop tends to be centred around them in order to appeal to the opposite sex, for example Girls Aloud

Within the genre, bright colours are commonly used to show the ‘perfect’ characteristics of the artists, further encouraging audiences to aspire to follow in their icons footsteps.

Disney is a major company associated with the Plastic Pop genre as it appeals to a younger audience. Teen icons that either feature or star within Disney programmes –encourages younger audience to persue their dreams, follow in their idols footsteps + achieve their potential. Young audience= Genre focuses on pop as audience can relate

Disney=source of teeny pop

High school musical-huge fan base- brings film and music industry together

Disney= make money through merchandise eg-dolls, stationary-due to large fanbases

Contestants ages vary-appeals to variety of age groups eg x factor 16+ BGT=any age

THE MAIN MAN:Simon Cowell is a British A&R and music executive, TV producer and entrepreneur. He’s the man behind shows like Britains Got Talent and The X Factor.Famous tv personality=more people watch=more money to fund the continuation of his showsHolds a lot of power-he makes the main decisionsGives winners+potential successes by giving them record contracts +helping build up their fan bases Contestants on show- audience seen their journey –feel as though they’ve been on the journey with them-most popular act –wins-as a result of being on show- obtain a large fan base

Shows=funded by audienceReality shows=success=involves home audience-higher popularity=more money as more people ring in to voteVote through telephone, mobile, internet(Bid Bro-facebook) and TV-able to vote as many time as they want=more money received-people at home feel as though their opinion counts

EXAMPLE:BRITNEY SPEARS

PLASTIC POPStar Image – only 1 in 10 artists promoted by a major record company will actually make that company any significant profit. This is why certain select profit making stars are manufactured, manipulated and marketed by the record label’s‘artist and repertoire’ (A&R) division so aggressively. The star image of individuals such as Michael Jackson and Madonna through their videos is a vital component of this process. This is why we can identify the ‘meta narrative’ ofstars through their videos whereby the record label manipulates and changes the artist’s image with each new video release to increase sales, consolidate target audiences and broaden appeal to new fan bases. The best case studies are ‘Madonna’ and ‘Michael Jackson’. Trace their image manipulation through videos over the past 24 years.