If you watch music videos, there is no doubt music has taken the back seat of this game, image has become more important than anything else. There is nothing new there, videos haven’t been invented yesterday, but the trend is more and more obvious.
In a recent CNN article, journalist Todd Leopold has a good point about Lady Gaga:
‘Sure, she can play piano. She's got some songwriting talent, too. But music isn't what comes to mind when the former Stefani Germanotta is discussed. Instead, it's the attention-getting antics: The controversial videos. The in-your-face sexuality. The crazy concerts. The meat dress.’
The article ponders around the question and asks different authorities about the subject, Lady Gaga is not exactly an isolated case, the exact same thing could be said of Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry for example. These women have become cartoon figures of themselves.
There are two aspects of the problem:
– the image and artifice around the music have become more important than the music itself: any popular rap and pop show can prove it.
– producing DIY music videos and becoming famous in a flash has never been easier during this YouTube era – Lana Del Rey comes to mind – and anyone can creates his/her own image effortlessly.
Even if it is easier, image has always been there, as any musician has to project an image, a look, from Elvis’ pompadour, to the Beatles’ haircut, David Bowie’s Glam rock outfits, the punk rock’s paraphernalia, Nirvana’s Grunge plaid shirt, Kiss' black and white make up, Madonna’s ever-changing styles, I could go on till tomorrow, look and music have always had a close relationship and I am only talking about looks! I could say the same about antics and crazy behaviors, it is not specific to pop, and may be Lady Gaga is just trying a little too much, but she hasn’t invented anything.
The burning question is that image may have now overtaken music, and bands have become brands. For example, Best coast has recently declared she was a brand, at the risk of losing her soul and being qualified of sell-out. All bands sell merchandise but there is a big difference between selling band t-shirts and having a clothing line, a perfume, and what else?
But an image isn’t reduced to clothes and haircuts, there is also everything performers do during a concert, and with this comes the question of being entertained during a show beyond the enjoyment of the music itself. These days, many performers are entertainers and come up with big machinery to make the show look like an amusement park ride, this is also part of their image.
For example, I love the Shins, and they don't do much on stage beside playing music, but I also love the Flaming Lips who are the perfect example of a very entertaining act with their carnival of confetti guns, orgies of balloons, and walking-in giant bubble. Iman thinks the Shins are pretty boring, but I told him that performers don't have necessary to be entertainers like Madonna, Lady Gaga or the Flaming lips. I don't love the Lips because Wayne Coyne is playing like an hamster in his transparent bubble,… sure it's funny, but I love them because they wrote 'the Soft Bulletin' and all that awesome music! I wouldn't pay to see Lady Gaga even if she was rolling inside three superposed balloons while spitting confetti over the crowd, because I think her music is crappy.
At the end, whatever the image, it is music that matters the most for me. I just saw Fiona Apple and there wasn't any artifice around her, she doesn’t need any, she is the anti Lady-Gaga-Lana-Del-Rey-crowd, and I guess that there wasn’t one person among the 4000 people around me, who was missing the balloons.
Image isn’t everything, and performers who have a totally authentic one, might be the only ones who will last.