The Role of the Female in the Music Industry
Female artists make up a large part of the music industry, whether they are solo performers or band members, women are prominent as entertainers yet their role is very different to that of males. The music industry is one of the most competitive niches in the entertainment business and there are constant new acts breaking out onto the music scene, which is well documented by wow247. The level of competitiveness forces women in particular to make themselves stand out against other artists and the results are often quite shocking, something which seems to fill the media particularly in the last few years.
Finding a Place in the Market
Female artists need to find a gap in the market that will allow them to secure their place as a leading performer. The type of persona an artist takes on has a direct impact on the music they make and the attitude they express and will create intense scrutiny around them, whether it is positive or negative, the end result is the same.
The categories of performer tend to follow two formats…
Girly and Feminine – artists such as Taylor Swift base their careers on being sweet and innocent and create high appeal amongst teenage girls.
Sex Objects – Rihanna has transformed herself from young and carefree to a highly sexed star with racy lyrics and a strong attitude.
There are very real concerns over the nature of modern day female artists as their songs, photo shoots and appearance becomes highly sexualised. Their outfits are skimpy and they promote an over bearing attitude amongst those that follow them. Female artists are quickly becoming more famous for their behaviour than their music although this seems to directly correlate into high record sales and so there behaviour continues to prevent a loss in popularity.
Former Disney Stars
Female music stars are becoming younger when they hit the scene as so many began their careers as child stars, most notably coming from Disney shows and later transforming themselves into pop music vixens.
Society encourages women in music to cultivate themselves into sex objects and almost reward them for wearing less and behaving badly by following their every move.
Beginning a career so young and being put under an immense amount of pressure throughout their tender years seems to have negative implications for the stars as high profile artists such as Britney Spears and Demi Lovato have had very public breakdowns before once again being thrust back into the limelight.
Transitional Roles
In the late 1990’s pop music underwent a dramatic transformation in terms of how women acted and represented themselves. Acts like the Spice Girls and All Saints encouraged women to promote ‘girl power’ and be strong whilst seductive and maintaining a high level of class and dignity. Their influence seemed to change the way women were seen within pop music and they were able to do what they loved without having to be near naked on stage.
The last 5 years have seen the roles of women revert back and artists have in fact become far more outrageous as they indulge in what can only be called unladylike behaviour.
The Future of the Female Artist
The future is uncertain for the role of the female, whilst they are achieving attention and high record sales through their current marketing strategies there will be no need to change and focus on being a realistic role model for fans.
The level of competition will remain the same, it is an industry that will always be a wash with talent battling it out to take centre stage yet for the time being at least audiences will be subjected to outrageous women that are very talented yet do not allow this to be the focus.
Image Source:
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00053850.html
http://thelavalizard.com/2012/11/rihanna-announces-new-uk-single/
