Popular Music & Sexuality

"Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married

Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married

Goin' to the chapel of love" 

Chapel of Love- Dixie Cups, 1964

"Cause I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it, 

Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me."

S&M - Rihanna, 2010

Much of the music that is produced nowadays is powered by sexual relevance and reference. Dancing is one way which people are able to emphasize their sexuality without actually having to remove layers of clothing. Music in this sense is universal and understandable most cultures. Therefore, depending on how many sexual references there are in the song that my group and I end up doing will directly influence how much sexual activity we include in the video. 

Sexuality in our video could be portrayed in a number of ways: 

Intellectually: sharing thoughts and aspects of someone's life. 

Emotionally: The need to give and receive affection. 

Physical: Skin contact, sexual relief. 

Moral: Sex comes with codes and values. 

Social: Sexuality makes us wanted within society if not by one person but several. 

Depending on the artist in question, the representation of sexuality in the lyrics will have a direct affect on the way an audience acts, dresses and the ideologies that they follow. 

Gender also plays a substantial role in the sales of music to an audience and the relationship this creates. Middle class, white teenage boys often (along with other age and sex groups) look to music as a sense of escape and so will often be found listening to gangster music such as 50 Cent. A famous example of someone who has successfully risen to the top is, Eminem. 

In our music video, using the most conflicting ideologies to the lyrics that we hear I believe could be really interesting and captivating to view visually. Like seeing a bunch of white middle class, prep school boys listening to Dizzee Rascal & Lil Wayne. 

Studying Pop Stars

Common Ideologies of Pop Star Lifestyle to Adapt to Music Videos - Year '13 

A lot of Pop music revolves around a historical period in time and therefore after a certain period looses all sense of meaning for the ever growing younger generation of audiences. Certain aspects of the music genre still stand, and I believe many of which would be key to having in our music videos to emphasize and capture the meaning and force driving the same old cultures of pop music. 

1. Youthfulness 

2. Rebellion 

3. Sexual Magnetism 

4. A disregard for social values. (Drug abuse, sex & polite behaviour)

5. Success against the odds. 

Artists' that die young tend to become the perfect pop stars after. Because they're young, they don't loose the musical plot by becoming old or unattractive. Once they have died they instantly become a story with a beginning a middle and an end. Generally the record company that holds the rights to their musical talent will experience a dramatic increase in the amount of sales from that artist. After Michael Jackson's death in 2009, Sony Music Entertainment signed a $250, 000, 000 deal to keep the rights to his music until 2017. Since his death he has made over $1 bn. 

More On Richard Dyer's Theory

The Star Theory Applied To Pop Stars

For the public, whose emotions can often thrive off the messages portrayed by different types of artists through different genres of music, a "pop performer" and a "pop star" have become the same thing. However, in the media world of music they are two very different things. The not-so-famous are quickly turned into stars through their successful management teams. However, the artist that this is done to often has very little or no lasting significance. A 'true' pop star's messages and ideologies will echo of generations and still be as important and true today as it was then. 

An example of one artist's messages that were so clear were Sam Cooke's as me fought and gave the Black African American's hope & inspiration during the segregation of the Southern United States. 

Pop 'stars' are constructed artificial images, although they are being portrayed as real people. Many starts will have a unique selling point. Something for people to copy because they aspire to be like their stars. Perhaps one of the most famous USP's was Elvis Presley's hip-shaking, erotic dancing or his crisply slicked back hair. 

However, modern days stars are constructed for less of a purpose than attempting to get rid of segregation. Large music industry firms now create money. The music firms know what their audiences want to hear and see in modern songs. The majority want to see sex objects of either sex and hear sexual innuendoes in music along with rebellious lyrics and images. 

Flo Rida - Whistle

Stars are successful depending on how well they put across the meanings of their music. The more that an audience is able to relate to what has been created the more the record companies will receive in profits because of what they have created for their audience audibly and visually. However, some new stars may be hugely successful but only around for a couple of years. This is because of two factors. A) that something new and fresh is always being produced so people tend to quickly move on and forget about the other stars. Or B) The 'Golden Oldies' of our parents generation comes into play. 

Dyer states that he sees 'stars' as: "...representations of persons which, reinforce, legitimate, or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what is to be a human being in this society." 

Here, Dyer is saying that Pop Stars can have such a huge effect on people that it can end up changing every corner of their lives from the way they act socially to the clothes that someone wears every day. 

Textual Analysis of Album Cover

Jay - Z 

The Black Album 

The Black and shades of grey emphasize the predominantly black genre of music (hip-hop/rap) that Jay-Z creates for his audiences. 

The expression on Jay-Z 's shows a powerful, strong black man, which 

mirrors his music as he raps about the 'bling' in his life to inspire other 

young poor back youths. 

The ablum cover suggests that Jay-Z is more about his appearance than the music he makes as their is no sign of what he is about. However, he is a world famous star, and was when this album cover was released so his existing fan bases and the public all around the world already knew who he was. 

In The Charts

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

Track numbers 26, 27, 28 in the United Kingdom 'Top 40'. Analysis of distribution, production & ownership of the tracks. 

26: Avicii - Silhouettes 

Record Label & Distribution Company: Universal Music

Produced by: Swedish House Producer 

27: Tulisa - Young 

Record Label & Distribution Company: All Around The World

Produced by: STL 

28: Trey Songz - Heart Attack 

Record Label & Distribution Company: Songbook and Atlantic 

Produced by: Benny Blanco and Rico Love

NEGUS

Organic & Synthetic 

Organic acts last longer than synthetic acts as they're produced slowly over time. They are able to change their image or music if they needed to to stay in the market, a famous example of this type of band could be The Rolling Stones. 

An example of a synthetic music group is Orson. 

Negus believes that the music used to be able 'going to gigs' and live performances but now believes that it has changed to the image of the band members rather than the music. 

For industries, an organic music group would provide a substantial amount of cashflow over a lengthy period of time, ensuring that the record label keeps its financial muscle. This also allows the industries to profit long-term from subsiduries from the band/artist. A band such as 'The Rolling Stones' has therefore been a huge source of revenue firstly for EMI, and after they left them in 2008 to join Universal Music.

 

Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer on Prezi