The Brits – Identity of an Industry
Having watched the Brit Awards 2012 and all the build up surrounding the awards performances and nominees, a recurring theme was emerging; the authenticity of the artists nominated. Artists like Ed Sheeran and Adele seem to typify a rising trend of artists shunning the commercialised appearance of the industry for a more grounded, more dare I say British attitude, rather than trying to emulate the slick, more glitzy and glamourous visuals of the American music industry. Read more
Get It Right In 2012
It’s the new year and many people are renewed in their determination to make a success of their music careers. There is genuine energy and focus, a take no prisoners attitude.
For many unfortunately this renewed attitude is a waste of time. Read more
What’s Your Archetype?
Everyone is obsessed with building a brand nowadays, and they are right to be, but how is it done? The first step in building a strong brand is to have a strong identity, however this is easier said than done. Archetypes are a simple but powerful tool that can help you develop your artist identity and brand. Read more
The Real Reason People Make it!
Throughout my career in music I have met countless people looking for the silver bullet, the magic pill, that single thing that will change their fortunes and get them the success they so desire.
Money, contacts, songs, what could it be? I have generally made a point of informing people that there are a number of things that go into the making of a successful pop star. The truth is, there is one thing that all successful stars have in common, one thing that they all share and it is essential to their success. Read more
Has Rebecca Black Killed Radio?
“Has the so called worst song ever signalled the end of radio as we know it?”
Every Friday afternoon like clockwork one of my Facebook friends posts a celebration of the end of the week by posting the Rebecca Black viral hit Friday. Seeing that most of our friends are R&B, Soul, Hip Hop or Reggae listeners, this of course regularly provokes a reaction of “Are you serious” or “Please stop”, but it seems what has begun as a weekend joke is backfiring (he would no doubt disagree) with his page now flooded with Rebecca Black posts and complaints. Read more
Not all Haters are Haters
Firstly I should warn you this is a slight rant,beware!!
Recently I cannot listen to a new urban track without hearing the term “Hater”, it has now found its way into the mainstream and is become common place in chart hits.
Growing up from the rap community it is used to describe people who appear to be jealous of another’s success, they spout negative comments toward the artist with no other argument than they are rubbish or other personal insults. Read more
Beiberphobia – Why the Hate?
BEIBERPHOBIA – Intense fear that Justin Beiber or the Beliebers will take over the known world!
Today I checked my twitter trends as I posted a couple of tweets regarding artist identity, branding and my usual advice for up and coming artists and potential pop stars. I saw that Justin Beiber was trending twice in the top ten due to him reaching 11 million beliebers.
Among the tweets of passionate unbridled love and passion for young Mr Beiber, were messages of congratulations, but mixed among these messages were some that where quite vicious and it made me wonder why so much hate for the young lad? Read more
Sex & Music pt1
SEX SELLS!
We all know this, but after a conversation with a celebrity and pop star stylist something came to mind.
If everyone is using sex to sell their product, who gets chosen?
Sex is important to pretty much everybody. It is essential to the survival of the human race and if you are into physiology you will be aware of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he states sex is among our base needs which also include food, water and sleep! So important is sex that it actually has another entry on the hierarchy with us requiring sexual intimacy too. Read more
Gaga Vs Adele – The Branding Argument
In the commercialised business of music, brand association and collaboration is every were. Brands and pop stars are working together with absolutely incredible sums of money passing from brand names to artists for a piece of their fans attention. The current ruler bar none in this arena is Lady Gaga with brands paying rediculous amounts to get her to endorse their brand to her little monsters. Currently Lady Gaga has over 10 million twitter followers and over 35 million facebookers, that’s a lot of people! Read more
Book Release
For the last few months I have been putting the finishing touches on my first book “The Popstars Handbook” I have been cutting and shaving text, proofing, indexing and all that stuff I had no intention of doing ever in my life. It truly has been an interesting experience and finally now you can get all the good stuff featured in the book.
Question – Why I have written this book and do we need any more pop stars?
There is a significant amount of confusion surrounding the actual term “pop star”, as a term it has in fact lost a lot of credibility due to the questionable talent of artists who achieve success and are given the title. Read more
