Plastic pop

Plastic Pop is associated with the genre of pop, emphasizing the girly factor which of course has a main influence upon the female target audience. Plastic pop also appeals to a general youthful audience, consisting of simple love songs in connection to today’s technologies in order to produce variation from past love songs.

Plastic pop has had influence from other genres of music, for example, rock and classical music, which has developed into the stereotyped genre of pop, centred around pop groups which generally appeal to the other sex, for example, JLS, a boy band who attract a female audience as well as homosexuals, broadening the target audience due to today’s social groups.

Pop is obvious when approached due to the stereotyped portrayal of the genre, for example, the bright colours used to demonstrate the ‘perfect’ characteristics of the artist, these bright colours also appeal to a youthful audience including teenagers ranging from ages ten to sixteen.

There are many TV shows which influence possible pop artists, they are able to audition in order to get through, due to the use of media, the acts are advertised during their journey in the TV show. If the one artist were to win, they would already be known to the public as a result of the vast audiences who watch the show, examples of shows include Britain's got Talent and the X-Factor.

These entertainment shows are funded by the audiences when their opinions are considered when they vote for their favourite act, this simple procedure eliminates other acts who don’t seem up to scratch, each call has a price which funds the program, prices range from mobile phones to BT landline. The fact that the audience choose their favourite act, allows the most popular act to go through, this is beneficial after the program has finished because the act would appeal to majority of the voters.

TV shows such as Disney also influence young artists, encouraging them to sing and per sew their dreams in the music industry, launching competitions and prizes allowing them to come on the show and get involved with the behind the stage action.

Influential characters in the music industry of pop tend to be artists them selves, they encourage media consumers to get involved in music and inspire them by being stars themselves. Pop stars also influence the general public when appearing in these Plastic Pop talent competitions, represented as judges. An example of this would be Cheryl Cole who came in to X-Factor to judge, a pop icon who not only encourages this continuous income of new stars, but promotes her self by being on the show.

Another influential character is Simon Cowl who is a judge in both Britain’s got Talent and the X-Factor, which makes him well known to the public as well as the music industry. His harsh and sometimes exaggeratedcomments may bring people down but positive remarks from him are very uplifting as he is idolised. Due to this, many contestants only care for his comments in comparison to the other judges which enhances his role in the music industry. Simon’s past with pop acts are significant because they bring about success, for example, Leona Lewis, a global phenomenon from the X-Factor, another influential character in the pop industry.

A good example of a plastic pop artist would be Britney Spears, her music clearly comes under the category of the pop genre, for instance her number one single, ‘hit me baby one more time’. Although, the fact that her music comes under pop does not make her a good plastic pop artist, her past in the music industry on the other hand does. Her success is due to her being promoted during her childhood years when Britney was apart of the, ‘Mickey mouse club’, which was funded by the plastic pop organisation, Disney; this show was successful what with a large plastic pop audience.

Through Disney, Britney met Justin Timberlake, another very successful plastic pop artist who was also featured in the Mickey mouse club, later when both artists were comfortable with their careers, they became a couple. This couple were then Hollywood’s main media buzz as the plastic pop consumers wanted a greater insight to gossip which revolved around the stars. This increased both Justin’s popularity as well as Britney's.

Britney’s look was a good portrayal of plastic pop; a result of her cliché Barbie doll appearance. This has been clearly demonstrated through an image taken from one of her early music videos. Here, we have Britney with her blond piggy tails to exhibit her target audience, the pink bobbles reinforce this idea. However, her revealing some skin tries to broaden her appeal to teenagers and males, while keeping intact with the codes and conventions of pop.

You notice that as she gets older, her mild nudity becomes more advanced as she reveals more skin, this displays how the plastic pop artists change as time develops into years. Pop artists now appeal to more males due to these mild sexual references, yet still we have the bleach blond hair and pink accessories which associate Britney with pop.

The Sugababes are very well known in the music industry and have developed from when they first started in 1998 to what we see of them today. However, the group developed as a result of gaining and losing different members of the pop girl group, this, in some consumers’ opinion is the result of their success. Evidence of this success has been recorded as the famous girl group grasped the title of being the most successful female act of the 21st century in the Guinness book of world records. If you were to examine the Sugababes during the early stage of their career, you will notice how they seem to be younger, more girly with an essence of innocence, this has clearly been portrayed through their earlier music videos such as 'Overload’.

Although, when glancing at the new reincarnation of the Sugababes, we see a sex appeal once again, similar to that of Britney spears, in order to appeal to males as well. The group seemed more popular as a result of their pop fusion with RNB as it drew in a greater audience of media consumers. However, the girl group are still associated with pop, but it seems that today’s new reformed version of pop includes sex appeal to broaden the target audience, this applies to all present day pop artists as well. Sugababes have displayed this through one of their recent music videos, ‘Wear my Kiss’.

New Sugababes

Old Sugababes

As the proliferation of hardware becomes more advanced, we are influenced by media much more, this now seems to be apart of our daily routine, ranging from watching TV to listening to the radio. A very popular form of media is the internet which is now accessible in today’s developing games consoles including the Wii, Playstation 3 and many more, this makes it easier for people to advertise and promote artists, including pop stars. Plastic pop artists tend to use the internet to advertise themselves by having their own fan club online, for example JLS, who now have their own fan club on ‘www.fanpop.com’, as a result of their ongoing success in the popular singing competition, the X Factor.

‘Smash hits’, a popular magazine advertises pop and has a liaison with the best pop artists as they come and go. With today’s dependence on media, people are more likely to buy the magazine as it includes exclusives which supply readers with gossip, another form of pop influence through media. ‘Smash hits’, also have their own spot on TV, this just demonstrates how plastic pop is spread and progresses to the target audience through today’s technologies.