W H A T I S P L A S T I C P O P ?

Plastic Pop is stereotypically associated with the genre Pop and specifically "Bubblegum Pop" and "Teen Pop", this emphasises the feminine factor which mainly appeals and influences to the female half of the larger target audience. As mentioned earlier, Plastic Pop generally appeals to a youthful audience mainly young teenagers. This appeal usually consists of simple "cheesy" love songs that are a modern twist on old classics.

Plastic Pop has had a significant amount of influence from many other mainstream genres such as classical and rock music for example, this has led to the development of the genre Pop being stereotypically associated

with young, attractive Pop groups, who generally appeal to the opposite sex for example One Direction, a teenage boy band consisting of five members

who have a large female fan base worldwide despite only being placed together on a TV singing competition two years ago.

Plastic Pop can easily be identified through several different micro

elements, these include features such as bright colours like neon based colours and sometimes pastel colours like blue

and pink, this image is a fixed stereotype that audiences are familiar

with, the colours and house themes that are used symbolise several different

ideologies and theories one of the most common being “the ideal life” and

perfect characteristics. The bright and bold house styles commonly used

represent youth and an almost fresh culture, the bright colours tend to

attract and appeal to a young teenage audience ranging from 9 to 18.

W H I C H O R G A N I S A T O N S M A R K E T A N D S U P P O R T

P L A S T I C P O P ?

Several programmes on television influence aspiring pop artists to come forward and express their talents through different visual interpretations the two most common being song and dance. They are able to express their raw talents through auditions in which they need to surpass in order to catch a mere glimpse of stardom, due to the amplified characteristics the media is known for, the lucky hopefuls have their “tough” and “tiring” journey to stardom filmed and broadcasted on the TV show. Due to the hopefuls being “plastered” across all forms of media, when the winner is announced they will already be familiar amongst audiences and maybe even a large fan base, examples of this process happen on shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and most commonly the XFactor.

Little do we realise but as audiences are the people that fund these programmes, we do this when we voice our opinions when voting for our favourite acts that appear on the shows, this simple process not only makes money for the programme but simply eliminates those contestants who have not yet “connected with the audience and viewers at home”. From each call the audiences make to vote for their favourite the programme pocket a certain percentage of the cost the call charges, the pricing of the call varies pending on whether it is made from a mobile device or BT landline. As a result of the most “popular” act amongst the audience staying in the competition works in favour of the artist who wins the competition as once the programme is finished the artist is guaranteed to already have a large fan base.

Along with TV programmes such as the XFactor marketing the modern genre “Plastic Pop” other franchises such as Disney also market and influence aspiring young artists. The TV programme within the franchise itself encourages undiscovered artists to pursue their dreams and aspirations of making an established career in the music industry. Disney does this by launching exclusive singing competitions and schemes that gives entries the opportunity to make their dreams come true.

I N F L U E N T I A L F I G U R E S W I T H I N I N D U S T R Y .

Influential artists within the Plastic Pop culture tend to be artists themselves, they lure media consumers into finding the genre appealing and getting involved in the music, they also create this aspiration amongst the target audience that they could be just like these “famous celebrities” if they follow their dreams. These dominant Pop figures within the music industry influence audiences whilst appearing on TV programmes that consist of plastic pop singing competitions for example, appearing as main judges on the panel. A great example of this is Tulisa Contostavlos who was previously a member of N Dubz, despite being well known amongst the British public for her incredibly successful singing career, by appearing on the show as a main judge, not only did she boost her own profile but also encourages this ongoing cycle of discovering new stars.

Before After

Simon Cowell is another example of a highly influential figure within this newly found culture. This man is known for being one of the most powerful men on TV, Cowell is head judge on both the XFactor and Britain’s Got Talent, featuring on both these well known programmes makes him incredibly well known amongst the larger target audience along with also being a huge figure within the music industry. Being known for his harsh opinions and exaggerated comments on the show his “constructive criticism” earns him a huge amount of popularity amongst all audiences, despite being the rudest judge on the panel, the audiences opinions about him fail to change as he is still idolised amongst consumers. Audience gain pleasure from his sometimes rude comments and seek to hear what Simon has to say once an act has performed which enhances his role and position amongst the remaining judges as well as the music industry. However Simon is not all talk as he has created several well known and globally successful artists through the process of his shows, these include artist such as Leona Lewis and most recently One Direction.

E X A M P L E S O F P L A S T I C P O P A R T I S T S .

A great example of an existing Plastic Pop artist includes Pop princess Britney Spears whose music most certainly comes under the category of Pop judging by her first ever single back in 1999, “Hit me baby one more time” which debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. Despite Spears’ music being categorised under the genre of Pop this however did not mean that she was an ideal role model within the industry, however her past success in the music industry does.Britney Spears began her journey to stardom by joining the cast of Disney channels “The Mickey Mouse Club” at the age of 10, by joining a large franchise that marketed Plastic Pop Spears not only promoted her talents through the programme but also gained a larger fan base, as a result of the show having a large Plastic Pop audience.

Whilst partaking in the Disney programme, Spears met a fellow cast member Justin Timberlake who is also an incredibly successful and well known figure within the music industry. Once both potential pop stars were comfortable with their careers, they decided to become a couple and started dating. Once the media heard of this great news, the couple then became centre of this Hollywood craze as fellow Plastic Pop fans of both artist wanted to delve into the couples personal life and find out more about the gossip that revolved around the newly formed couple. This worked as an advantage for both stars as not only did it boost Spears’ career but also Justins.

Once Spears’ singing career took of she began her journey as this very modest and innocent character with this “Barbie Doll” appearance, as a result of her appearance she was stamped as this good role model for Plastic Pop audiences. This is evident through her first music video in which she is wearing very “average teenager like” and appropriate clothing, within her video she is portrayed as this naive school girl with “blonde piggy tails” this in itself symbolises innocence and the pink bobbles that she wears reinforces this idea of Pop. However she also wears her shirt as a sort of “belly top” which is done to broaden her appeal to her fan base and is targeted towards a larger teenage and male audience and at the same time keeping the codes and conventions of the Pop genre in stilled.

However as Spears’ career progresses, as a fan you see a more “adult” side to Britney who begins to advance on her once “mild nudity” when she first began and begins to show a lot more skin within her videos and public appearances, her dress sense become slightly more provocative and slightly inappropriate for younger audiences. This clearly demonstrates how Pop artists change as their career progresses and develops, modern day Pop artists have begun to appeal to a larger male audience through very mild sexual references maybe through dance or lyrics for example, nevertheless artists still remain with this bleached blonde and pink accessories look which will associates Spears with the genre Pop.

O T H E R E X A M P L E S I N C L U D E .

BEFORE AFTER

CHRISTINA AGUILERA

BEFORE AFTER

SUGABABES

M E D I A I N F L U E N C E S .

As the proliferation of hardware develops, we audience consumers are becoming significantly more influenced by the worldwide media that exists in the modern society today, the media has almost become part of our everyday daily routine, from watching TV to searching the internet for information, we almost feel deprived if we do not have access to some form. However one of the most powerful form of media goes by the name “Internet”, this form can now be accessed from several different forms of media technologies such as Smart Phones, games consoles, you very own TV for example, as a result of this, it is easier for individuals within the music industry to advertise their products and promote unknown artists, this including potential Plastic Pop artists. Pop artists like Justin Bieber tend to use forms of the internet to promote and market themselves and their products, one of the most popular being through official artist sites and fan club websites and forums, for example Justin Bieber has his own new website that he has just launched called - “http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/boyfriend/. Bieber also gained success and popularity through posting video’s of himself singing covers of existing artists within the music industry on YouTube which is also a worldwide video sharing website on the internet.