Skip to main content

Posts

The Concept of Masculinity within Music and Entertainment

The Concept of Masculinity in the World Within the world of music and entertainment, it is common to discuss how the world perceives women. But what about Men? What defines masculinity? In the dictionary, the term Masculinity means the possession of the qualities traditionally associated with men such as handsome, muscled, and driven. The ideal man, according to the world, is meant to be a strong, emotionally disconnected and tough. This idea dates to the ages of cave men. The men who were strong and manly enough to bring home food were always preferred where as the man that was ‘weaker’ died off. That was just natural selection. But today, is this truly the definition of Masculinity? Artists such as Olly alexander (Years and Years) Boy George, David Bowie, Jaden Smith (Son of Famous actors, Will and Jada Smith) and Prince have challenged the traditional definition of the word. These men have been famously known for stepping outside of the box and challenging the tradit...
Recent posts

Latin Music in an English-speaking industry

Over the years, I have learned and discovered many new things about the music industry. One of the things I discovered when I was young and soon fell in love with was Latin music.    Latin music has become increasingly popular in English speaking countries with the recent release of the Popular track ‘Despacito’ By Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee with a remix featuring Justin Bieber. Since the release of the track, the world of Latin music seemed to crack open and flood to the rest of the world. Since then, the Latin influence has been used by several artists like Little Mix, Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello. In 2004, Daddy Yankee (who is one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre) released his track ‘Gasolina’ . The track was released at the time when the genre of reggaeton was crossing over into the USA and Europe. For now, Latin music popularity is on a steady incline. But is this love of Latin music just a thing of the times? If you have any question or querie...

Body Image in the Music Industry

After my small summer break, I decided that I wanted to come back with a post that has been on my mind for a while. Body Image and the role it plays in the music industry. I have been part of discussions concerning this topic on many occasions and each time, I find myself learning something different or my perception of body image changes. The music and wider entertainment industry have made it no secret of its motto ‘sex sells’. To be perfectly fair, it does. If you think back to the most popular tracks of the 2000’s, ‘Yeah’ by Usher, ‘Get your freak on’ by Missy Elliot, ‘Crazy in Love’ by Beyoncé and Jay Z, they feature lyrics, dancing and clothing that is true to the theme of the time: ‘Sex’.   At the time this was considered the norm but what about now? In this modern day, it is still common to see women who are sexualized and don’t get me wrong, you see men in the same situation! Let’s not forget the Tracks ‘Work’ by Fifth Harmony and ‘How to be a heartbreaker’...

Women in Music: Is it really a Man’s World?

Since starting this blog, I wanted to write this article. This article is one that means a lot to me because it is something that needs to constantly be brought to attention and needs to be discussed many times because it is extremely important.   In the past I have had discussions and seminars with women in a high position within the music industry. One guest inspired me the most. She came in to talk to my class about herself and how she got to where she. Her visit struck something in me. Hearing about her struggles to get to where she is made me think about other women that have or are going through the same thing she went through. From that lecture, I decided to do a Women in Music masterclass at my university because i felt like everyone, not just my class, needed to hear about the stories of prejudice and struggle these Women went through just because of their sex. In the past, it was believed that a woman’s role was to be a homemaker or in low positions within the wor...

The LGBTQ+ Community in the Music Industry

First and foremost, Happy Pride month everyone! I have loving seeing everyone celebrating pride around the world and spreading love and support to one another. As I have been scrolling through social media, I have seen many posts/stories/tweets of people showing their respects to those who lost their lives in the past too terrible events such as the Orlando Shooting in 2016. That is why I feel that it is extremely important to celebrate and come together even if you may not be of the LGBTQ+ Community so that horrifying acts of violence, like the one in Orlando, can stop. In support and celebration of pride month, I wanted to discuss my opinion of the LGBTQ+ community within the music industry. I have always felt that music was a way to express oneself. Take Prince and David Bowie for example. They have always pushed the boundaries of gender norms with their music which paved a way for artists like Sia, Olly Alexander (Years and Years), Sam Smith, Lauren Jauregui (former Fifth Ha...

Secondary Ticketing: Are Bots Ruining the Industry

This week, I decided that I wanted to talk about Secondary Ticketing and how it effects the Music Industry. Many people argue that secondary ticketing is not actually a bad thing as it allows people to make money if they were no longer able attend the event. In this instance, I believe that it is acceptable. However, secondary ticketing becomes an issue when large companies like StubHub, Viagogo and Get Me In, buy an abundance (by abundance I mean thousands) of tickets and sell them at an inflated price.   Even though a ticket is sold at an inflamed price by a touting company, unfortunately, the artist does not receive any of the extra money made from that ticket sale, thus affecting their income. As well as affecting income, the artist can lose out on fans. Due to the cost of tickets being so high, fewer fans may be able to attend the event. Touting also greatly affects consumers. By increasing the cost of tickets, many fans may lose out on the opportunity to see...

Mental Health Awareness in the Music Industry

As it is mental health awareness week it seems only fitting that this week I wrote about mental health in the music industry. In the past it was not common, almost taboo, for mental health to be discussed openly. However, in the current day, mental health has become a very important topic of discussion, across all fields of work. I myself suffer from depression and anxiety, so the discussion of mental health has always been of the upmost importance to me. In the UK alone, one sixth of the population between the ages of 16- 64 suffer from mental health problems and is on the increase. In 2013, there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK, 4 million cases of mood disorders (including bipolar disorder) and 18.2% of the population suffer with depression. According to the Mental Health Foundation, women are more likely than men to suffer from mental health problems and are over twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. So, what is the music industry doing ...