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Discussion of differences and similarities

between

Stars and Auteurs

in Pop industry and how both are related

to branding and marketing

Osvaldo Glieca

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Popular music can be interpreted to have two different

meanings: It can simply refer to appeal to people in small

communities associated with local musical artists, and it can

be related to large scale productions, directed not only for

ordinary people or the working class locally identified with

their own cultures and costumes - as the term popular may

suggest - but for the global market attracting a possible

greater number of people with no considerations of their

cultural, local, and social circumstances.

Obviously, the latter moves toward high regards of the

sales figures often reducing musical productions to the mere

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status of a well packaged object to be sold and bought in the

marketplace. Shortly before the Second World War, the

philosopher Theodor Adorno a scrupulous, but attentive

observer of these changes, coined the term of cultural

industries. Adorno argued that the capitalistic system

provides people with products that are the opposite of the

true art forms, essentially keeping them passively satisfied

and politically uninterested. That is, the culture industries

create superfluous needs, needs which can be both created

and satisfied by the capitalist system, and which replace the

people's true needs such as freedom, full expression of

human potentiality, and genuine creative happiness.

Adorno’s theories were, at the time, judged as inconclusive,

but if we look back at the music from the past of twenty five

years or so, I feel that his ideas were quite prophetic, and

whereas they were once regarded with skepticism, now

warrant serious reconsideration.

Another aspect of particular interest in the study of

popular music, is as a cultural form of entertainment with

implications of the social nature of the consumption. In other

words, the understanding of who buys these specific

products. This brings us to the matter of Pop Stars, and the

charismatic individuals known as Auteurs who create the

music. They both work for the entertainment industries, and

the popular cultural industries. Since music has been

conceived to be a product for the market, the record

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companies fragment it into different styles thus reflecting

people’s individual desires, thus appealing to the audiences

representing the different social textures. The Stars or

Auteurs were targeting those identified and specific

audiences through the musical styles and the musical textual

messages.

Stars and Auteurs are a complex phenomenon that

relate closely to the formation of social identities in which

large groups of people have strong interest and admiration.

This opens the concept of making a clear division to

distinguish the audiences to better recognize a Star or an

Auteur. Consumers and listeners are mainly located into two

different sections that approache the music markets

differently. Firstly, the music for the consumers where the

content of the music is minimal, and subliminal messages

from the mass-media direct the attention to lifestyles and

fashion trends, manipulating the potential audience to

consume the music as a domestic product. Conversely,

there are serious listeners of music better known as fans,

generally adults, that identify themselves in the music genre,

or in the Auteur which is seen as a unique representation of

his own music manifested as an artistic form, with eventual

political, sociological, or philosophical messages in which the

listener can share intimately with the artist as the personal

experiences that mirrors his own life as well.

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Again, to understand in which category a Star or

Auteur belongs, not only is it essential to classify the

audience, but also the authenticity intended as the quality of

the music and lyrics that make a clear distinction between

forms of music seen as honest, creative or real, and those

seen as a commercially standardized to achieve profit.

However, since they work in an industry, in some ways it is

problematic to establish whether these categories fit into the

arts, or the leisure market.

Since the 1930’s when gramophones were introduced

to play back recorded music, record companies started to

consider how music would be consumed and began working

towards the conception of an industrial market. It was a time

of sudden change and great progress, not only in music, but

in all aspects of society, reflecting a panoramic view of the

social texture. The perception of music was seen not just as

a pure art form, but as a type of amusement and enjoyment

typically associated with dance. Throughout the history of

the recording and mechanical reproduction, there have been

genres of music that produced more Stars than Auteurs, and

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vice versa, but the theory of approaching the music market is

grossly the same for both. However, by the beginning of the

1950’s with the advent of Rock ’n’ Roll, an important and

influential factor starting to emerge was in the matter of the

visual aesthetics, and how Stars were promoted, not only

making it more attractive to rebellious youth culture, but

opening the market to other sectors such as the cinema,

fashion, and clothing. These industries would otherwise not

have been accessible to the Auters who were working with

what were essentially, outdated styles such as Swing and

Cow-boy melodies. As a result, Stars were required to

emulate Black cultural influences, especially Boogie-Woogie,

making it acceptable to a predominantly white, American and

British audience, and creating what has been labelled Rock’

n’ Roll. Later, in the 1960’s with the Motown Sound and girl-

groups, particularly The Supremes, entertainment music was

still marketed to the white, young American audiences in a

blend of R&B mixed with Gospel. This music was written and

produced by expert arrangers, principally Holland Dozier

Holland, and Smokey Robinson, then performed by Stars to

make the product more visibly accessible.

These developments laid the foundations that began

to differentiate a Star and an Auteur. Stars, independently

from the style of music they perform, needed to have

particular talents, appealing to people because of their

fascinating personality or their appearance, and representing

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for the people a form of escapism from everyday life; Disco

music from the mid 1970’s symbolizes this quite clearly. This

genre of music was a simplified version of the Funk genre,

but without the syncopations, and had a strong pulsation

based on a straight eighth-notes feel. The style was a pure

dance form with a related dress code incorporating stiletto

heels, miniskirts, and backless dresses for woman, and tight

trousers, unbuttoned shirts, revealing the macho attitudes of

the men. Other extra musical elements, such as narcissistic

extravaganza and glittery opulence, all added to the

hedonistic intoxication of the Disco mania.

At the disco, the participants of the dance ritual

became the real Stars, where everyone took part in

dressing-up and it was this that made you feel important.

The beginning of the 1980’s saw the emergence of female

emancipation; Pop Stars such as Madonna above all the

others, who at the beginning of her career was one of the

most popular and iconoclastic teenage fashion idols, mixed

self-assertion and coquetry along with the then current Disco

style, winning a following of millions, especially young

women, and subsequently causing much debate among their

feminist elders and their conservative mores.

The examples of Disco music and Madonna, as in

other forms of popular culture, indicate that the Star system

it is much about illusion, appealing to the desires and

fantasies of the audience that being about talent and

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creativity. Stars work in the music industry with the special

role of identifying themselves through the audience in order

to have a number of loyal followers. Pop Stars, then, are

probably not much interested in art, but craft certain already

existent musical forms to provide popular tunes, clichés, and

lyrics characterized by bland sentimentalism which express

commonplace feelings such love, loss, and jealousy. The

pop singer’s ability to appeal us lies in the personality they

can inject into a song such that the listener can make it their

song .

Conversely, Auteurs distinguish themselves by

relating the lyrics to notions of sensibility, personal

enrichment, political and social statements. In this view,

Auteurs are producers of art, extending cultural forms and

thus, challenging the listener. The capacity of the Auteurs is

to express fully their personal unique musical universe.

Some popular music can be considered an art when it

makes an aesthetic distinction from the mass culture, where

the intention of an individual as a creative source is focused

towards innovation and originality in the style. The difference

also lies in creating a lyrical statement that induce the

listeners into making their own chain of thoughts that aim to

raise the moral sense through the unique vision of the artist.

This tendency can be traced back to at least 1965 and the

nascent career of Bob Dylan, which subsequently had a

huge influence on song writing and encouraged a serious

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attitude to Rock music. No less important was the impact of

the so called British Invasion that marked the dominance of

British music in the American market of that period. From

here on, the distinction between Pop music and Rock started

to be much more accentuated; highly creative British bands

of that time crafted musical statements and performances

which were viewed as works of art. Throughout this period,

Rock music and their Auteurs took music more seriously

than pure entertainment, partly because of the improvisation

and musicianship involved, and the virtuosity required,

especially in guitar playing. Nonetheless, the Vietnam war,

the fight for Black civil rights in USA, and the Student’s

cultural revolution in Western Europe, brought about a self

consciousness which was reflected in the Rock music in

which they identified, and was seen as a diversification from

the conservative world that they sought to change.

Popular music nowadays has become a huge area

that is continually evolving and embraces many different

creative aspects of musical production; the work of the Stars

within the music industry, is driven by the production team

who consequently appear as they strategically promote the

artist. The music industry not only embraces the aspects of

the mechanical reproduction of music and the collection of

royalties, but many associated markets of prime musical

importance, such as the music press, TV, merchandise,

musical instruments and sound reproduction as well.

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The Auteurs, on the other hand, tend to be in charge

of the music, self-promote themselves and often, they are

the leaders in charge of the entire production. Auteurs

typically have a comprehensive understanding of the

structural elements of their medium. They have a solid grasp

of songwriting, musicology, and studio mixing techniques,

beyond just merely being able to sing or play an instrument.

Subsequently, they are the people responsible for the

creation of distinctive and recognizable styles. Many people

may work together to form this vision, like session musicians

or mixing engineers, but one person, the producer, serves as

the driving force in behind all the activities. This is may be

evidenced by a consistent selection of various stylistic

elements all crafted to present the message as the Auteur

wants it to be expressed. Some serious music producers in

the business are considered real artists too, and their

influence to the Auteurs in following specific directions, can

be useful for determining the achievement of brilliant results,

not only for revenues. In this respect, producers such as Phil

Spector, George Martin, Giorgio Moroder, and Rick Rubin

(just to mention a very few famous ones), became important

and active participants of the music along with the actual

performer.

At this stage it is necessary to state a common point

between Auteurs and Stars, in that they are both working

within an industrial system. They are both responsible for

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their final recorded product, and since all musical texts are

social products, Auteurs and Stars working in popular genres

are under constant pressure to provide their audiences with

more of the music which attracted that same audience in the

first place. This raises the question of whether an artist is

responsible for a market in which many other individuals

gain profit as well. Obviously, this is a long debate; the

concept of art versus business (as well as marketing and

culture) takes place in all music sold - since it is a result of

the same process. At this point it becomes complicated to

decide who is the real artist. Generally, this theory applies to

both Auteurs and Stars in all the musical styles and genres.

For example, David Bowie was responsible for both the

auteurship and his own stardom, reinventing himself

throughout his entire career and placing himself between the

worlds of art and fashion. He was the first musician to

appreciate the importance of the artists as brand, and he

understood that brand identity and brand loyalty did not

necessarily equate to musical consistency. This explains

why changes in musical direction can loose established

audiences, even though it may have been the intention to

create a new one.

Nevertheless, as I mentioned above, nowadays there

is a big difference between Stars and Auteurs and how they

promote themselves. The Stars commercial success lies

beyond the music, in the direction of visual aesthetics,

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fashion and branding as well. This influence is obvious when

we consider the pop phenomena of the Spice Girls, who

combined an old fashioned form of amusement, the girl

group, with the most sophisticated and controlled approach

to the marketing. On the other hand, an auteur like Tom

Waits instead, has released several albums only after a live

tour in small venues for loyal fans. In my opinion, nowadays

music is all the same; Rock has lost its spirit and rebellious

approach, while pop music is more lucrative and poor quality

more than ever.

The role of investors in the music industry has led to

tensions between the creative and the production sides of

the business, with the former accusing the latter of excessive

concern with commercial success. We are now facing a

globalized standard of identical products.

As those products become increasingly similar, record

companies are turning to branding as a way to create a

preference for their offerings. Branding in music has been an

essential factor in the success of well-known artists such as

Metallica, Run DMC, Rolling Stones, REM and U2. Record

companies becomes aware that branding goes far beyond

building names for a set of offerings, branding is about

promising that the music offered will create and deliver a

certain level of performance. The promise behind the brand

becomes the motivating force for all the activities of the band

or artist and its production-partners. Thus, if Madonna

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promises that the latest album is expected to embrace a hip-

hop feel, while remaining a Pop/Dance record, then

everyone at the production side is driven to create and

deliver this level of performance. Branding determine the

way that an Auteur or Star must engage to define what it

wants to be excellent at, and how his product differ from

other music competitors.

A brand gives personality, and can evoke emotions, it

is built considering characteristics such the creation of a

logo, targeting the public and its preferences, the interests

and ways by which they might be attracted, the geographical

places, its particularities, culture, and population. Obviously

the digital era brought all the expenses consistently at lower

prices, and the Internet revolution has inexorably brought

changes with legal complications in terms of new laws, new

contractual issues, and new business model. To a broad

sense Rock and Pop Stars, independent musicians, and

even amateurs, are at the same level to promote music

across the planet, and new musician seem to appear

everyday.

Osvaldo Glieca Apr 20, 2014