High-Profile Scandals in the Music Industry - Essay Example

# Scandals in the Music Business The American consumer never tires of scandal. We love gossip, rumor, innuendo, upset and intrigue, especially when it involves Hollywood, sports heroes, and musicians. It is difficult to make a name for yourself as a musician just on your talent alone—not when a million “artists” put out YouTube videos of themselves live from their garages, and free music download sites essentially steal the hard work and sweat of musicians, producers, and distributors. A good scandal, though, will send an artist to the moon. While consumers love—and expect—scandals and those misfortunes can make or break an artist’s career, chaos does not help the music business overall. A few producers and record labels get to cash in on scandals that produce consumer interest, such as Ashley Alexandra Dupre and the AimeStreet website, but many more invest time and money in an artist or group only to find someone died of a drug overdose right before the big tour. For those who are in the music business for the love or for the long haul, scandals are rarely the best way to sell albums. Take the case of Ashley Alexandra Dupre, an unknown artist until the New York Times revealed she had a small rendezvous with Eliot L. Spitzer, former governor of New York (Sorkin, 2008). Her singles were made available on the website AmieStreet.com, which uses an innovative pricing system: songs are initially available for free, but as more people buy them, the price rises until it tops out at 98 cents per download. (This site is sanctioned by independent artists and backed by Amazon.com.) Within hours of the revelation of her affair with the former governor, Dupre’s songs had topped out in price and she made a tidy sum of money. It will be interesting to see if her talent creates a loyal fan base, or if she was just cashing in on her 10 minutes of fame. A year after the scandal, a search of the AimeStreet website did not find any hits—new or old—for Ashley Alexandra Dupre. Dupre made her money because of a scandal; other artists lost their millions after their scandals. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Milli Vanilli was the hot sound, and they sold 30 million albums and won a Grammy Award and three American Music Awards. And the German duo was good—except that the front men weren’t actually making the music. An interesting twist on the familiar story is the fact that a class-action lawsuit against Arista Records and the two front men was actually upheld, and nearly 10 million people who bought Milli Vanilli recordings and attended their concerts were eligible to receive refunds (NYT 1991). An attempted comeback for the duo was thwarted in 1998 when Rob Pilatus was found dead of a drug and alcohol overdose. The name lives in infamy, even 15 years later. A blogger for the New Zealand-based Southland Times commented on the performance of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the 2000 Sydney Olympics: “Turns out [it] pulled a bit of a Milli Vanilli, miming its performance at the opening ceremony” (Allison-Aitken, 2008). Even the simple act of exercising their right to free speech can land music artists in hot water with the media. Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks made her opinion of President George Bush known in 2003 when she told a London audience, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas” (FoxNews, 2003). This made a whole lot of people very angry, and fans called for a boycott of the act’s music. Maines later commented, “I didn’t know people had that sort of hatred in them” (2007). She was voicing the sentiment of a large number of Americans, but by choosing to do so publically, she heard about it from irate fans. The career of the Dixie Chicks did not suffer much from this uproar, and they are still an incredibly popular act. Music scandals are often about making the sacred profane. John Lennon commented that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Irish pop singer Sinead O’Connor tore up a photo of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. Ozzy Osbourne, always on the lookout for a way to rock the boat, donned one of his wife’s dresses, got astoundingly drunk, and visited the Alamo, the most sacred Texan symbol. He proceeded to relieve himself on a wall nearby, was arrested for disorderly conduct, and banned from San Antonio forever. The number of scandalous acts perpetrated by Ozzy Osbourne could fill a few volumes, however. Most musicians will barely get past the local newspaper as far as media coverage goes, no matter how many times they go to the grocery store in their bare feet, as Britney Spears did before one of her mental breakdowns. It’s an expensive proposition to make an album, and artists must share the costs of production and distribution with the record company. The big name labels take conservatively calculated risks before signing on an artist or a band, and very few make the cut based on raw talent. For a band to score a record deal, they need to have a fan base already, to prove they will make the studio money. Still, many albums do not break even if there are production cost overruns or marketing snafus. As with almost everything connected with the movie and music business, fame often boils down to who you know far more than what scandalous things you do. Young artist BC Jean was recently signed with J Records, also known as Arista, after being recognized as a songwriter for her co-written Beyonce hit, “If I Were a Boy” (jrecords.com, 2009). Jean counts among her collaborators on her debut album superstar songwriters Dallas Austin, the Matrix, and Toby Gad, who have written songs for such artists as Gwen Stefani, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, David Cook, Fergie, and Beyonce. Obviously BC Jean is not a new artist, although she is young; she got her talent in front of the right people, made the right connections, and is now making an album for a major record label. It is scheduled for release at the end of 2009. Normal, non-famous people also commit acts of verbal stupidity or physical danger every day, but those who are already in the limelight get noticed by the media. It is an unfortunate fact the once people are deemed famous, they are no longer “people.” Every action and word is under scrutiny, and the slightest misstep can cause chaos. Consumers are fickle, and creating a sustained presence in the music world is difficult. Throw the negative repercussions of a scandal on top of fickleness, and it could be a recipe for disaster in a musician’s career. When an act or artist maintains a career in spite of, or because of scandals, the chaos for managers and producers is a nightmare. Those acts had better keep producing, and not do anything too dumb. It must be kept in mind that major labels do not have the power they once did (Maines, 2007), and artists are often taking control of their own careers rather than being controlled by record labels. From “Elvis the Pelvis” to Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” to sexual misconduct of all forms to drug and alcohol overdoses, scandals in the music business seem to be a part of life, at least briefly. Perhaps this comment sums it up best: “When you’re making millions for jumping around like a jacka** howling into a microphone, the rules and regulations of normal society no longer seem to apply” (UGO, 2009). The American consumer loves to see famous people crash and burn, and some buy records simply because of scandals. They want to see what the hype is all about, perhaps. Michael Jackson could not be reached for comment on this issue, so we can only guess what he would say. Works Cited Allison-Aitken, Jillian. “Judge’s online ban was never going to work.” The Southland Times, 27 August 2008. Accessed 29 March 2009 from . FoxNews.com. “Chicks’ Critical Remarks About Bush Create Controversy.” Entertainment, 14 March 2003. Accessed 29 March 2009 from . Jrecords.com. “BC Jean, Hitmaker and Singer/Songwriter, Signed to J Records.” News, 23 March 2009. Accessed 29 March 2009 from . Maines, Natalie. Interview from the Future of Music section. Rolling Stone, 1039:110, 15 November 2007. Accessed 29 March 2009 from Academic Search Premiere database (EBSCO). New York Times. “Small Victory for Milli Vanilli Fans.” New York Times Section 1 page 16, August 31, 1991. Accessed 29 March 2009 from . Sorkin, Andrew R. “Spitzer Scandal Boosts Music Startup.” DealBook blog, New York Times website, 13 March 2008. Accessed 29 March 2009 from . UGO Entertainment. “Top 50 Music Scandals.” 2009. Accessed 29 March 2009 from . Read More