A Popular Singer: Bob Dylan - Essay Example

A Popular Singer: Bob Dylan This project is about a popular singer that will be placed in a different historical context. The project will focus on the singer, Bob Dylan, who is an American singer, artist and songwriter. For more than fifty years, Dylan has been an influential figure in pop music and culture. Therefore, being the most influential artist of his era as he showed that rock and rock lyrics, which were one time known for their light - heartedness, could be serious and with meaning.1 Putting the artist in a particular time in history, I will restyle, remarket and redesign his image and sound in order for him to be famous, fashionable and influential amongst the anachronistic audience. It is while still maintaining his identity. The era in which am going to place Bob Dylan is in the 21st century music industry in the year 2014. Resetting Dylan in the year 2014, I will be targeting both the younger generation and the old, and in terms of location, the western. The 2014 way of dressing by artist is completely different to that of Dylan in 1960s; thus the need to redesign his way of dressing. During 1960s when Dylan became an icon in the music, television and the radio was not as improved as it is in 2014. The technology used in that time was not advanced as the technology of this time. Therefore, in making sure that Dylan will be famous in the 21st generation of music, marketing of his music is a significant step. Marketing of his music in the year 2014 can be done by use of television and radio stations. It is by making sure that is concerts are advertised through various media. Media play a significant role in marketing of different products. The media in the music industry are the primary source of fame for any artist. For Dylan, using media to play his music will be a great strategy to making his music known to all age groups and in the western. Use of online marketing and social media like Facebook and Twitter will be a great place to advertise Dylan’s music. Artists such as Rihanna, Mercy Cyrus and Three Doors Down have been seen using the social media accounts in updating their audience of their new projects.2 In the 60s, there were no social media networks like Facebook and Twitter that attract quite a large audience. Branding is another important part of becoming famous that Dylan would consider. In this era, branding is of significant value to an artist, whereby every artist needs his or her brand so that they can successful exist in this competitive music industry.3 An artist cannot just perform his music to be famous in this era as opposed to the 1960s where artists would be famous for their performances. Branding of Dylan will assure the audience of his music authenticity and its quality. It assures the audience that the characteristics, features, meaning and functions of his music will be of high quality whenever it released. Furthermore, it means that the current music is not about the sound, but about certain flair, the aura that artist is surrounded by, and with which his audience want to be associated. Similarly, the name of Dylan will be his most important asset, thus keeping it protected by obtaining registered trademarks rights. Celebrity endorsements are another key strategy for an artist to become famous in the eyes of his audience.4 In order for Dylan to become famous in this era, being endorsed by program directors in radio and television stations, internet producers and disc jockeys are important. It is because the number of times his music will be played can influence the popularity of both the artist and the song. In the production of his music, Dylan will not record his music in cassettes and diskettes as they did in the 60s. Instead, he will use a high technology in his recordings that will produce songs in soft copies or put them into CDs and DVDs, in the format of Mp3 and Mp4. Digital music is more accessible to the 2014 audience as opposed to the hardcopy music because of the high accessibility to internet by the targeted audience.5 The innovation of iTunes and the iPod has also changed how music is recorded, whereby the audience will be able to store its personal music. It is the key element to observe so that Dylan can keep up with the demand of his audience, and thus getting more famous and gaining more profits. Because the largest targeted group in the year 2014 are those below the age of 35 years, Dylan could divert the themes of songs to a more acceptable by this group. Since he used to sing political songs in 1960, he will now need to introduce love and party themes in his songs. The theme of his music will have to be changed to get the popularity of the targeted audience. In terms of dressing, I would have to change how Bob Dylan dressed. The 21st dressing designs for music artists are very different from what people like Dylan wore. Dylan used to dress in straight-legged jeans (skinny jeans), skinny shirts, blazers and Cuban boots. His hair was a flyaway hairstyle. Keeping up with the fashion trend is a significant fact that an artist should observe.6 Changing how Dylan dressed in 1960s would not be an option if at all I want him to be influential, popular and fashionable in contrast to 2014 artists. In the current music industry, the way an artist dresses greatly impacts his name to the audience. If a singer dresses well and arrogantly, he or she will be featured in different magazine and internet contents being the best dressed in a video or attended concert. Therefore, because of many artists in the 21st music industry, Dylan will need his code of dressing that will make him stand out from the audience. Dressing neatly and uniquely makes an artist look confident and a pro, thus making one get potential clients (audience) who want to see you. When an audience is comparing two artists’ sounds and decide that they are both fantastic, their next argument will be about their dressing. The better dressed and more aligned the artist is with his audiences’ perception of what one should look like; thus bringing more chances of winning a gig.7 A cool haircut is needed for Dylan that will go well with the current hair cut style of 2014. Alternatively, he can put on a hat like that of Jason Mraz. The current fashion of wearing a thin cardigan with striped T-shirt would be an excellent fitting for Dylan. In addition, in terms of trousers, he would require wearing nicely fitted jeans with great sunglasses and loafers. Similarly, he would be wearing sexy shorts, T-shirts that are fitting with leather jackets. A classic shirt or checked shirt blue fitting jeans and a sports shoe would be a good design. When it come to his music sound of 1960 resetting them to the audience of 2014 nothing much need to be changed. The sounds of his guitar melodies are exquisite and lovely. However, there has been a dramatic progress in music technology, thus the need to improve the sound of Dylan’s music. The improvement in recording technology has made the final music hardly ever what the artist originally played. It has, however improved the sounds and rhythm of the music to the prevalence of the audience. Even though it seem like that is not the original work of the artist because it has be edited, the 2014 audience loves that kind of music. Not much, need to be changed but only the rhythms and sound effects of the instruments such as using the current electric guitars.8 In the music, technology has brought much change on how music is produced, published and also delivered. In conclusion, resetting Dylan in 2014 era, much need to be changed so as to make him popular, influential and fashionable just like his time. Remarketing his image will involve different media houses, which include television, radio, social media and internet.9 In addition, being endorsed by DJs and stations’ directors would be a significant boost for Dylan in 2014. Branding and keeping his name clean would mean a lot in the music industry. Branding will ensure Dylan is well known to his sponsors and the targeted audience. Fashion plays a crucial role in the image of the artist. Therefore, dressing well will be an important part of Dylan transformation in the 2014 era. Therefore, I would change his dressing and tell him to adapt to the 2014 dressing styles. Bibliography Jonathan, Cott and Dylan Bob: The Essential Interviews. New York: Wenner Media LLC, 2007. Simon Frith, ed.. Popular Music: Critical Concepts In Media and Cultural Studies, Volumes 1-4. London: Routledge. 2004. Reebee, Garofalo. Rockin' Out: Popular Music in the U.S.A (4th edition), New Jersey: Prentice. 2008 J, Ilicic and C, Webster. ‘Effects of Multiple Endorsements and Consumer-Celebrity Attachment on Attitude and Purchase Intention.’ Australasian Marketing Journal 19 (2011): (230) T, Scovell. ‘Sounds Promising’, NZ Net Guide, 37 (March): (2000), 35–8 B, Schmitt, ‘The Consumer Psychology of Brands’; Journal of Consumer Psychology: 7 2012 Read More