Research Task

“The days of indie artists are numbered as we have the airwaves under our control and we’re not gonna let it go. We know what the public want and by hell we have the music factory to make and give it.”

 

Australian music, and music in general, is a beautifully diverse art form. There are so many genres and sub genres already established, and more being created every minute. This diversity would not be possible without the sheer number of unique independent artists that create music. This quote (made by the CEO of an unknown company) challenges this idea by saying that large record labels such as themselves have no need of new artists because they already have the ‘diversity’ because they are so large. But this statement is very untrue. Their definition of diversity is flawed, as companies cater to specific audiences. They might have multiple different genres, but most end up sounding very similar to pop due to the specificity of the target audience. 

An example of this is Kylie Minogue, one of Australia’s most well known pop musicians. Originally an actress, she was picked up by Stock, Aitken, and Waterman (SAW); an English songwriting and record producing trio after her first single “Loco-Motion” spent a few weeks at the top of Australian charts. She recorded some singles, maintaining her ‘girl next door’ image that was encouraged by SAW but when she tried to portray a more mature style in her music and public image her album sales began to decline. In 1992 she broke with SAW to become an independent artist. 

This break was very illustrative of the reason that large companies such as SAW do not actually ‘control the airwaves’. Looking at other music that SAW has produced, it becomes apparent that they are lacking in diversity and focus solely on catering to the masses. Beginning in 1984 with Dead Or Alive’s album “Youthquake”, which “favored an exuberant blend of Hi-NRG (which was essentially late-’70s Euro-disco with a more high-tech production style) and pop/rock.” (AllMusic, n.d.). This never changed when they got to working with Minogue. SAW not only produced and wrote most of her songs while she was working with them, but they were trying to control the image that she put forward in her videos. As soon as Minogue wanted more creative input she was brutally rebuffed and left soon afterward. Minogue’s most popular albums such as “Light Years” and “Fever” were produced independently, or with minor influence from other artists. 

References

AllMusic, (n.d.). Stock, Aitken & Waterman | Biography | AllMusic. [online] Available at: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stock-aitken-waterman-mn0000628042/biography [Accessed 8 Sep. 2014].

Biography.com, (2014). [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/kylie-minogue-507447#early-career-acting-and-music [Accessed 8 Sep. 2014].

Wikipedia, (2014). Fever (Kylie Minogue album). [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever_(Kylie_Minogue_album) [Accessed 8 Sep. 2014].

Wikipedia, (2014). Kylie Minogue. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylie_Minogue [Accessed 8 Sep. 2014].