Rock n Roll

Ruth Smyth (18)
Why does tabloid press concentrate on exposing the shaded lifestyle of celebrities? The casual drug-taking, promiscuous relationships and hedonistic backdrop to an otherwise mundane world are almost synonymous with what music magazines like to call “Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Popular music as found in the UK’s Top 40 include hip-hop, dance, R ‘n’ B, boybands and now even reality show contestants. In following the new trends of an imprudent youth, music companies can now produce near carbon copy artists whose performance is next to insignificant. Although there is a marginal group of musicians throughout the years who manage to scratch through the surface of Britain’s mediocre music scene.

Society tends to hone in on these obvious “bad guys” within the morally corrupt industry such as co-frontman Pete Doherty of the London-based band The Libertines. In doing so, this disregards the exploitation of naïve singer/songwriters by big business. The sexualizing of pre-pubescent “talent.” The core message of sexism and violence as found in urban hip-hop. The erroneously trim face of teenage pin-ups and the artificiality of their management.
The premature split of The Libertines reinforces their success and legacy. With the formation of two new bands Dirty Pretty Things and Babyshambles, fans are able to argue freely the lyrical ability of Doherty and Carl Barat. However, Doherty’s life is focused on more heavily and not in any musical aspect but rather his personal relationships and drug habit. If the price of fame justifies such unwanted attention then why isn’t Barat as recognizable to hungry tabloid papers?

If lifestyles have trumped talent in some cases, does this not prove that the music industry isn’t just about music anymore? But even still, some celebrities are sympathized with more than others like the controversy surrounding Britney Spears. Seamus Craic, music journalist, tries to justify the snobbery in the pitfalls of fame: “If we can put ourselves in the mindset of The Sun for a moment: The British public loves a bad boy, but junkies are scum.”