Critical Approaches to Gender and 21st Century Pop Music

This is an article from the British magazine "Look", Its dicussing how Adele turned down an 12 million pound deal to replace Cheryl Cole as the face of Loreal. Adele says no because she doesn't want to be associated with a brand for fear of 'selling out'. I though this went well with our discussions of authenticity; unlike other artists Adele money comes 100% from the sale of her music which I think is both impressive and admirable.

I thought this was interesting because by adressing the idea of "selling out," Adele demonstrates what she considers "fake" about other pop artists. It gives insight into how we see authenticity as opposing commercialism and supporting brand names in the music industry. It also shows another dimension of why the public considers Adele an authentic artist.

I just wanted to add this in because I knew Gossip sounded familiar and this was the first time I had heard them.

Berreby: "The previous belief of many lay people and health professionals that obesity is simply the result of a lack of willpower and an inability to discipline eating habits is no longer defensible."

Lily Allen's response to accusations that her new video is racist

A critical approach to Lily Allen's New song "Hard Out Here'

Wow! What a way to see from the perspective of another family. How the individuals that took part everyday experiences differed by changing their own skin colour.

She talks about being a self-employed human statue. At 9:00 she speaks about her crowd funding.

Interesting tumblr postings.  It seems that the author of this certain tumblr doesn't support Lady Gaga and other divas.  An interesting viewpoint, especially from Jennex's article.  

I read about this too while writing my position paper! I totally agree how it's kind of the total opposite of what Jennex said in his article!

I think this tumblr is brilliant - why should all gays be categorised into liking Gaga, like they advertise; they can see through the marketing machine,and they do not want to just settle for being a target market for artists to try and conquer as if the LGBT community is something that needs to be won!

I posted this article in response to the articles about Miley Cyrus smoking weed on stage. This is Lady Gaga doing the same thing and like Cyrus she is also in Amsterdam. I don't understand what the fuss is about it's legal in the Netherlands so really why bother? These artist never smoke tobacco or drink alcohol on stage and these are legal substances in most places, plus they would impare their performances which fans pay money to see. I would be so annoyed that I payed money to watch an artsist get high on stage and then perform not because its predominately an illegal substance but surely they want to be at their best and their fans want to see them at their best.

I agree that people may have gone overboard with miley when you compare her to gaga because she has done the exact same thing. I think the reason for this is because people still have this goody-goody, disney image of miley and cannot still tear themselves away to look at her in this new light. Also Gaga never started out the same way as miley so i don't think people really care if she smoked weed or had a drink on stage, therefore i think origins play a big role for the perceptions of people in relation to artists such as miley and gaga.

Very interesting video of a lecture trying to get people to understand the white privilege and diversity a little better. 

The video and an article on Billboard about Lily Allen's new song. The video is really interesting and relevant to what we've been discussing as Allen calls out industry sexism in the lyrics and has a reference to Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' video.

I love this song and video, when I saw it I though Lily's back!! It seems she has taken a few years away to really see the industry for what it is and has come up with this song that addresses everything thats wrong it. My favourite line is 'if you can't detect the sarcasm then your misunderstood!'. I have so much respect for Lily Allen as an artist because her songs always tell it how it is, and she doen't feel the need to take her clothes off ( eg Miley Cyrus).This song reminds me of The Fear when she sings 'i'll take my clothes of and it will be shameless, because everyone knows that's how you get famous".

I wholesomely agree with this article and i love the angle that she took with it. I agree that women in the industry are pitted against men and it is a women jobs to look as they state; "Girls are allowed to be sexy, but not too sexy. Pure, but not a prude." In addition women or girls are only portrayed as long as they look 'pretty' or from the industries point of view perfect! That is why this article compares the treatment of men against the mistreatment of women in the industry and why there is a unbalance of expectations.

Here is an interview that questions whether there is gay artists in the music industry and more specifically the 'rap game' as the interviewed calls it. But can be considered as controversial is that he states that there is a 'gay mafia' and that they are controlling the hip hop scene. For instance he refers to Lady Gaga and how she is running with the gay community and she is winning!

An awesome feminist critique of the pop music industry by Lily Allen.

Amanda Palmer gave this TED talk on crowdsharing and the way she interacts with her fans. This sheds light on our discussion of Amanda Palmer's practices of hiring musicians without paying them and asking fans for help in funding her music. I thought it was particularly interesting to see her reasoning and perspective behind what so many writers have criticized her for.