1. WHAT IS PLASTIC POP?

2. Plastic Pop is stereotypically associated with the
genre Pop and specifically "Bubblegum Pop" and
"Teen Pop", this emphasises the feminine factor
which mainly appeals and influences to the female
half of the larger target audience. As mentioned
earlier, Plastic Pop generally appeals to a
youthful audience mainly young teenagers. This
appeal usually consists of simple "cheesy" love
songs that are a modern twist on old classics.

3. Plastic Pop has had a significant amount of influence from many other
mainstream genres such as classical and rock music for example, this has
led to the development of the genre Pop being stereotypically associated
with young, attractive Pop groups, who generally appeal to the opposite
sex for example One Direction, a teenage boy band consisting of five
members who have a large female fan base worldwide despite only being
placed together on a TV singing competition two years ago.

4. Plastic Pop can easily be identified
through several different micro
elements, these include features such as
bright colours like neon based colours
and sometimes pastel colours like blue
and pink, this image is a fixed
stereotype that audiences are familiar
with, the colours and house themes that
are used symbolise several different
ideologies and theories one of the most
common being “the ideal life” and
perfect characteristics. The bright and
bold house styles commonly used
represent youth and an almost fresh
culture, the bright colours tend to
attract and appeal to a young teenage
audience ranging from 9 to 18.

5. WHICH ORGANISATONS
MARKET AND SUPPORT
PLASTIC POP?

6. Several programmes on television influence aspiring
pop artists to come forward and express their
talents through different visual interpretations
the two most common being song and dance. They are
able to express their raw talents through auditions
in which they need to surpass in order to catch a
mere glimpse of stardom, due to the amplified
characteristics the media is known for, the lucky
hopefuls have their “tough” and “tiring” journey to
stardom filmed and broadcasted on the TV show. Due
to the hopefuls being “plastered” across all forms
of media, when the winner is announced they will
already be familiar amongst audiences and maybe
even a large fan base, examples of this process
happen on shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and
most commonly the XFactor.

7. Little do we realise but as audiences are
the people that fund these programmes, we do
this when we voice our opinions when voting
for our favourite acts that appear on the
shows, this simple process not only makes
money for the programme but simply
eliminates those contestants who have not
yet “connected with the audience and viewers
at home”. From each call the audiences make
to vote for their favourite the programme
pocket a certain percentage of the cost the
call charges, the pricing of the call varies
pending on whether it is made from a mobile
device or BT landline. As a result of the
most “popular” act amongst the audience
staying in the competition works in favour
of the artist who wins the competition as
once the programme is finished the artist is
guaranteed to already have a large fan base.

8. Along with TV programmes such as the XFactor
marketing the modern genre “Plastic Pop” other
franchises such as Disney also market and influence
aspiring young artists. The TV programme within the
franchise itself encourages undiscovered artists to
pursue their dreams and aspirations of making an
established career in the music industry. Disney does
this by launching exclusive singing competitions and
schemes that gives entries the opportunity to make
their dreams come true.

9. INFLUENTIAL FIGURES
WITHIN INDUSTRY.

10. Influential artists within the Plastic Pop culture
Before After tend to be artists themselves, they lure media
consumers into finding the genre appealing and getting
involved in the music, they also create this
aspiration amongst the target audience that they could
be just like these “famous celebrities” if they follow
their dreams. These dominant Pop figures within the
music industry influence audiences whilst appearing on
TV programmes that consist of plastic pop singing
competitions for example, appearing as main judges on
the panel. A great example of this is Tulisa
Contostavlos who was previously a member of N Dubz,
despite being well known amongst the British public
for her incredibly successful singing career, by
appearing on the show as a main judge, not only did
she boost her own profile but also encourages this
ongoing cycle of discovering new stars.

11. Simon Cowell is another example of a highly
influential figure within this newly found culture.
This man is known for being one of the most powerful
men on TV, Cowell is head judge on both the XFactor
and Britain’s Got Talent, featuring on both these well
known programmes makes him incredibly well known
amongst the larger target audience along with also
being a huge figure within the music industry. Being
known for his harsh opinions and exaggerated comments
on the show his “constructive criticism” earns him a
huge amount of popularity amongst all audiences,
despite being the rudest judge on the panel, the
audiences opinions about him fail to change as he is
still idolised amongst consumers. Audience gain
pleasure from his sometimes rude comments and seek to
hear what Simon has to say once an act has performed
which enhances his role and position amongst the
remaining judges as well as the music industry.
However Simon is not all talk as he has created
several well known and globally successful artists
through the process of his shows, these include artist
such as Leona Lewis and most recently One Direction.

12. EXAMPLES OF PLASTIC
POP ARTISTS.

13. A great example of an existing Plastic
Pop artist includes Pop princess Britney
Spears whose music most certainly comes
under the category of Pop judging by her
first ever single back in 1999, “Hit me
baby one more time” which debuted at
number one on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Despite Spears’ music being categorised
under the genre of Pop this however did
not mean that she was an ideal role model
within the industry, however her past
success in the music industry does.
Britney Spears began her journey to
stardom by joining the cast of Disney
channels “The Mickey Mouse Club” at the
age of 10, by joining a large franchise
that marketed Plastic Pop Spears not only
promoted her talents through the
programme but also gained a larger fan
base, as a result of the show having a
large Plastic Pop audience.

14. Whilst partaking in the Disney programme,
Spears met a fellow cast member Justin
Timberlake who is also an incredibly
successful and well known figure within
the music industry. Once both potential
pop stars were comfortable with their
careers, they decided to become a couple
and started dating. Once the media heard
of this great news, the couple then
became centre of this Hollywood craze as
fellow Plastic Pop fans of both artist
wanted to delve into the couples personal
life and find out more about the gossip
that revolved around the newly formed
couple. This worked as an advantage for
both stars as not only did it boost
Spears’ career but also Justins.

15. Once Spears’ singing career took of she
began her journey as this very modest and
innocent character with this “Barbie
Doll” appearance, as a result of her
appearance she was stamped as this good
role model for Plastic Pop audiences.
This is evident through her first music
video in which she is wearing very
“average teenager like” and appropriate
clothing, within her video she is
portrayed as this naive school girl with
“blonde piggy tails” this in itself
symbolises innocence and the pink bobbles
that she wears reinforces this idea of
Pop. However she also wears her shirt as
a sort of “belly top” which is done to
broaden her appeal to her fan base and is
targeted towards a larger teenage and
male audience and at the same time
keeping the codes and conventions of the
Pop genre in stilled.

16. However as Spears’ career progresses, as
a fan you see a more “adult” side to
Britney who begins to advance on her once
“mild nudity” when she first began and
begins to show a lot more skin within her
videos and public appearances, her dress
sense become slightly more provocative
and slightly inappropriate for younger
audiences. This clearly demonstrates how
Pop artists change as their career
progresses and develops, modern day Pop
artists have begun to appeal to a larger
male audience through very mild sexual
references maybe through dance or lyrics
for example, nevertheless artists still
remain with this bleached blonde and pink
accessories look which will associates
Spears with the genre Pop.

17. OTHER EXAMPLES
INCLUDE.

18. CHRISTINA AGUILERA
BEFORE AFTER

19. SUGABABES
BEFORE AFTER

20. MEDIA INFLUENCES.

21. As the proliferation of hardware develops, we
audience consumers are becoming significantly
more influenced by the worldwide media that
exists in the modern society today, the media
has almost become part of our everyday daily
routine, from watching TV to searching the
internet for information, we almost feel
deprived if we do not have access to some form.
However one of the most powerful form of media
goes by the name “Internet”, this form can now
be accessed from several different forms of
media technologies such as Smart Phones, games
consoles, you very own TV for example, as a
result of this, it is easier for individuals
within the music industry to advertise their
products and promote unknown artists, this
including potential Plastic Pop artists. Pop
artists like Justin Bieber tend to use forms of
the internet to promote and market themselves
and their products, one of the most popular
being through official artist sites and fan club
websites and forums, for example Justin Bieber
has his own new website that he has just
launched called -
“http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/boyfriend/.
Bieber also gained success and popularity
through posting video’s of himself singing
covers of existing artists within the music
industry on YouTube which is also a worldwide
video sharing website on the internet.