Synthetic vs organic music artists

Synthetic vs organic music artists 

The Rolling Stones in Milan 1967

In the music industry, there is a clear divide between music artists who are synthetic or organic. Synthetic artists have a more manufactured and controlled appearance because of their record company. They are marketed a certain way to appeal to their target audience, and to create as much profit as possible, and usually not expected to have a particularly long career. However, we also have organic music artists, who usually have already started to create their own image and fan base, but are picked up and slightly altered by record companies to maximise their star image. These artists are usually more authentic, and create trends rather than follow them.

Analysing album covers: Synthetic vs organic

Organic: "Beggars Banquet" by The Rolling Stones, 1968

We can see straight away that this was quite a controversial album cover of the time. Pictured is a very old and dirty toilet stall, with the wall behind it covered in graffiti. The whole atmosphere is far from romanticised, and we can see straight away that this band has a rough and unaltered side to them, emphasised by the all caps red writing. The writing on the wall also gives detailed to what the band is about: we can see they are influenced by Bob Dylan, so the music is most likely influenced by blues and folk. along with rock and roll. There is also a peace sign and a hand that has 'love; written across it. We know they are part of the late 60s, hippie movement, so we get a sense that they are free spirited and not controlled. These references also helps to create a target audience for them, one that is more matured. Another way we can see that this album is from an organic artist, is that we don't see them in it. This shows that to them the music is more important than the musicians, which seems to be the opposite to synthetic artists, who are just matched up to a genre.  


Synthetic: "What makes you beautiful" by One Direction 2011

There is clearly a huge contrast between this album cover and the one I analysed previously. We can see four young boys all dressed in a matching colour scheme in some sort of tour bus. They are all smiling and very far from sexualised; their innocent look would be used to help create their target audience of young teen or preteen girls. One Direction's career was probably assumed to be a reasonably short one because once their fans grow up, along with them, they will no longer be interested in this type of music. They have no instruments so we can assume from this and their appearance that they're probably only singers. The title "what makes you beautiful" helps connect the band to their target audience which is very important for their image. Their band name is large in a white, playful font, which makes sure that people will quickly see their band name, and it will start to be known.