Justin Bieber; phenomenon or factory product?

Believe it or not, Justin Bieber is the most googled person around. So, how come I haven’t even heard of him? What kind of a world are we living in where some random kid is getting this kind of coverage while the rest of us are actually doing hard work? I decided to try and find out what all the fuss was about. The reason I haven't heard of him is that he has been very cleverly and specifically marketed at a particular audience. But, for those who also don't know who he is, he's a canadian Pop star ... Remember those? Alanis Morissette used to be one!

OMG he was born in 1994!

Wait! What? 1994? But that’s only sixteen years ago. I can remember it like it was yesterday. In those sixteen years I’ve probably earned less money than he will do in the time it takes me to write this blog. Justin Bieber is, it would seem is a phenomenon. His first single ‘One Time’ was a hit in 30 countries.

Talent? Yes! Information super highway? Definitely!

The reason I’m writing this is just because I like phenomena like this and I like the fact that dreams can come true. Ever since JK Rowling did what she did with Harry Potter it seems that anything is possible in the modern world of media if word of mouth gets hold of it. I wonder if it’s Mr Bieber’s marketing team or his resemblance to a giant matchstick which have caused this to happen? Ultimately it’s the whole package and the age group who are buying the music and merchandise. Either way his success is amazing and I expect that this time next year we’ll be reading about someone else who has done something similar or even bigger. The point I’m trying to make is that no matter how good the artist, or the music, the scale of the success has surely been caused by the world we live in. A text message can get around the world in less than a minute if it’s sent to the right people and they find it funny. The same is true of email.... and websites seem to be creating themselves faster than cells can reproduce. The information super highway is so finely tuned these days that if a product, or individual, is correctly placed in the market, the possiblities are limitless. So, are we seeing a phenomeon of talent, or very talented advertising? Both I suspect, a marriage made in heaven ... and when the two get togeather the results ... well the make people like me write stuff like this. I don't like being kept in the dark, and when I find out something like a media tidal wave has just sneaked past me I want to know why. They weren't trying to target me and my generation ... why waste time on that? The marketing is so brilliant that I didn't even see it. I couldn't tell you where they've been promoting this guy, probably on the net mainly and MTV of course ... but it used to be that even if young popstar were not for an older audience, they'd still be right in everyone's faces ... but nowdays there's no need for that. These things just hit their targets ... teenage girls in this case, like bullets straight to the heart. Something to behold!

I just hope he gets the credit, and the rewards

When I see shows like the X factor and people like Simon Cowell, all I see is a factory. Sure the kids are talented and will do well for a few years, less in some cases and more in others , but ultimately it’s the moguls who make the dosh. We live in a world where the people who make it happen are the true stars. They dress like Rock Stars (albeit, rock stars don’t usually tuck in their jumpers) they party like rock stars and they get as much if not more coverage in the media than rock stars. Mr Bieber is massive, talented and having a ball ... but the people behind him are probably having even more of a ball. Who ran EMI when the Beatles were signed? Who was Elvis’s promoter? Who put the stones out there and made them a household name? The answer is ... no idea! In those days the money men were faceless, pin-striped nobodies. Now they are more important than the stars themselves.

So ... Who is Justin Bieber?

He's a very talented kid. But who is he really? We’ll probably never know. We'll know him about as well as we do the chicken in our portion of nuggets from a fast food restaurant. He’ll do very well I’m sure ... but the factory that he came from will already be scouting out his replacement. And what of the music itself? What of the kids sitting in their bedrooms strumming guitars and putting their soul into writing something original? Are they more or less talented? Is there any room for them in the media music world of today? I wonder ...