Do looks count for more than music nowadays in the music industry?

[lawrawrrr]

Oh definitely. Look at famous artists recently: odd or distinctive looking (Marina & her heart tattoo thingy, Lady Gaga, Kesha, Nicki Minaj) or really attractive (the entirety of 1D, J Biebs, Taylor Swift to name a few).

The thing is, most new music is aimed at young people, teenagers and young adults. These people have been brought up in a world which nearly prides itself on being shallow - look at every female young adult magazine: LOOK WHO'S THE HOTTEST MAN, WHO HAS THE BEST ABS, THIS WOMAN IS 9ST SO FAT!!, THIS WOMAN ISN'T WEARING MAKEUP!! etc etc etc. It's mainly young women who are being indoctrinated in this way, men's magazines are usually just concerned with big boobs (I suppose you could say that's a feature which helps with some female artists' sales - dressing provocatively/sexy).

And if we're brought up in this society, is it any wonder that we judge people on what they look like? I've seen so many articles which go roughly along the lines of: this person is an amazing singer, shame he/she is 2st overweight, or suggesting ways they could lose weight or have surgery/makeup to enhance it.

When you buy albums, 9 times out of 10, there'll be a picture of the artist on the front, and we, even in our basic human nature, will always be attracted to the most attractive individual. There are obviously a few exceptions to this rule - Adele, for example, who has been near enough ridiculed for her weight, has managed to become a famous artist due to her incredible voice. But look at her 5 years ago, and now... she's been madeover, and dressed to flatter her figure. Susan boyle, for example - look how she was received!



And now look at her:



There are also artists, like Lana Del Ray, who might not be the most attractive woman in the world (IMHO), but her distinctive fashion sense lets people feel like they look up to and idolise her.

This is why I respect the work of artists like Daft Punk, people who literally don't have a face. But then, that's their hook - their masks are what makes them interesting and famous.

At the end of the day, these people are trying to sell themselves to young, impressionable people to idolise - and at the end of the day, who'd really want to be like someone who was really unattractive? It sounds rude and incredibly shallow but I hope you understand what I mean. A few people might want the voice, but the majority of teenagers would immediately take to Twitter to undermine that person's appearance. I see it a thousand times a day, people calling random people ugly (EXAMPLE: every tweet of Amanda Bynes') just because they can. Even people who the majority of humanity would call gorgeous (is beyonce a good example?), you see people calling them ugly.

Mainly men tend to stay out of it, young men don't tend to judge male artists too much in my experience, and only a bit with female artists (calling them hot or not, not really judging them too much really), but young women and girls, who have impossible standards set will be jealous of attractive women and shoot down anyone less attractive to boost their own self confidence. And towards men, they're judged basically on how good they'd look as arm candy.

It's easy to bully people and join in with the hate, less easy to see past someone's looks for the talent underneath.

[Yawn]

absolutely there is a high correlation between ugly person and bad music. ed sheeran is PERFECT example of this. he is scruffy and ginger and his face is rly fat and round. he is AWFUL IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE he is so incredibly UGLY. and the reason his music is so bad is because he is UGLY

[Jurv]

Lol no. Adele.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

adele is actually a good example. she isn't the typical looking artist in the current music industry and she knows that. she doesn't want to lose weight or change her appearance for anyone but herself yet still ends up selling records worldwide and winning multiple awards. obviously the reason being for her vocal talent (and the fact she's a normal person.. fame hasn't changed her). she doesn't need a gimmick, fireworks or dancers to put on a good performance because she is strictly about putting across her message and showing strong emotion within her songs. she's a fantastic songwriter.

[GommeInc]

I'm leaning towards yes as well. The number of times friends have said (when speaking about a band or singer) "They're not that good, but they're so hot" makes me wonder if talent ever makes up for everything. Let's take Susan Boyle who won the hearts of many and is quite talented - she's disappeared now, and became famous because of her "poor" looks, which made people laugh at themselves for judging her, then when the initial judging ended they ignored her and she disappeared again.

One Direction are all magazine/poster boys which are loved purely for their looks, and then their voices. You see it during concerts where the girls are all screaming at them going "Oh they're so cute" and screaming, and only singer the odd lines of their songs. Then when you look at other singers, particularly older ones with mature fans, you noticed that previous generations go by musical talent and maybe their back stories (who they were and are with, their upbringing etc), rather than their looks.

It's just something I've observed lately

[Empired]

@Jurv; SORRY I COULDN'T RESIST


I hope habbox resizes this picture it's huge (NO PUN INTENDED SORRY)

Anyway um. I think it's important to look nice on camera, but all celebrities look the way they do for a reason. Despite Nicki Minaj looking like a ******* Barbie, someone sometime decided that that's how she should look. Celebs are made up in a certain way to reflect the kind of music they perform, what kind of audience they're aiming this music at, and how they want people to think of them. Everything they do is done for a reason.

[Jurv]

@Jurv; SORRY I COULDN'T RESIST

I hope habbox resizes this picture it's huge (NO PUN INTENDED SORRY)

Anyway um. I think it's important to look nice on camera, but all celebrities look the way they do for a reason. Despite Nicki Minaj looking like a ******* Barbie, someone sometime decided that that's how she should look. Celebs are made up in a certain way to reflect the kind of music they perform, what kind of audience they're aiming this music at, and how they want people to think of them. Everything they do is done for a reason.

i don't understand your point? that just proves that she's changed slightly within the period the two photo's were taken and that she wears make up. :S

[H488041!f3]

i don't understand your point? that just proves that she's changed slightly within the period the two photo's were taken and that she wears make up. :S

I see his point I mean if you look at the picture on the top it shows that she is more overweight and the lower one, someone could say she's "volouptuous" and it's not just a little makeup that makes that much of a change. Even so the amount that photoshop is used in magazines and almost every picture of any artist.
TL;DR: It's all about the image

[Jurv]

I see his point I mean if you look at the picture on the top it shows that she is more overweight and the lower one, someone could say she's "volouptuous" and it's not just a little makeup that makes that much of a change. Even so the amount that photoshop is used in magazines and almost every picture of any artist.
TL;DR: It's all about the image

the top photograph was taken in 2009 and the bottom was taken in 2011 (as far as i know) so there's bound to be a change.. she's lost weight since then. i don't know why i'm bothering replying though because what you've said only backs up the point i mentioned previously about adele not having the typical appearance of someone in the charts or in the music industry. yet saying that she has still beaten chart records and broke america in the process. she is one, if not the most successful british female artist at the moment and someone who people should be looking up too as an artist.

[Aiden]

2 most ppl yea
2 me no

all my fav singers are women and idc what they look like
although i think miley cyrus looks hot

but ilike tracy chapman and lady gaga which arnt the best looking

I think I like celebrities for what they stand for more than their music or looks.

[iBlueBox]

Yeah, but on the other side look at that kid who won BGT last year, Jonathan or something.