I read this article on the Guardian Music Blog by Michael Hann last month about Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball video
I like Miley Cyrus, especially as Hannah Montanah, I even have a little set of draws with her picture on somewhere. But we all have to grow up and she’s a year older than me, her Dads the same age as my Dad so I can only imagine what my Dad would say about the video and the surrounding publicity! Apparently her Dad is cool with it. I hope she isn’t being manipulated as some people suggest but she certainly has created something of a media storm and lots of sales of her singles and 15 million views of her risqué video in just 24 hours, is it Miley and her record company that gets a fee for those video views and that’s why they do it? Or does she just want to show people’s she’s grown up?
Last month I saw topless photographs of Kate Moss for an exhibit she was promoting but there was no condemnation because that was considered to be “Arty”. I think the shock is because Miley, as a child star, was portrayed with such a squeaky clean image which impressed girls like me and parents are wondering if she still has influence over other impressionable teens.
Artists draw and paint pictures of the naked form and these images cause those that view them to reflect on their composition and beauty. However that does not excuse vulgarity which can be excessive but it’s hard as you can’t rein in art and expression otherwise the meaning is lost.
Charlotte Church has waded into the discussion yesterday, she claims it is a male-dominated industry with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality and she thinks music videos should be age rated, but with internet access so widely available to teenagers I’m not sure that would be effective. I can see her point about age rating but as with many things in life if you try and ban such videos you could increase the curiosity surrounding them and end up actually increasing awareness. But music is an art form involving the freedom of expression and as musicians we seek to connect with our audiences. In a world where pop music has reached saturation level we can expect the marketers and publicists to dream up even more outrageous ways to connect with their prospective audiences as they scurry around chasing the elusive “Next Big Thing”.
It is such a shame that the music industry feels that it is necessary to market artists in such a provocative way rather than allow their music to speak for them. There must be other ways to grab the attention of an audience and say “Here I am, listen to me” . I had a think about it and here is my mini promotion video …… LOL