Manufactured music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manufactured music includes the following categories
Contents |
[edit] Natural Band
A natural band is a band where all members knew each other and didn't audition any members, and got their recording contract purely through sending out demo tapes, spotted whilst busking or similar.
[edit] Manufactured music act
A manufactured music act is a solo or group where the members all knew each other beforehand, but auditioned publicly (reality TV show, or a pre-arranged event to find an act) for their recording contract. All fully manufactured bands are manufactured acts, and these acts are usually given an incredibly high amount of publicity to help sell their songs, hence why their singles are more successful than those of natural bands.
[edit] Manufactured bands
A manufactured band is a musical group in which some, or all, of its members had to audition for their role. There are 3 types of manufactured bands: fully, partially or half manufactured.
[edit] Fully Manufactured band
A fully manufactured band is where all members were auditioned for their role in the group. This usually means that all the members never knew each other before. Usually all members are attractive and all members sing, but they still have a clear lead singer. They usually cannot play instruments or write songs, and the record label hire people specifically for these roles. They tend not to last as long as natural bands as their input tends to be slim-to-none - they sometimes are even told how to look and dress, even outside of their role. This kind of music act became popular in the 1990s. These acts tend to be criticised by natural bands due to their lack of creative input.
[edit] Partially Manufactured band
A partially manufactured band is where one or more, but not all, members of the group were auditioned for their role. This usually means that some members have never met before. Creative input and instrument playing tends to be more regular in these groups, however, publicity is usually less and the auditioned members' creative input may be less than the other members'
[edit] Half-Manufactured band
A half-manufactured band is where all the members met through the audition process for a manufactured band, and chose to make their own group, they still need to find themselves a recording deal. These bands, and the members, are likely to have more input than either fully or partially manufactured acts due to the fact they have chosen to make a band together, they are all, therefore, equal.
[edit] Famous manufactured bands
[edit] Popular fully manufactured bands
Westlife
Boyzone
Take That
Spice Girls
Five
Atomic Kitten
Girls Aloud
Sugababes
Busted
Steps
SMAP
Morning Musume
Arashi
KinKi Kids
Melon Kinenbi
KAT-TUN
[edit] Partially manufactured bands
Bon Jovi - Jon Bon Jovi auditioned Richie Sambora after he told Jon he should be their guitarist, before deciding to include him. Jon's original choice for guitarist was Dave Sabo. Richie's creative input was said to have been very little, and this caused the band to split in the 1990s, they however sorted out their problems and are still together (Dec 2006).
INXS - using the show Rock Star: INXS, they auditioned a new lead singer.
Sugababes - originally a Natural Band as Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy were all childhood friends. Siobhan left, so then they held auditions for Heidi Range. When Mutya left, auditions were held for Amelle Berrabah .
[edit] Half-manufactured bands
Liberty X met through the UK version of the show Popstars, they were the losing 5 finalists of the shows final 10 (the winning 5 became Hear'say). Some time after the show ended, one of 5 losers suggested they should give it a go as a band. They are called Liberty to signify the freedom from the label and TV company (who, according to newspaper articles at the time, wanted the winning group, Hear'Say, to have the Popstars logo on all releases they ever made), and the X is to do with there already being a band called Liberty. They didn't find getting a recording contract easy, but Richard Branson's V2 label signed them up, and they are still together (Dec 2006)
[edit] Trivia
The UK version of Popstars and its sequel Popstars: The Rivals created the manufactured bands Hear'say, Girls Aloud and One True Voice
Clea and Phixx are manufactured bands. They are the losers from Popstars: The Rivals, however, unlike Liberty X, they formed almost instantly after the show, and owing to the success of Liberty X, found it much easier to get a recording contract. Their success has however been very little. Phixx has split up, and Chloe Staines left Clea in 2004, but it continued as a 3-piece. In November 2006, Lynsey Brown also left the group, but is expected to be replaced.
Bands that made fame through The X Factor, however, are not necessarily manufactured. if they knew each other beforehand and didn't audition any members, they are not a manufactured band. They would be classed as a manufactured act.
