Negus' Theory

Keith Negus is a media practitioner who has had his concepts in his field published on numerous occasions, most notably in his work 'Popular Music in Theory' (1996). One of the key theories in this book is the is the two separate ideologies for creativity - organic and synthetic. These ideologies shape the way in which the artists' images and careers are developed, and the way that they are marked towards specific target audiences.

 

In reference to synthetic artists, Negus who was once a record executive, claims "When I firsts started it was more about going out and finding bands. That method is becoming more and more redundant." The reason that this is becoming more redundant is the fact that a considerable amount of acts in the music industry are being synthetically created by executives in order to fit into a gap in the market, instead of uncovering unsigned artists from local gigs. Executives will have a collection of songs and material at their disposal and will attempt to manufacture a group or individual around this. The image of the artists is often entirely constructed by the record company and the artists will be a limited amount of time to prove their success before other combinations will be tried out. These acts are often aimed at younger, less sophisticated audiences. An example of this nature of group is teenage band One Direction. One Direction can be seen to be completely synthetic considering they were literally clubbed together as a group on reality music show X-Factor, despite originally auditioning as individuals. Their look and style has been designed in a way to directly target a certain audience, and they only proceeded to make continuing material after proving their commercial success on a national and then international stage. They are completely synthetic, and doing rather well because of it.

 

Completely opposing this, is the organic ideology of creativity. This is a far less calculated approach to success in the music industry. It is far more naturalistic where the profit of the artists is directly corresponding to their talent and uniqueness. It is often a term used for artists who have been nurtured and supported by a record label, instead of manufactured and changed by one. The image has been enhanced possibly, but is nevertheless true to the artists with them still having a strong influence. The artist may be offered time, something that is rare in the industry, in order to develop and learn. A prime example of this is the young and talented Ed Sheeran. Sheeran has a very specific style and was uncovered via a catalogue of small time music gigs and YouTube publicity. He appears to have done little to adapt his image in order to appeal to the masses, and has managed to be incredibly successful internationality nevertheless. His integrity makes him more admirable as an artist.