Spring Break
Column: The rock star persona
Sarah Jean Bresnahan/Verge Editor
Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: The Verge
We all dream of the good life.
Money, cars, mansions and, for some of us, half-naked women, drugs and a constant flow of our favorite beverage.
For a lot of musicians, "making it big" means having a video on MTV, going on a big-name tour and having 15-year-old girls wearing your band's T-shirt and screaming your name.
Everybody wants to be a rock star, but not everyone truly understands what that term means or what it represents.
Tony Martin, a former writer at The Northern Star at Northern Illinois University and current bassist for DeKalb band Richardson Richardson, said the audience's reaction is what determines who is a rock star and who is just a musician.
"A rock star persona is really created by the audience in reaction to the actions of said rock star," Martin said. "Every rock star has unique characteristics, and that usually ties in to their fan base; i.e.- middle-aged rich people love Bono because they feel like if they buy a U2 record they won't have to donate money for charity. Nikki Sixx fans feel like drugs can inspire great art."
What many don't realize about a musician's popularity is how big of a role public relations has in developing it.
For example, bands on smaller labels like Saddle Creek Records and Kill Rock Stars aren't as well known to the general public as musicians on bigger labels like Sony, Interscope and Warner.
Those bigger labels have publicists who know how to work the public in order to get their client - the musician - into the minds of a wider audience.
They obtain television and radio spots, book photo shoots, set up interviews and post the name of the musician on different Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and ReverbNation.
Smaller labels don't have the funding to hire publicists, so their musicians often have to be their own public relations specialists.
Money, cars, mansions and, for some of us, half-naked women, drugs and a constant flow of our favorite beverage.
For a lot of musicians, "making it big" means having a video on MTV, going on a big-name tour and having 15-year-old girls wearing your band's T-shirt and screaming your name.
Everybody wants to be a rock star, but not everyone truly understands what that term means or what it represents.
Tony Martin, a former writer at The Northern Star at Northern Illinois University and current bassist for DeKalb band Richardson Richardson, said the audience's reaction is what determines who is a rock star and who is just a musician.
"A rock star persona is really created by the audience in reaction to the actions of said rock star," Martin said. "Every rock star has unique characteristics, and that usually ties in to their fan base; i.e.- middle-aged rich people love Bono because they feel like if they buy a U2 record they won't have to donate money for charity. Nikki Sixx fans feel like drugs can inspire great art."
What many don't realize about a musician's popularity is how big of a role public relations has in developing it.
For example, bands on smaller labels like Saddle Creek Records and Kill Rock Stars aren't as well known to the general public as musicians on bigger labels like Sony, Interscope and Warner.
Those bigger labels have publicists who know how to work the public in order to get their client - the musician - into the minds of a wider audience.
They obtain television and radio spots, book photo shoots, set up interviews and post the name of the musician on different Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and ReverbNation.
Smaller labels don't have the funding to hire publicists, so their musicians often have to be their own public relations specialists.
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