La Roux and Commodity

                                                                  LA ROUX

                 What is commodity and what is it doing to our society?? Well according to dictionary.com commodity is defined as something that of use, advantage and profit. Commodity is actually a big part of our society. It is how we can attain clothing, food, shelter,vehicles, and many other physical things.

                   Commodification has also become a huge part of our culture. According to the text entitled popular culture by Raifor Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz commodity is the basic unit of exchange. Using commodity is how we function in our society. For example, when we want to buy concert tickets we pay the cost of the tickets with money in exchange for the tickets, and if we want a new CD we do the same. People are also viewed as commodities in capitalism. The truth in that statement is shown in the music industry. Producers want to profit from musical artists and get as much as they can from the musical artist they are producing, Music promoters want to get money from promoting the musical artist, music agents want a percentage of the profits earned from a show done by the musical artist. The musical artist gives his or her talent to production companies and the world so they could profit in exchange for the ability to be a musical performer and earn profit as well. In addition to people being commodities, the commodity of culture is continuously occurring since the start of industrialization and due to increasing production it has changed our society. This is related to bizarre musical artists because many artists from other countries and cultures are coming into the United States and are giving us a part of their culture, which is shown in their musical styles, in exchange for the ability to perform in the U.S, increase their fan base, and attain income.


One musical artist who I find a bit bizarre is La Roux. Her singing, clothing, make-up, and hair styles are all unique and original. She has a disco/electronic sound. Her persona is off the wall and it makes people gravitate to her more. She is an upcoming artist who is from London and is being produced by a man named Ben Langmaid. She was once known as an underground artist in London, but is now popular in the United States. Both the producer and the artists are giving their abilities/talents which are commodities in exchange for something. As Karl Marx explained many years ago, the expanding of modern industry= spreading of bourgeois ideology which is to develop a production like the bourgeois. The bourgeois is the class that owns businesses and that hires the working class. This relates to the music industry because the people who own the recording studio, record labels, production companies, etc want to produce/record with the musical artist that is most likely part of the working class to make some money off of them as beginning artists and possibly make more money off of them if they become more popular.

Ali project and pop culture

Ali PROJECT

               An old friend of mine from high school told me about a Japanese band called Ali project. He mentioned the band to me because of my love for Emilie Autumn's music. In a sense, the band has a similar style to Emilie Autumn's music, but  Ali project has their  own style and sing in Japanese. Ali project is quite bizarre and the band has themes of religion masked by upbeat toons, but sometimes revealed in the translated lyrics which Emilie Autumn does in her music as well. This band relates to American culture because it isn't widely known in America, but it is becoming more popular due to the band being played on an amine cartoon called  Rozen maiden.Ali project also relates to pop culture because the band is becoming widely known in America and many people are becoming fans of Ali project who aren't Japanese. This shows that musical tastes are changing and that our society is becoming more accepting of other cultures and musical styles. Pop culture is what is widely becoming popular, well liked, and an addition to the culture of our society.


             According to Theodor W. Adorno from the book called Popular culture by Ruins and Cruz, " The culture industry fuses the old and the familiar into a new quality...In all its branches, products which are tailored for consumption by the masses and which to a great extent determine the nature of that consumption are manufactured more or less according to plan" ( Cruz and Ruins103) The music that is being produced by Ali project is a product from previous types of music which is why it is so accepted by American society. The techno beats, fast tempo, and bizarre music videos are what American society are familiar with and American society tends to gravitate to the things that are not considered the norm. America likes when musical artists appear bizarre and far from the norm. That is the reason why so many artists have became popular. Musical artists such as Michael Jackson, kelly, and Marylin Manson have all attained popularity because they are a bit face from the norm in their own unique way.

According to Theodore adorno "It has recently become customary among cultural officials as well as sociologists to warn against underestimating the culture industry while pointing to its great importance for the development of the consciosness of its consumers. It is to be taken seriously without cultured snobbism" ( Ruins and Cruz, 105) The musical artists of today truly do influence the society of today which is evident in the way american society gravitates to the artists that are contrary to the norm. In order to hear one artists who is influencing the society of today Here is a you tube video of a song called the domain of holy girls in english by Ali Project:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlLOoF0QlXk

Introduction of Bizzare musical artists and popculture

Emilie Autumn and pop culture

            According to the book entitled Popular culture by Guins and Cruz, " Culture is one of the two or three most complicsated words in the english language. This is so partly because of its intricate historical development, in several european languageas, but mainly because it has now come to be used for important concepts in several distinct intellectual disciplenes and in several distinct and incompatible syatems of thought....culture in all its early uses was a noun of process: tending of something, basically crops or animals....from the tending of natural growth was extended to a process of human development. " ( Ruins and Cruz 25 and 26) Popular, according to Guins and Cruz, has various meanings such as ' in great favor with the common peopleor full of the people" ( Guins and cruz, 58 and 59) When popular and culture are put together the meaning of the two words combined come to mean " The expression of the spirit of a nation or a people" ( Guins &Cruz, 59)

              The word popular culture and the society in which we live makes me think of  musical artists and how they must express themselves using their lyrics and their persona. Musical artists are a big part of popular culture becuase they are a part of our society and represent the sulture of our society and the developing intricits of our society. I am interested in bizzare musical artists because they are unique additions to pop culture and change continuously. Usually things that are bizzare end up being well known and thats why bizzare musical artists relate to pop culture. Bizzare musical artists raise a series of thought provoking questions such as how they relate to the upcoming generations, what promps the artists to progress from the society accepted norm and how they may not be considered the norm.

         I enjoy listening to one particular artist called Emilie Autumn. She is from the UK and is quite original. She is  considered bizzare by many individuals because of her clothing style, musical style, and lewd/unusual lyrics. She raises questionable themes in her music which is sometimes masks by the happy beats in her songs. She is an inspiration for all individuals to be themsleves and accept themselves for who they are. She also inspires individuals to question what is considered the " normal" or "accepted" in our society.Here is a link to her  music video of her song called Marry me in which she raises some historical themes which shock many different listeners:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Szt6F7K20