So we have lost another boy band but this one I don't think will be missed in the music industry bar the legions of fans who are short of killing themselves by the twitter updates there posting. But another boy band is ready to take on their crown (Union J )

The Frankfurt School is best known for their theories which when I read the work of Adorno made me think of the music industry in a way that I never thought of before.

I have always known the music industry appeals to the mass cultures of the population with genres appealing to both high and low cultures. Taking my love for boy bands of the latest generations I am aware of the hidden agenda. This agenda been money and the breaking of teenage girls hearts.

Adorno said that you didn't need a brain for pop music as it was just mass produced. Yes he is right especially when it comes to boy bands. They are all one in the same and the theory of the boy band has become standardized.

We'll start the man bands that are like the fathers of pops. If i played you a song by all three bands (check out below) you could mistake all three to be the same. Same beats melodies and topic of love to appeal to all the girls swooning at their feet. To make us think that they are singing and writing these songs just for us. You can call it mass produced rubbish because that is exactly what it is but teenage girls fall for the melodies and bam you have the power of the boy band. 

Even when you take the new era of boy bands like JLS, 1D and Lawson they are still releasing the same mass produced stuff that the industry spits out because as a business they know what sells. Why break something when it ain't broken.

To win the battle of the boy bands they have to fight to seem like they are individual to the rest of them on the pop circuit.  Take new boy band on the block Lawson using their guitars to try show they are not a standardized boy bans. JLS have thier colours of red, blue, yellow and green, Westlife had thier suits and stools to keep them up away from the rest of the competition.

You can see that Boy Bands are a standardized product of the music industry. Pop Boy Bands are just mass producing the same beats, rhythms, looks and attitudes across the genre but hey it works so why change it?

Looking at all the music magazine on the shelves in a shop can be mind boggling at the best of times, let alone trying to figure out what genre your music fits into. I’m going to give you two genres of music that gives you three examples of magazine titles that will aid your band/artists.

Look at Frantic Jack an unsigned acoustic rock band from Ireland, struggling to get recognised here are my examples of title that will be of interest to them. 

1. 1.      Local – Music Review Unsigned (MRU).  Catering for unsigned music artists from around the world this online music magazine would be ideal for the band. With MRU catering for all genres of music Frantic Jack would fit the requirements. The publicity could generate word of mouth for the band.

1. 2.      National – Hot Press Magazine. Nationally available across Ireland and the popular culture that is drawn upon by the magazine Frantic Jack will be perfect for the magazine. As Frantic Jack has a popular following in Ireland Hot Press would easily include a feature interview on the band leading to publicity.

1. 3.      International – Kerrang Magazine. Hard as it is for Frantic Jack to receive international exposure due to them been unsigned Kerrang would be ideal for their acoustic rock genre that they place themselves in. As a specialist magazine for the rock genre it will open them up to new audience.

Take One Direction the biggest boy band in the world right now. Falling into the popular culture genre they will have ease finding publications to cater for them as a band.

1. 1.      Local – The Sun Newspaper. As part of the popular culture of celebrities that the Sun newspaper has incorporated into their news policy it makes an excellent choice for One Direction. With this title they can maker front page news and gain valuable support on a local level with The Sun been locally available across the UK.

1. 2.      National – Top of the Pops Magazine. Specialising in popular culture and with boy bands always gracing the front page of the magazine One Direction will not be out of place. Targeted for pop music lovers on a national basis across the UK One Direction will gain more teenage girls to swoon over them.

1. 3.      International – Billboard Magazine. One Direction are having amazing success in America and appearing in worldwide recognized Billboard magazine with be a huge boost for the band. Suiting the popular culture of the magazine their pop music would appear among the pages of the magazine. It would give them recognition and possibly a new fan base.

The point I’m saying is that there are many music platforms out there for artists these days many online and in print. The one thing to do is make sure that you can fir your music into a genre and always approach specialist publications with the hope getting some well worth publicity across various mediums.