Lady Gaga: The Last Queen of Pop?

We all know Lady Gaga and her rise to fame in the music industry in the late 2000s.  However, not many know her beginnings in the early 2000s as Stefani Germanotta who sang in the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand).  Her band wrote and performed their own songs as well as covered rock songs such as Led Zeppelin.  The SGBand was her jumping board to stardom as she was discovered by a talent scout while performing with the SGBand.  Thus Lady Gaga was born with the help of music producer Rob Fusari on Def Jam Records, only to be dropped by the label 3 months later.  After returning home and some soul searching, in the underground of New York City night clubs, Lady Gaga returned to the stage to create her own version of music that incorporated pop melodies with glam rock of David Bowie and Queen.  Through out her ride to stardom she encountered many obstacles and countless people at record labels that said her music was to "racy", "dance-oriented" or "underground" to be marketable.  It was during her writing for other superstars like the Pussy Cat Dolls, Fergie and Britney Spears at Interscope Records where she declared in response to her music not being marketed: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I am telling you, this is what's next." 

 

As it turns out, she was right and has been a pop celebrity who has carefully crafted her fame regardless of what people think of her.  While I, personally may not be a super fan of Gaga, I do appreciate some of her musical prowess. I especially admire her marketing and brand strategy that has made herself a household name.  I argue that she has been driven from the start to be famous beyond comparison.  She didn't let record labels or the recording industry stand in her way.  She crafted her fame from the very second she stepped on stage.  Every outrageous outfit, every edgy lyric, every racy dance move is to set up her idea of fame.  In the readings this week we have touched a bit on how the industry has crafted artists to be marketable to a specific audience.  With Lady Gaga she has built that audience on her own and thus with a bit of luck, has established her claim to fame. In the readings this week we have explored much about how the "culture industry" has created a lot of the culture in the same fashion of how we produce consumer goods.  Music, art and literature that make up our culture is just as much of a commodity as the culture itself. So, if the music industry as a whole directs what can be said about celebrities that create their own vision? Is Lady Gaga one of the last self-made superstars of our time?  Is her celebrity indicative of individuality or is Lady Gaga, at the time of her introduction to the mass society, a consumer good?