Organic And Synthetic Stars

An organic star is someone who has gained fame and success on their own, relying on talent and in most cases, a band, and being part of that band is the main reason that they have become a 'star' in the first place. Rock and Metal bands are the best examples of organic stars because they are are the best, musically and otherwise, they are what most people think of when the word 'star' is mentioned, in reference to music anyway. Synthetic stars are something different entirely, rather than being recognised for their talents (if existent), they are a persona created by the record companies to generate revenue for a few years until the next big thing comes along.

Organic Stars:

Johnny Ramone 

Johnny Ramone is an ultimate example of an organic star, being in a punk band and everything, he's as organic as they come. The Ramones are a punk rock band from New York, formed in 1974, they started their career by playing in small clubs like CBGB and were signed to Sire Records after being noticed by one of it's representatives, Seymour Stein. Throughout their recording and performing career, they stayed true to their original image, singer Joey Ramone allowed the label to shape and mould him into their money making star, whereas Johnny maintained the same mentality and attitude up until the day he died. Johnny invented and retained their classic look of black perfecto jackets, jeans and trainers and really didn't care what anyone had to say about them. He could certainly tell today's artists a thing or two about integrity, that's for sure.  

Synthetic Stars:

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is a synthetic act because her image and music are generated by her record label rather than by her. She was first spotted by talent scout Rob Fusari singing for SGBand, her own organic band and was picked up which would eventually lead to her being signed to Def Jam records and then eventually CherryTree records. For her and her fans, it is more about her image than her music, both of which are exploited by the record label as another way of making money and giving another aritst their shot at fame until the next big thing comes along. Is that really harsh? Anyway, Lady Gaga = Synthetic.