Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry

Gender, Branding, and The Modern Music Industry combines interview data with music industry professionals with theoretical frameworks from sociology, mass communication, and marketing to explain and explore the gender differences female artists experience.

This book provides a rare lens on the rigid packaging process that transforms female artists of various genres into female pop stars. Stars -- and the industry power brokers who make their fortunes -- have learned to prioritize sexual attractiveness over talent as they fight a crowded field for movie deals, magazine covers, and fashion lines, let alone record deals. This focus on the female pop star’s body as her core asset has resigned many women to being "short term brands," positioned to earn as much money as possible before burning out or aging ungracefully. This book, which includes interview data from music industry insiders, explores the sociological forces that drive women into these tired representations, and the ramifications on the greater social world.

This book is for Sociology of Media and Sociology of Popular Culture courses.

Dr Kristin J. Lieb is an assistant professor of marketing communication at Emerson College. She writes about branding in various industries, and has worked as a freelance writer for Billboard and Rolling Stone, a researcher for Harvard Business School, and a marketing and business development executive for several music-related companies.