2. What is plastic pop? ‘ Plastic pop’ is a term to describe how people can become famous for their talents due to the vast amount of reality talent TV shows. These include : Britain's got talent, The X Factor, Popstars:The rivals, Pop Idol, Fame academy, and How do you solve a problem like Maria?. The major company, Disney, is involved with the plastic pop as it appeals to a younger audience due to the teenage celebrities that are featured in their company. All of this encourages younger audiences to pursue their dreams and follow in other people’s footsteps to achieve their full potential for their talents. As Disney appeals to young people, the genre that is focused on is pop as it can relate to target audience. The biggest phenomenon that Disney has produced is, High School Musical which pulled in millions of viewers and this then resulted in the movies having a huge fan base.
3. Why it is successful The reality shows in plastic pop involves the audience at home and at the studios as the people who vote for the shows are the people who give the company the money and this is how they are so successful. Millions of viewers watch The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, hence the success and how it still airs each year. The higher the popularity of the shows, the more money they make as more people will ring in to vote. Votes are counted for by voting using a telephone, mobile, internet as well as on their TV, so there are many ways to get their views across. On these shows, the audience can vote as many times as they want, which is why the companies receive lots of money. In Disney’s case, their merchandise and music that is used to sell the artist’s music is how they make money and as more talented younger people try to get in to the industry, more money is made due to the fan bases. Examples of Disney stars include Selena Gomez, Jesse McCartney and Miley Cyrus. Plastic pop is due to the people who are interested in the people or groups in the shows and music as the audience want the acts to win the show to be successful as they like their talent. Reality shows also allow people of certain ages to show the country their talent such as in the X Factor, people aged 16 and over can audition as well as going in a group. In Britain’s Got Talent, anyone can audition, any age and with whoever they want, so these shows allow the people to become famous for their talents right from their early years.
4. Simon Cowell Effect Simon Cowell is a a British music executive, television producer and entrepreneur due to his success of reality shows and his job at the major music company, Sony. He has produced the successful shows, Britain’s Got Talent, X Factor and Popstars:The Rivals. As he is so famous, more people watch and this pulls in more viewers and so more money is made. He has a lot of power throughout the shows and helps the winners and people who he thinks would make it big in the music industry by giving them record contracts and helps them to increase their fan bases and get their music heard worldwide if possible. He also raised money for the Haiti earthquake by putting together a song recorded by many celebrities such as JLS, Leona Lewis and Take That, this record made a large amount of money for the people in Haiti as well as going straight to number one in the charts.
