Negus - Organic and Synthetic Acts in the Music Industry

Negus has a theory that, in relation to the music industry, states that all artists are constructed by the media, some more than others. He says that artists can either be synthetic or organic. Synthetic being that they are all constructed by the labels in order to make a huge income in a short period of time and organic being that the artists are less constructed and more talented. An example of an organic act is 'Ed Sheran' and an example of an synthetic act is 'Les Ketchup'. A synthetic act is constructed by a record company in order to reach a very wide audience, which is the reason why they profit so much in a short period time. An organic act consists of people who compose music that they love, and not to attract a wide audience. Therefore, the artists being less controlled by the record labels are more likely not to make a song that will be targeted widely. In conclusion, a synthetic act provides a big short term burst of profit for the record company and an organic act provides less money per song but keeps profiting in the long term.

This is an example we did in class of an organic artist and what makes her organic by looking at the album cover.


This is an example of a synthetic artist and what makes her synthetic.