Organic and Synthetic Music

Artists can be divided into two distinct categories, organic and synthetic.

Organic:

The term 'Organic' is used to describe bands where the music comes first, they make the kind of music they want to make and then the record labels (if signed) try to sell this music to the correct market segment. 'Organic' music often appeals to a niche, but can appeal to a mass audiece aswell. An example of a popular, organic band would be The Beatles. Forming as a small band of friends, they started in small clubs such as The Cavern Club in Liverpool and eventually started gaining popularity when they signed a record deal with George Martin. They only ever played their own songs.

Synthetic:

'Synthetic' music refes to bands who are paid by record companies to play certain songs to appeal to a majority - the X-Factor of the music industry so to speak. A gap in the market is identified and exploited by the delopment of music, and often the artist, to suit this gap. Money is ultimately the goal in this operation. An example of this would be The Monkees, a synthetic version of The Beatles whose gain in popularity was because of a TV show that accompanied their music in 1966 to 1968. Eventually, the band grew tried of having no control of their music and one band member in particular, Mike Nesmith, created his own single album. Unfortunately, he couldn't get anyone to sign it and eventually created his own broadcasting network with another person that aired particular pop music. Today, this network is known as MTV.