All entertainment begins as a form of art. A creative spark received by an emotional influence. The minority of this art remains pure and responsible, formatted by its creator as an emotional outlet to capture a moment or period in time. All art has a pure foundation, but loses its purity when the artists worry about how the public will react to their finished product. Thus begins the struggle of art vs. entertainment.Artists are always looking for new marketing tools and introspective ways to sustain and broaden their fan base. Phish, a jam band who can sell out any arena across the country, relies on the quality of their music to maintain loyal fans, and they do. Many pop artists rely on everything but the music to maintain and sustain their fans. If the music is a quality product, the physical appearance of the artist should not make a difference in record or concert sales.
According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Paul McCartney, Dave Mathews Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and many more artists who keep their clothes on were the top touring acts of 2002. Some of these artists have been recording music and touring since the 1960s. They continue to sell out concerts to this day because their music is not based on image.
Pop artists like Janet Jackson continually need to promote everything but the music and will go to extreme lengths to do it. Her career revolves around images captured in three-minute music videos. Her presentation is presented by businessmen and publicists who care more about the dollar than a quality product. There is no mistaking that her actions were nothing more than a publicity stunt to promote her new record. The new single, “Just a Little While,” was digitally released around the world on Feb. 2, the day after the Super Bowl.