You don’t see Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood or Kenny Chesney spending their accumulated capital on surprising artistic adventures. But let’s look at mainstream country, perhaps the most risk-adverse segment of today’s popular music. In today’s music world, it’s easy to identify those who spend their celebrity capital boldly (Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar) and those who don’t (Jay Z, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars). They spent their celebrity capital on the ornate art-rock of Sergeant Pepper and the stripped-down country-folk of John Wesley Harding. In the late 1960s, the Beatles and Bob Dylan were two of the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll. It cost the Democratic Party control of Congress, but it was the greatest improvement in American public health since Medicare. Barack Obama spent his capital on passing Obamacare. It cost the Democratic Party the South for two generations, but it was the greatest expansion of democracy in the U.S. If you simply reinvest it to create even more capital, what’s the point, if you never put it to use? Why did you do all that hard work getting elected, getting famous or getting rich if you’re not going to spend your capital on something you want, something that might be remembered?Īfter getting elected as president in a landslide, Lyndon Johnson spent his political capital on Civil Rights bills and Medicare. If it just sits under your mattress or in a savings account, it’s dead wealth, taken out of circulation and eaten up by inflation. If you have sold enough tickets and/or products, won enough awards and media coverage, companies and audiences are more likely to support your dodgier projects, no matter how unlikely they seem.īut here’s the thing about capital-political, celebrity or financial-it’s only valuable if you spend it. “Celebrity capital” describes the analogous dynamic in arts and entertainment. If you were popular enough to win the last election and to be favored for the next, politicians and voters are more likely to support your riskier ventures against fierce opposition, because they want to stay on your good side. “Political capital” is a term that political scientists use to describe the blend of power and popularity that enables certain figures to get things done. These records were such welcome surprises that it prompts one to ask why more famous musicians don’t spend their “celebrity capital” this way. This spring, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, two of the biggest stars on country radio, released recklessly ambitious albums, projects far outside the standard operating procedure of Nashville’s Music Row.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |