Pseudo Individuality

Pseudo Individuality

By this Adorno and Horkheimer meant that they way that the culture industry assembled products that made claims to 'originality' but which when examined more critically exhibited little more than superficial differences. An artist who fits this model is Justin Bieber and an artist who doesn't fit this model is Ed Sheeran.

Justin Bieber fits the model because has always been the typical and conventional pop sensation. This is because of his catchy music, good looks, love songs and the power to sell songs and albums effortlessly no matter how good or bad the music is. He has sold over 15million albums worldwide, got over 11billion views of YouTube and has sold out many tours and continues to be the conventional pop star.

However, an artist who is very popular and has been very successful despite not being conventional is Ed Sheeran. Unlike Bieber, he is not good looking and his early music was not very catchy or conventional but despite this he became very popular and has been very successful recently. Songs on his first album, +, such as A Team were very slow and not catchy but despite this the song and album grew and grew. However, he is becoming more conventional with regards to his songs with regards to them being more conventional and more catchy. Songs such as Shape of You and Galway Girl are more fast paced and he has collaborated with artists such as Stormzy, who he probably wouldn't have collaborated with in the past. This is in order to sell more albums and make more money.