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Representation of Music Artists in Magazines

The representation of artists in the music industry is often made by the contribution of many curators. People such as photographers, managers, label owners, journalists, and of course the artist themselves. However there is often a power struggle between these contributors. A good example of this is M.I.A, she is a music artist who started from the very bottom, and in the start she made all of her own decisions. However as she has grown to an international icon, people have tried to interfere with her reputation and representation. Such as the major feud caused between M.I.A and The New York Times journalist Lynn Hirschberg. Hirschberg edited the singer’s statements to make M.I.A sound very contraindicative of her agenda and beliefs. This is a very interesting example of censorship and manipulation of speech, as this is what M.I.A is strongly against. She also had to battle against being tone down into a "pop star" by her label to increase sales, particularly to tone down her lyrics political controversy as she was receiving death threats from religious extremists. 

To further the point of magazine editor’s contribution to M.I.A's representation, many articles have portrayed her as a young girl without a clue of the world. However she has more experience and know how than the best of the world. The only channels she has to portray her true agenda and image is through her social media sites, music and her music videos. As she fights for her right to do what she wants with her art. 

Often magazines portray artists in a way that the audience of the magazine wants to see them and relate to them, so they can invest in them as an artist. Often the beliefs and views of the artist are left out as often this can cause friction between the artist’s image and beliefs with the reader’s beliefs. 

In EXP I aim to portray artists in their rawest from, and to still respect their dignity and privacy. To do this, I will let the the artists featured have a creative input to there visual and literal representation. Meaning it will represent them accurately and also gaining the magazine followers through the artists fan base. 

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Magazine Deconstruction