after half-term

I am interested in Adourno, Authenicity, Drugs and Hedgemony and I do think that these will have a relevance to my research project.

In particular, authenticity. When looking at the the artists that I love and respect, many of them have had interesting lives and histories of trauma, drug abuse and redemption in the form of music.

One thing that I have noticed is that in the X-Factor, every contestant needs to have a back story to garner the sympathy of the judges and the audience. This then gives authenticity to the artist. After these facts have been established and the artist's talent is confirmed, my hypothesis is that the youngest candidate will eventually prosper due to their marketability to the target audience of the X-Factor.

It is my opinion that the X-Factor is a highly packaged microcosm of the overall music industry as a whole and that the same rules apply as in the wider environment, albeit in fast-forward. The artist builds a fanbase over the course of a couple of live performances, then their marketability is judged, the winner releases a single and then they start their (often short-lived) career.

 I will need to research the ages of the artists in question and acquire evidence for this assumption.