Lady Gaga has made a name for herself by ruffling feathers time and time again. What is important about the latest media circus around her is how it differentiates from ofther well publicised ‘stunts’ and the like.
Image is just as important as album and ticket sales for a pop icon. The image presented for rabid fans and the greater public must be carefully crafted and maintained at all times. In the age of social media and all around media integration, it is both immensely easier and harder. Stars such as Gaga, and competitors: Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, etc. are directly able to communicate and also at disadvantage when digitally the public can rip them from limb to limb in mere seconds.
As stated before, Gage thrives on what I think of as the oxymoron of “well orchestrated controversy.” She can get people’s attention and ire but come away with renewed interest in her persona and musical output. But it seams she has been embroiled in a fickle situation not of her design, which may be the first alarming PR crisis of her career.
Her hit single of last fall, ‘Do what u Want’ had a glaring omission: no music video. Well, no publicly released music video. A video was shot. It involved two people who are not exactly in the best position: R. Kelly and Terry Richardson. Kelly is just as famous for his sultry ballads as for his sexual misdeed involving minors. Richardson, the video director, is a top fashion photographer and has been dragged through the mud by an endless stream of accusations related to sexual improprieties with his subjects. So, it is little wonder why Interscope records and Gaga kept the video out of the public eye. The darker undertones to this story are not easily digestible for Gaga or fans. However, TMZ leaked a clip of the video and it seems only a matter of time before the full video will surface. When and if it does, the way gaga goes about mitigating this will be extremely important for the longevity of her career.
Collin Dysart's Blog 