Are Reality TV Shows a Valid Way to Find Credible Musicians?
Picture this: it’s a Saturday night in the middle of November. You’ve gotten into your pyjamas and cuddled up on the sofa with your takeout pizza. How will you spend the evening? Why, watching a TV talent show, of course.
For most of us here in the UK, it’s likely that we have grown used to television shows such as The X Factor, The Voice and more recently, Little Mix: The Search, being plastered across our screens every weekend throughout the winter months. Over the last few decades, almost every television broadcaster has recognised the ability for musical talent shows to pull in legions of viewers, often pitting parts of the nation against one another as they rally in support of their favourite acts.
However, despite their popularity, TV talent shows remain under constant scrutiny. The speed at which they are produced, the focus on entertainment (not actual talent) and the often cruel and merciless backlash that contestants face all being the subject of talent show criticism, which begs the question, are these shows a valid means of finding credible talent?
There is some evidence to suggest that talent shows have a worthy place in the music industry. Arguably, no one can deny the success of many of the acts that once stood and performed audition songs on the Pop Idol, The X Factor or The Voice stages. Take One Direction and Little Mix, for example. Having been put together as part of the talent show process, these bands are perhaps some of the most potent examples of TV talent show success. Despite having broken up five years ago, each one of the members from One Direction have gone on to lead fruitful, successful solo careers. In particular, Harry Styles garnered much praise for his most recent album, Fine Line. The irrefutably legendary musician, Stevie Nicks, even compared it to Fleetwood Mac’s eleventh studio album, Rumours, which remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. That seems like some of the highest praise possible for any musician, right?
Despite not breaking up and leading solo careers, Little Mix have gone on to a different kind of success, continuing to release music over nine years after their formation and recently becoming the judges on their own TV talent show, The Search. Whether pop music is your thing or not, it’s difficult to look at the plentiful awards and accolades given to each of these bands and argue that they don’t consist of credible, talented musicians. There are even some acts out there that one may forget once competed on talent shows. Namely, Beyoncé was once a contestant on the American talent show, Star Search, back in the nineties. After a career spanning almost thirty years as both a part of Destiny’s Child and as a solo artist, hundreds of awards, six solo albums and many number one singles, Beyoncé is often cited as one of the most influential artists in the history of popular music. And again, whether you’re a fan of Beyoncé’s work or not, there is truly no questioning her talent, work ethic, and status as a credible, noteworthy musician.
Perhaps, however, the accomplishments of such acts are part of the problem. The overwhelming fame of artists like Beyoncé, One Direction, Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert – just to name a few – might have created a warped perception of the difficulty that truly lies in making it in the music industry. Indisputably, talent shows provide a shortcut to success; winning them (or even coming close to it in some cases) grants artists an access to industry exposure, experience in front of a crowd, dedicated followings and much needed contracts, things that musicians taking a more conventional route may spend years attempting to procure. Whilst this may seem wholly positive for the artists involved, what kind of the image of the music industry does this provide to the general public, and potential talent show contestants?
Arguably, it creates the impression that finding success is as easy as filling out an application one evening and attending a mass-audition in your nearest city five months later. Perhaps this encourages acts to take part who might otherwise have no dedication to a career in the industry, talent shows almost allowing them to cheat the system and jump the queue towards success. Additionally, technological advances, coupled with the rise of the internet age, have resulted in an oversaturated market of aspiring musicians. These shows, therefore, unnecessarily add musicians to an already inundated talent pool filled with equally deserving, hard-working individuals, all of whom have little chance of finding the same levels of success.
The focus on entertainment remains an issue, also. TV talent shows may have helped some find their success, but in the end, their aim is to be entertaining, often at the contestants’ expense. Harmful branding is, of course, a problem in the industry as a whole. Artists such as Kesha, Miley Cyrus and Kate Nash have all spoken out about how their branding has harmed their music career. However, the format of reality TV only emphasises this issue.
Producers of these shows can edit them however they please, oftentimes manipulating the general public into viewing a contestant in a way that could be miles apart from their authentic self, all before the artist has even had a chance to show their true personality. Whilst votes cannot be fixed, the producers can easily sway the public view with clever editing and inventive PR. This means, that even if an incredibly talented, hard-working and credible musician takes part in one of these many shows, their success can easily be thwarted if they don’t draw in enough views and in turn, money.
This image-shaping can also continue well beyond the shows, acts often getting locked into contracts that control their every move. Back in 2015, email leaks from Sony Entertainment revealed the overly specific and arguably problematic branding for each of the One Direction boys. Just two years later, Fifth Harmony expressed in an interview that they’d been worked like ‘literal slaves’, with a team of people trying to ‘sculpt [them] into something [they] weren’t’.
Even TV shows like Little Mix: The Search, which has been praised for its focus on finding real talent (unlike the cruel voyeurism of bad acts that the X Factor often encouraged), will have put together a band that would never have come together organically, designed to Little Mix’s specific tastes. For as long as these shows are focused on pulling in viewers, most musicians that take part will have little chance of surviving unless they allow producers to carefully curate their image, often losing their authenticity in the process.
Ultimately, the music industry is broken. As it becomes more and more difficult to survive financially as an artist, the shortcuts provided by TV talent shows will continue to be attractive to aspiring musicians. However, talent shows and their focus on ratings are a huge part of the issue, resulting in a system where a higher value is placed upon marketability than talent, often at the expense of artists’ well-being and originality. Yes, we do have occasional proof that TV talent shows can find good musicians. But the successes are exactly that: occasional. The question, therefore, probably isn’t can these shows find credible musicians. Rather, when considering their ability to drown out the voices of other musicians and manipulate an artist’s image before their careers have even begun, should we allow them to find credible musicians?
Written by Erin Lister
Erin is a recent English graduate, currently living in Manchester and working as a teaching assistant. She's obsessed with all things music, theatre and television and hopes to one day write about them for a living.