1. Political Economy and Justin Bieber
Aaron, Tilly, Leigh and Flora

2. Perspectives on Political Economy

3. Perspectives on Political Economy
“Creating an image from imitation”.
“Outcomes create environments and environments create outcomes” - We as a consumer create the means for artists to sell.
The first 30 seconds are key. They set the premise for the rest of the song.
Music used to be about songs that meant something; full of content and experimentation rather than being about making money.

4. Media is the Medium

5. Media is the Medium

6. Media is the Medium

7. Media is the Message “There was really no preparing
me for this life. I was thrown into this at
12 years old and didn’t know what I was
getting into. There’s been moments
I’m really proud of and moments I’m
pretty disappointed in myself for”.

8. Freedom vs Freedom

9. Bieber vs Bieber Does he have control over the direction of his music?
Did his management take advantage of a boy of a young age?
How he’s sold to consumers.

10. Attali and Justin Bieber

11. Attali and Justin Bieber
Attali's four stages of music evolution, spoken about within 'Noise' are still relevant today and can be linked to lots of popular artists including Justin Bieber. 
Ritual/Sacrifice: Justin's music was certainly one to make people forget. Perhaps in a 'mind numbing' sense of it. His early music delivered no sense of what was going on at the time. 
Representation: This could be related to the hierarchy within the music industry. There is a very clear pop domination that in recent years hasn't been quite as noticeable but in the past was very present. 

12. Attali and Justin Bieber
Repetition: Bieber's music is again a good example of this, displaying lots of the generic, unimaginative characteristics that we see so much of in our current musical society. Whether his newer music is more 'aware' than his earlier stuff, he still displays massively commercial signs.
Composition: Music in recent years has certainly become less of a commodity. Especially with the introduction of things like autotune, the wider access to production platforms and even the fact that Macbook's come with GarageBand already installed. Bieber is a great example of this. 

13. Attalli and Justin Bieber
A quote from Bieber states "Often, we pretend to be something we're not as a cover-up of what we're truly feeling inside".

14. Standardisation and Authenticity

15. Standardisation and Pseudo-Invidivualisation
Theodor Adorno.
Songs are produced in a similar pattern to each other.
Lyrics written to give people a false sense of real.
This pattern is embedded in Justin’s songs.

16. The Aura
Walter Benjamin, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’.
“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: It’s presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be”.
Elvis, Johnny Cash, Ed Sheeran.

17. Standardisation and Authenticity

18. References:
Attali, J, 1977, Noise: The Political Economy of Music, Presses Universitaires de France.
Adorno, T, 1941, On Popular Music, California Press.
Smith, M, January 2015,
Spanos, B, November 2015, All Apologies: 22 Time Justin Bieber Said ‘Sorry’,
Walter, B, 1936, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Penguin.