Factors that led to the creation of teen idols in the 1960s included the following. There was less travel and people became conditioned to their immediate surroundings. Thus, the presence of famous bands became an outlet for teens to express their aspirations for success. The Tin Pan Alley era ushered a revolution on music. It focused on the marketing of songs. Therefore, it gave millions of people the aspiration to become musicians. All they had to do was inspire an audience and they would receive royalties. It was great strategy for the music publishers as it allowed them to have as many musicians as possible to improve their offerings. The publishers turned any popular performances into musicals that would show to other audiences. Thus, there were more royalty payments to the songwriters and the respective publisher. Eventually, teen idols rose to fame because their music responded more to what the audiences like rather than the conservative definitions of rock and roll. The reliance on the middle-of-the-road performances also removed any restrictions on having to adhere to strict rock & roll performance standards.
Today, the effect of Tin Pan Alley era is not as pronounced as it was in the 1960s. However, there is a new phenomenon of reality shows. The shows offer a chance for ordinary people who thing they have musical talent to sing songs written by other songwriters. Similar to the Tin Pan Alley era, the new musicians can have recording deals and become famous as long as the reality TV audiences like them. Therefore, they do not have to struggle to get a recording deal before they become famous. Instead, they get famous for their initial performance just as the teen idols in the 1960s did.
Work Cited
Rosenberg, Stuart. Rock and Roll and the American Landscape. iUniverse, Inc., 2009.
