Miley Culture
The high-ground-hogging critics expressing horror at pictures of this barely dressed, barely legal warblerSo, Miley Cyrus is in the news again today. Just like she was last week. And the week before that. In fact, it seems like she’s been in the news every week this year.
Today, she’s ‘famous’ for ‘wearing’ yet another outfit that failed to cover her bum, and also for smoking a joint – YES, A JOINT! – onstage at the MTV EMAs (that’s the European Music Awards, grandad) in Amsterdam. God, the locals must have been mortified.
Of course, it’s all serious shocking stuff that threatens to tear at the moral heart of middle England. And it just so happens to keep Miley across our tabloids – and of course all over the Daily Mail website – at a time when she’s pumping out a succession of singles as half-arsed as her trousers.
Who’s the winner here? The high-ground-hogging critics expressing hollow horror at the countless pictures of this barely dressed, barely legal warbler? Or Miley’s management and record label, who are the ones ultimately benefitting from her profile and sales?
It’s no coincidence that Miley’s advisers and management team – the ones who have more than a little influence on her image and onstage behaviour – are walking away with a hefty percentage of her earnings.
As such, it’s a masterclass in management. Miley is ‘advised’ on her next global TV appearance, she does something ‘shocking’ which is fundamentally actually quite lame, and subsequently spends a week getting high-value media coverage for it. Her radio and TV exposure is boosted, sales increase, and she does pretty well out of it. As do her managers.
Miley Cyrus and her music are products. And her management consistently gain maximum exposure for these products using age-old music industry tactics. They also display decent people-management skills, by persuading Miley to act in a way that most 20-year-olds would probably prefer not to. There’s a lot to be said for the management on show here.
Okay, so it’s not particularly nice. But since when has niceness ben a managerial prerequisite?
Oh, and that joint? If it was real, I’ll walk down Oxford Street dressed as Miley, complete with barely covered bum. And believe me, nobody wants that.
About the author
