1. Post Modernism and the
Music Industry
Case Study of Lady Gaga

2. What do you know about Lady
Gaga?
• Think Pair Share

3. In what ways do you think she
could be Post Modern?

4. Key Terms
Intertextuality - one media text referring to another This
can be done as Parody or Pastiche
Parody - mocking something in an original way
1970s / 1980s cop series Sabotage music video

5. Pastiche - An artistic work in a style that imitates that of
another work, artist, or period. This is a self-conscious
imitation.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Marilyn Monroe
Material Girl
Madonna
Ashanti Foolish
Music videoGoodfellas

6. Bricolage - mixing up and using different genres and
styles, the „copy and paste‟ of the PoMo world
Shaun of
the Dead:
Zombie
mixed with
and
romantic
comedy.
Blade Runner: Sci-Fi and film
noir
DJ Shadow‟s Entroducing:
The first album to be completely
made up of sampled music.

7. What Post Modern features can
you spot?
• Paparazzi

8. Pastiche / Homage
• Generic
conventions of a
„golden age‟
Hollywood film of
which „Gaga‟ is the
leading lady

9. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Narrative and stylistic similarities and intertextual references

10. Intertextuality and the blurring of
boundaries
Fembot, Metropolis
Who is the real Lady Gaga? Is she
human or robot?
(Strinati – Breakdown between Culture
and Society)

11. Referencing Popular
Culture

12. CASE STUDY: Lady Gaga
• Makes reference to the film
„Vertigo‟
• The use of icy, remote blonde
„femme fatale‟ character is also
a hallmark of a Hitchcock film.
Hitchcock Homage/Pastiche

13. Simulacra – this is what it means
to be rich in America

14. Blurring of fiction and reality /
representation and the real

15. What else did you notice?

16. What does Lady Gaga say?
“It‟s not just about the music. It‟s about
the performance, the attitude, the
look; it‟s everything. And, that is
where I live as an artist and that is
what I want to accomplish.”
http://www.ladygaga.com/bio/default.aspx
• “a conceptual show with a vision for
pop performance art.”
http://www.ladygaga.com/bio/default.aspx

17. Her Record Company
Interscope Digital Distribution (IDD)
“IDD will work in conjunction with TuneCore to distribute new and
independent artists’ original music for sale on such leading retailers as
iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon MP3, Shockhound, eMusic and Napster, among
many others worldwide.
IDD adds a fresh twist to the digital distribution model for independent
music by offering unsigned artists a unique opportunity to reach the ears of
A&R executives all while providing them complete freedom of. By signing on
for distribution specifically through IDD, artists will have the chance to gain
their attention. A number of artists may then be selected for development
deals.
IDD is digital DIY done right – giving music artists a platform for self-
expression, allowing them to retain all of the profits from their efforts, and
presenting an opportunity for them to access the resources of a major record
company.”

18. Interscope Artists (edited) 50 Cent Black Eyed Peas Mary J. Blige
Bush Keyshia Cole Sheryl Crow
Diddy – Dirty
Money
Dr Dre
Eminem Feist Fergie Nelly Furtado Ellie Goulding
Keri Hilson
Jimmy Eat
World
Quincy Jones Keane La Roux
Lady Gaga Limp Bizkit M.I.A. Marilyn Manson N*E*R*D
Kate Nash
New Kids on the
Block
No Doubt
Noah and the
Whale
One Republic
Papa Roach Puddle of Mudd Pussycat Dolls
Queens of the
Stone Age
Rise Against
Robyn
Nicole
Scherzinger
Snow Patrol Soulja Boy Sting
The All-American
Rejects
The Police Robin Thicke Timbaland U2
White Lies Will.i.am
Pharrell
Williams
Wolfmother Yeah Yeah Yeahs

19. IDD Album Covers
22 album covers
spanning 8 singles and 2
albums… (but that makes
10!?)

20. What about this video?
• Telephone

21. What did you notice?

22. Intertextual references to Tarantino’s stylistic approach to
film-making.
Even the transitions are the same!

23. Gaga’s heartbeat
earphones
Can you be more
obvious with your
product placement?

26. Madonna homage
– hair and style.

27. Telephone music video
A by-the-numbers guide to the record-setting, controversial music video posted on March 16, 2010, at 2:17 PM
Shortly after Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' music video hit YouTube Thursday, the blogosphere literally couldn't shut up about the
controversial telecommunications-themed short. While some debated whether MTV might ban it from airwaves (no), more
wonkish types engaged in deep analysis over the Technicolor extravaganza's potential meaning and its pop-cultural references.
Here, a by-the-numbers look at the 'Telephone' phenomenon:
9½
Length of the "spectacle," in minutes
9
Number of product placement moments in 'Telephone," including: HeartBeats headphones (1:34), Virgin Mobile cell phones
(2:07), Chanel sunglasses (2:17) Diet Coke (2:22) dating website PlentyOfFish.com (4:27) Hewlett-Packard (4:24), Polaroid (5:45)
Wonder Bread (6:35) and Miracle Whip (6:38).
2
Number of Gaga family members present or invoked: Sister, Natali, 17, appears as the Gaga's "true persona," Stefani
Germanotta (2:37); When Gaga uses Diet Coke cans as curlers (2:22), she's referencing a trick her mother employed when
"there were no rollers in the house."
10
Number of costume changes Gaga undergoes. Outfits include: A padlock-draped swimsuit (worn with sunglasses seemingly
fabricated from lit cigarettes), a scanty number consisting entirely of crime scene tape, a leopard catsuit (reportedly, a nod to
Shania Twain), and a diaphanous burka-inspired dress.
45
Number of pop culture allusions, according to MTV's "Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Video: Pop Culture Cheat Sheet" (Parts I and
II), including: Captain America and Wonder Woman, "pop-art trailblazer" Andy Warhol, pop superstars Michael Jackson and
Madonna, and blockbuster movies "Natural Born Killers" and "Thelma and Louise."
1
Reference to real-world rumors that Gaga might be a hermaphrodite. One prison guard comments to another that Gaga's
character is a physically normal woman.
128,19,403 (and counting)
Number of views the official Gaga YouTube video received since it debuted late on March 11. (Her co-star Beyonce's "Single
Ladies" video, considered a smash hit, has received 152,367,559 views since hitting airwaves in October 2008.)

28. Comparison with other texts
Lady Gaga Your choice

29. The Fame Monster (Superdeluxe)
• The ultimate peek into the Haus Of Gaga spanning music, fashion, art, fans
and juice! The Fame Monster includes:
• 8 new studio recordings with production by RedOne, Rodney
Jerkins, Teddy Riley, Fernando Garibay and Ron Fair featuring the smash
single "Bad Romance" and "Telephone“
• The original album The Fame
• The definitive "Book of Gaga"-A highly stylized collector's edition art table
book housed in a custom slipcase documenting Gaga's journey into pop
superstardom including:
• A lock of Lady Gaga's hair (eww!)
• Collectible puzzle
• Pictorials
• A behind the scenes look at her creative process
• Pull out posters
• Themed fanzines
• A paper doll collection
• The Fame Monster Super Fan Collector’s Edition Art Book
• 3 D glasses to view forthcoming Gaga visuals
• Personal notes from the artist
• Each book individually numbered
Discuss how this ‘digipack’
could show that Lady Gaga is
post modern.