Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Christopher C. | Delivered November 12, 2019

History of the Musical Celebrity

Goals

To understand the history of how and when musicians achieved celebrity status in wider culture.

Early Findings

According to the BBC, the first real musical celebrity was Hungarian composer Liszt, who was prominent in the 1830s.
In fact, the word "celebrity" was first used in connection with Liszt.
He was favored by the court, women "threw themselves at his feet" (connotations of later 'Beatlemania' and boy bands), his concerts were reported on at length in newspapers and he basically invented the concept of a professional concert musician.
Contemporary writers to Liszt projected secret and erotic fantasies involving the musician. German writer Heinrich Heine coined the term "Lisztomania".
Five other musical celebrities of the 19th century include Paganini, Chopin, Wieck, Bull and Alkan.
The sudden rise of a person to 'celebrity' status is credited to the popularity of print media and print collecting at the end of the 18th into the 19th century. The use of portraiture has been the subject of academic study in connection to 'fame'. The common person could read about, hear and see a picture of a person all at once for the first time. Musical periodicals also came into common circulation.
It is hypothesized the modern day musicians get so popular (and rich) due to sophisticated PR tactics, which helps them not only craft a carefully-curated public persona designed to appeal to the masses, but also endlessly promote and get the musician into the public consciousness. There's also speculation that the more money that rolls into the music industry, the more the "machine" rolls to create celebrity status.
Today, being a successful musician requires being more of a 'brand' than a person/musical group.
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