The influence of youth culture in the 1950s upon the music industry in the United Kingdom is not any different than the influence of youth culture today. In the current music industry, teens and young adults continue to be the target audience to whom popular music is catered to. Their status as a valuable and primary consumer base determines trends in fashion, pop culture, and music. With this power, they especially determine who and what is popular to listen to. How they came to be the target audience can be noted in the growing popularity of rock and roll in the United Kingdom towards the late 1950s. The genre that was once ignored by the media was gradually seen as something that had potential to become big and profitable, and the consumer base whom record labels could profit the most from were teens and young adults. This target audience not only helped catapult The Beatles into stardom but also became the force that steered the direction of music and how the music industry currently operates to cater to this audience.
Youth culture in 1950s Liverpool was a growing force that the English media could no longer ignore. In lecture, Cantrell notes how the English media began to idealize rock and roll after Elvis Presley made his breakthrough in the United Kingdom. How the media came to this view can be tied to the youth who were listening to and discovering American music (in particular, rock and roll, blues, and country) on Radio Luxembourg, records, and through their peers. The growing popularity of rock and roll had a profound impact upon the youth such that their response to the genre and movement physically shook their environment (Cantrell mentions how screenings of the film Blackboard Jungle provoked riots from Teddy Boys due to the film’s rock and roll soundtrack). This event is symbolic as it represents how the genre became deeply ingrained within youth culture and how the physical aspect of it forced the media to come to terms with its popularity by catering to their audience’s demands and producing genre-related content.
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Image source: edwardianteddyboy.com
The typical look of a Teddy Boy which was inspired by styles from the Edwardian period. The look [usually] consists of quiff hair, frock coat, drainpipe trousers, and creepers.
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The music industry’s decision to cater to these demands were exacerbated by the youth culture’s value as a consumer base. What made this group valuable, especially in Liverpool, was their accessibility to American music with the help of the city’s status as a port city where Cunard Yanks would bring in records and other imported American goods. Through accessibility, youth culture was able to take shape. In “Six boys, six Beatles: the formative years, 1950-1962,” Dave Laing notes, “… grammar schools and art colleges were also informal incubators of unofficial youth culture as students shared and exchanged new knowledge of music, fashion, films, and books.” By sharing new knowledge of these items, youth culture was a hub of the latest trends. This exchange translates into consumerism and results in industries perceiving the youth to be a profitable consumer base and would cater to their demands so that individuals can continue to develop and assimilate into the culture.
An example of how the industry caters to these demands is mentioned in lecture where Cantrell discusses the role of Larry Parnes in the music industry. Dubbed as the “Simon Cowell of the 50s,” Parnes was talented at spotting potential artists and “grooming” them to appeal to teen audiences. One particular case of this was when he showcased Tommy Steele as the “UK Elvis” and ultimately became a heartthrob among female teens. This practice of taking artists and developing their images to appeal to a certain audience continues in the music industry today. A prominent example of this practice can be seen in the stardom of Justin Bieber who strongly appeals to female teens and pre-teens. The music industry especially targets young females as a source of revenue since they are one of the primary consumers of music these days.
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| Image source: freim.tv
Uniformity was the key to marketability that Brian Epstein had in mind when he managed The Beatles. Their black Italian-inspired suits and mop-top hair styles became their trademark look that came to be recognizable and sought after in the 60s.
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Young females as a valuable consumer base is not new as their value can be seen and traced back to the success of The Beatles. Their success and appeal to this particular audience is partly due to their image. Their iconic style of black suits and mop tops has made them appear as heartthrobs for young women, which was created with the help of their manager Brian Epstein. Laing notes, “Epstein was to be the catalyst for the process that took them to a national, then global, audience. In brief, he added the haircuts, the suits, and the recording contract.” This emphasis on image as a vital aspect of success for a musician continues to be upheld in the music industry today where image is not just a means of looking presentable but to also grab attention and even shock people.
The Beatles were an early example of how a target audience contributes to the direction of a group’s career and success. The youth culture of the day was a hotbed of new music, fashion, and trends that would define a generation and make itself prominent in the face of corporate media. The latter could not deny the growing popularity of rock and roll that they eventually began to see its potential as a genre. Its popularity among the youth would then cultivate the industry’s efforts to cater to demands and, in turn, would develop into methods that helped catapult The Beatles to their success. To this day, these methods are still used and are visibly present in many popular artists.
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