The following piece is by Joseph R. Atilano, an authority on popular music.
Intangible factors or having “it” is what an A & R executive and record producer looks for before signing up and investing his resources in a talent and deciding whether to push for his major label debut! That is most evident in reality talent shows like “American Idol”. In my opinion, intangible factors are charisma, stage presence and raw talent, among others.
Artists with the mentioned factors already have a foundation to build on and mold from. They have a fair-to-moderate chance of achieving success and the crossover appeal to the majority of music fans to make the transition from aspiring singers to established ones in due time. In recent memory, we have had a lot of debuting new talents who started from scratch and finally got the push to debut in a major label.
But who among them stand out from the rest and have really gotten our attention without over-doing it? We all can name a few of them, but in my opinion it can really be based on “pure luck”, because it can be nearly impossible to determine which talents will attract fans and earn for them the sales they need. Some singers have all the talent, from the basic fundamentals to the right connections. But still, for some reason, they can’t “gel” or “click” with the audience, and instead of breaking through to the mainstream they still fall short of making it even though most fans can’t tell who the new singer is from the seasoned performer, because every fan has his own way of perceiving “uniqueness” in an artist. That's why it is not rare to hear comments like “Where did he come from?” and “How is it I’ve never heard of her?” These are just comments made out of curiosity — and sometimes bewilderment — to discover the roots of the talent.
In the last few years, we have had a lot of that, where literally, these pop singers come out of nowhere and are now making a name for themselves. Whether it is smart marketing by their major label or the way they have been packaged, it can’t be denied that these new artists possess the necessary “intangible factors” and have succeeded in establishing a connection with music fans. But not all “music intellectuals” would feel the same way with the fans. Because there are certainly ways to obtain success and there are different interpretations to what exactly success can be. For instance, some singers can be praised by music critics and by fellow musicians but slammed by fans, and it can be the other way around as well. Not all can be well received by critics and fans alike, but it is not impossible to achieve that and definitely it can be done.
There are reasons why not all talents can make it and become household names eventually. One of the reasons is the market size, the different age groups that consist of the various age demographics. A certain age group will always appreciate and buy certain albums from a number of artists. But what if the majority of the market has already a “fixed taste” for what kind of music sounds good and appeals to their musical sensibilities? That is why some singers end up completely changing their music style altogether and adapting their sound to the current trend of music. In order to stay marketable and remain relevant in the current scene, we all have seen and heard these from dozens of musicians in the last decade during which a number of artists and music acts would resurface after a few years of being inactive only to come out sounding exactly similar to everyone else. Whether we feel they are compromising their credibility for continued success or are “selling out”, is really beside the point.
A serious musician’s aim is to achieve a certain level of popularity and be in the upper echelon of talent. There are different levels of talent just as a pyramid has various levels. As you get closer to the tip of the pyramid, you will have lesser and lesser competition and that caliber of talent is where the most successful and talented are. At the bottom of the pyramid where it is widest are the struggling artists and new singers and as you go up the pyramid it gets trimmed down. That is exactly why there is a huge difference between new/beginning singers and superstars. And it all boils down to having that “it” factor.
That factor can also be determined by appearance and overall packaging but not solely on talent and singing. Whereas before it was considered a bonus to be good-looking and attractive, now it has become more of a requirement. Sometimes that requirement can overshadow the raw talent and overall ability of a singer. The late Amy Winehouse, who was a raw talent and had the basic fundamentals to back it up, quickly comes to mind. She was an amazing song writer and was considered by many critics a “throwback” to the golden age of music. This, too, goes true for more recent breakthrough singers like Adele who is also an amazing singer and songwriter herself and who has a distinct quality to her voice that makes her unique and easy to differentiate from the rest. When it comes to talent shows, who can forget Susan Boyle from “Britain’s Got Talent”? She has become the most surprising antithesis of a discovered talent! She proved that one really “can’t judge a book by its cover” but more importantly, by its content. In this case, singing prowess and ability. She proved that to make it in the music industry by today’s standards, overall talent rises above everything else.
In closing, judging talent should not always be skin deep and superficial. The more we go beyond what’s on the outside, the more we get to truly discover the real talent inside. Then, more and more record producers and A&R executives will discover singers like the late Amy Winehouse and current singers like Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle and Adele. These artists have achieved both critical success and success in the mainstream. For me, they all embody those artists who have the ‘intangible factors’ and those who have become household names in the music industry.