Spark, I Blame Coco, Marina & the Diamonds, Pearl & the Puppets - Branded Music

I must be going through a music phase at the moment. Next on my list of tunes to obsess about is Spark. She’s an eighteen year old East Londoner who prides herself on red lipstick and Elnett. Reminds me a lot of La Roux except Jess Morgan (aka Spark) is probably from Hackney Wick instead of Brixton (I make no secret of being a South London snob). In any case, that’s massively unimportant, I downloaded her free single ‘Shut Out the Moon’ (click here to do the same) which I do like but I think my favourite is ‘Scream’ which can be heard on her MySpace.



I find this trend of (especially female) artists labelling themselves as a band quite compelling. I don’t really understand what they get out of it. It seems to be a bit of a British thing too. Thinking about it the ones I can think of off the top of my head are all my favourite ‘bands’ of the moment; Marina and the Diamonds, I Blame Coco, Spark, Pearl and the Puppets.
What is it about? Does it give these girls a name to hide behind? They are all young and it could be a form of protection. I doubt it though. It can’t be an accidental trend. I think all these talented people come up with a name to create more of a brand for themselves. The producers have seen an opportunity and seized it. A brand sells more than a name, they can make it a catchier name and the brand can evolve into more aspects than just an eighteen year old girl. The brand is the collective noun for the set, the style, the genre of music and turns into adjective for describing all it involves.



Look at the term Gaga an enormous household name, it’s become a cliché to say, ‘that’s very Gaga’. It’s the same idea as these young British female artists, not just creating a name for yourself but creating a brand that producers hope will catch on.

Having said all that, very stupidly, the name of my blog has only just occurred to me in context with this. Why did I choose to name it Heather Loves Jelly? Because I hoped in the future it could have the option of being something more than just another blog. But I haven’t decided what yet. Watch this space ( ).