B4- How global is the appeal of your three main texts? (30)

            I have studied the success of three alternative artists being; Nirvana, Radiohead and Lady Gaga.

            Nirvana first came to the scene with their first studio album ‘Bleach’ , released in 1989 by the independent label ‘Sub Pop’. However, this album failed to chart in America as it didn’t have the financial support to promote and globalise the bands success. Their music genre then was more ‘rock and metal’ based which was very diverse from the mainstream. In 1991, the band diluted their alternative heavier sound to more popular music and signed to a huge record label ‘ Geffen’. Geffen is owned by Universal and has large marketing budgets, enabling the band to be promoted all over the world, in order to gain more profits.

            In the 90s, the Internet was not available to advertise and expand a bands fame and reputation. However, to be the mainstream and gain their fans they combined the genres; punk, rock and pop to create the genre ‘ Grunge’. To promote the band and their new studio album ‘Nevermind’, Geffen were heavily reliant on magazines and TV appearances to gain more of a secure fan base. They appeared on Top of the Pops in December 1991, performing their new single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. As the songs played on the programme were pre-recorded, Nirvana chose to mime their instruments sarcastically and the lead singer- Kurt Cobain- sang an octave lower and very little articulation. This then allowed their performance to become a global phenomenon by ‘ word of mouth’, which was another thing Nirvana relied on for publicity. This album was first released by ‘DGG Records’ in September 24^th 1991, with an optimistic expectation of 250,000 sales. However, 30 million copies were sold worldwide, and the increasing demand for the album kept increasing.

            ‘Nirvana’ continue their fame through all generations. This is due to re-releases such as Nevermind, 20 years after Kurt Cobain’s death. This prolongs their success and keeps the band alive for more people to listen to and enjoy.