Lady Gaga成名啟示錄

注意那個為格萊美進行開場表演的女人。
Pay attention to that woman opening the Grammys.
　　
在格萊美的頒獎典禮上，Lady Gaga和埃爾頓•約翰(Elton John)同用一架鋼琴表演了合唱。她得到了包括年度最佳專輯在內(nèi)的五項格萊美提名，不過這和她在短短一年間對音樂文化產(chǎn)生的更為廣泛的影響──這種影響可以說是震撼性的──相比顯得并不那么重要。
At Sunday's awards show, Lady Gaga is expected to play a duet on a single piano with Elton John. She is nominated for five awards, including record of the year, but that's less important than her broader impact on music culture in the space of a year, which has been seismic.
　　
她的首張專輯就誕生了四首冠軍單曲。她在2009年以1,530萬首的單曲銷量雄踞數(shù)字音樂銷量排行榜冠軍。她的熱門舞曲，包括《撲克臉》和《狗仔隊》在內(nèi)，她將一種古怪的歐式情調(diào)摻入了搖滾和饒舌音樂，這些歌曲也借此重新界定了電臺流行音樂的風格。憑借她那科幻電影人物般的著裝，Gaga在音樂世界之外也抓住了人們的注意力。她在演唱會、音樂錄像和過去的頒獎禮表演中曾戴著整副面具和行星環(huán)頭飾，還曾把鳥窩樣子的裝飾品圍在自己的頭上。
Her debut album has generated four No. 1 songs. She topped the digital sales chart for 2009 with 15.3 million tracks sold. Her dance hits, including 'Poker Face' and 'Paparazzi,' recalibrated the sound of pop radio with a spacey Euro vibe that's crept into songs by rock and rap artists. She grabbed attention beyond the music world with outfits that make her look like a refugee from a sci-fi film. In concert, on video and at past awards shows she has sported full facial masks, worn planetary rings around her head, and framed her face in what looked like a bird's nest.
　　
“她非常會玩花樣，”對Gaga贊賞有加的搖滾歌手艾利斯•庫柏表示。庫柏曾在舞臺上表演“斬首”。不過他表示，Gaga的這些花招能夠大獲成功的原因是“她確實有副好嗓子”。
'She's very vaudevillian,' says an admiring Alice Cooper, the rocker whose history of stage theatrics includes simulated decapitations. But he says Gaga's antics only work because 'she can really sing.'

Gaga或許最終被證明只是個曇花一現(xiàn)的流星，不過許多資深的業(yè)內(nèi)人士卻認為她有真材實料，而且她在這個充滿挑戰(zhàn)的行業(yè)所表現(xiàn)出來的野心和能力或許能讓她成為一顆長盛不衰的明星。本名斯蒂芬尼•吉瑪洛塔的Gaga畢業(yè)于曼哈頓的圣心女中，后來她為了追尋自己的音樂夢想而離開了紐約大學的音樂學系。她曾與唱片公司Def Jam簽約后又解約，后來與一個顧問團隊開始了合作。當邁克爾•杰克遜的去世讓我們意識到如今能夠超越狹隘音樂類型的新星已經(jīng)少之又少的時候，Gaga便在一年的時間內(nèi)橫掃各大媒體。
Gaga may turn out to be yet another fleeting pop novelty, but many other industry veterans see her as the real deal, and her ambitions and skill at navigating the turbulent industry may make her a durable star. Born Stefani Germanotta, she graduated from Manhattan's Convent of the Sacred Heart school, then left a music program at New York University to chase a music career. She was signed and dropped from one label, Def Jam, before uniting with a core team of advisers. She then stormed the media in a year when Michael Jackson's death reminded us how few new music stars transcend narrow genres anymore.
　　
我們在Gaga亂蓬蓬的假發(fā)之下看到的是一個有關如何在時下的音樂行業(yè)取得成功的案例分析。23歲的Gaga聰明地運用了新的數(shù)字平臺，而同時仍借助著一家大唱片公司的影響力──DIY文化的眾多支持者認為這種做法已經(jīng)過時。她是一種新型唱片合約的產(chǎn)品，這種合約已經(jīng)不僅僅涵蓋唱片銷售，而是從巡演到商品， 甚至是包括造型合約在內(nèi)的各項事務。盡管Gaga自己創(chuàng)作歌曲，但她對于視覺上的舞臺效果、流行時尚和全球號召力也投入了和對音樂一樣多的精力。
Underneath Gaga's haystack wigs is a case study of what it takes to succeed in the music business today. Gaga, 23 years old, has made shrewd use of new digital platforms, while still leveraging the clout of a major label, an institution deemed obsolete by many proponents of DIY culture. She is a product of a new kind of recording contract which goes beyond just selling records to encompass everything from touring, merch andise--even her make-up deal. Though she writes her own material, she is as focused on visual theatrics, fashion, and global appeal as she is on the music.
　　
媒體的鏡頭在今年將繼續(xù)對準Gaga。她將挑戰(zhàn)自己在MTV音樂錄像大獎上換裝六次的戰(zhàn)績。從她的著裝來預測時尚風潮是白費工夫。不過，以下是Gaga可以告訴我們的有關當今音樂行業(yè)如何運作的三件事。
This year, expect the cameras to hover around Gaga, who will be challenged to top the six different costumes she donned at the MTV Video Music Awards. Divining fashion trends from her outfits would be fruitless. Instead, here are three things Gaga can tell us about how the music industry works now.
　　
她是個數(shù)字現(xiàn)象
She's a digital phenomenon
Gaga驚人的數(shù)字唱片銷量──幾乎全部來自于iTunes下載──只說明了事實的一部分。實際上，Gaga的大部分聽眾都免費、而且合法地獲得了她的音樂。調(diào)查公司BigChampagne表示，人們收聽的是YouTube和其他網(wǎng)絡服務商提供的免費流──數(shù)量以上億計。Gaga在MySpace上的音樂播放量達到了3.215億次。而與之形成對比的是，盡管歌手蘇珊大媽在2009年的專輯銷量排行榜上位居第二，但她在MySpace上僅得到了13.3萬次播放。Gaga和這位在英國選秀節(jié)目中脫潁而出的蘇格蘭大媽有一個不同點（她們之間還存在著許多不同點）：蘇珊大媽的歌曲，包括那首《奇異恩典》在內(nèi)，都屬于傳統(tǒng)范疇──而購買她專輯的大部分人也比較傳統(tǒng)。她的專輯有大約97%都以CD形式銷售。
Lady Gaga's towering digital sales, almost all of them iTunes downloads, only tell part of the story. In fact, much of Gaga's audience got her music for free, and legally. They have listened to free streams -- by the hundreds of millions -- on YouTube and the other online services that Gaga currently leads, according to research firm BigChampagne. On MySpace, Gaga has had 321.5 million plays. By contrast, singer Susan Boyle tallied only 133,000 plays, despite scoring the No. 2 selling album of 2009. A difference (among many) between Gaga and the  Scotswoman discovered on a British talent show: Ms. Boyle's material, including 'Amazing Grace,' was traditional and so were most of her buyers. Some 97% of her albums were sold on compact disc.
　　
她有360度的視野
She's got a 360-degree view
　　
音樂行業(yè)需要更多的Gaga。美國唱片業(yè)協(xié)會最近的一份報告顯示，過去十年的巨變迫使大唱片公司將員工裁減了60%。僅僅在最近的一周之內(nèi)，環(huán)球音樂集團的雇員就被裁減了數(shù)十人。（Gaga自己的公關就選擇了“買斷工齡”；這一職位也不會得到填補。）唱片公司不得不改變和旗下藝人之間的關系，倚靠新的生意伙伴，其中包括那些他們過去經(jīng)常與之口角不斷的人才代理們。
The business needs more Gagas. The upheaval of the last decade has forced the major record companies to cut their work force by 60%, according to a recent report by the Recording Industry Association of America. Within the last week, dozens of Universal Music Group employees were laid off. (Gaga's own publicist took a buyout; his job won't be filled.) Labels have had to change their relationship with artists and lean on new partners, including the talent managers they often squabbled with in the past.
　　
由于沒有資金和人員來支持他們曾經(jīng)過于龐大的藝人隊伍，唱片公司大幅縮小了雇員數(shù)量，并對那些預期能夠為熱門歌曲流行推波助瀾的活動加大了投入。他們還希望從藝人們在唱片公司銷售音樂的傳統(tǒng)業(yè)務之外獲得的收入中分得一杯羹。這帶來了行話中所謂的“360度合約”，也就是說一家唱片公司先期投入更多的資金（比如說，在營銷中）來換取商品銷售、巡演收入和其他的一些收入，而這些收入在過去一直都歸藝人自己所有。
Without the budget and staff to support their once overloaded artist stables, labels have slashed their rosters �쿽탞皖ꌸ匢뺱ﮍhttps://www.hjbbs.com/©版權所有滬江網(wǎng)ﮍ뺱匢ꌸ皖탞쿽�and doubled down on acts expected to drive hits. They're also going after the money artists generate outside the labels' traditional business of selling music. This has given rise to, in industry parlance, the 360 deal, in which a label invests more money up front (for marketing, for example) in exchange for a piece of merchandise sales, touring revenue and other earnings that artists had long kept for themselves.
　　
她有可能成為麥當娜第二
She could be the next Madonna
　　
在歌曲《糟糕的羅曼史》中，Gaga唱道，“我想要你的丑陋，我想要你的疾病。”她親熱地將自己的歌迷稱為“怪物”。在臺上，Gaga的假傷口血流不止。這些黑色戲劇化的表現(xiàn)手段并沒有妨礙她通過借鑒麥當娜的成功秘笈，包括跳躍的舞曲節(jié)奏、多變的形像和假意癡迷名人的態(tài)度而成為主流電臺的寵兒。
On the song 'Bad Romance,' Gaga chants 'I want your ugly, I want your disease.' She lovingly refers to her fans as 'monsters.' On stage, she bleeds from simulated stab wounds. Despite these dark theatrics, she's become a darling of mainstream radio by drawing from Madonna's playbook, with thumping dance beats, a shape-shifting image and a playful obsession with celebrity.