With over 60 million views and counting on YouTube, a recent debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and an extremely negative critical reception, the meteoric rise of "Friday" is another installment in a long tradition of American fascination with low-grade pop culture fluff.
"Friday," Black's debut on the national stage, also garnered significant attention for Ark Music Factory, the independent record label based in Los Angeles that produced Black's hit. The label was created by record producer Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson, a musician who goes by Pato. The pair co-wrote "Friday," and Wilson contributes to the song with one of the corniest and creepiest raps I have ever heard. Ark representatives claim that the label's focus is on discovering young talent and giving aspiring artists the tools they need to succeed in today's music industry.
According to the record company's Myspace page, Ark has "recognized that raw talent alone is sufficient to get noticed, [but] it is absolutely essential for an artist to have hit singles and a well-executed image all within that marketable package!"
Referring to artists and their work as "packages" is a discouraging yet eerily accurate description of other more established acts in the music world, as displayed by pop-stars-turned-brand-names Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. They all work with top producers and songwriters, have the looks and the hottest dance moves, produce purposefully controversial music videos and have at least some penchant for singing.
Producers at Ark, on the other hand, go about producing "packages" in a more artificial way by writing weak and simplistic lyrics, charging their artists' parents money for the music videos and using far too much Auto-Tune to enhance mediocre vocals.
Big money is invested in Ark's style of vanity music-making Black's mother forked over $2,000 dollars for her daughter to experience a taste of stardom. However, Ark goes beyond financially exploiting the dream of success the label wrongfully implants in the minds of young children the idea that they could make it to the top by churning out a manufactured, artificial, Auto-Tuned style of music.
Other artists seem to have fallen prey to Ark's approach to artist manufacturing. Abby Victor, for example, released "Crush On You," a song not so different from Black's that is all about Saturday. Even these songs, which almost appear to be parodies of the Disney genre, are creating a decent amount of buzz, all thanks to Black's unavoidable tune. These songs that are essentially purchased by parents looking to provide their children a good time lead these singers into the makings of careers that are most likely destined to fail once their fleeting publicity runs out and talent begins to factor in.
Becoming an overnight YouTube pop sensation of Bieber-esque proportions is not a common occurrence, yet Black is already being compared to the young crooner due to the massive number of views "Friday" has accumulated in a matter of weeks. Adding to her pop culture relevance is the enormous influx of parodies and response videos from YouTube "critics" such as the ever-complaining and hilarious Kingsley Russell. Many of the responders contend that Ark is exploiting young artists for their own benefit, while others think the label's approach is a fresh method of introducing young talent to the masses using the advantages of the Internet to advertise and distribute music.
The attention has placed Black on the defensive in the face of nationwide scrutiny of proportions that seem completely inappropriate given her young age. She has conducted several interviews, but most notably she performed a not-so-bad live version of her single on Good Morning America on March 18. Black has received death threats and praise, but wealth and attention as well it seems certain that Black's work with Ark will continue to influence her music career, particularly if she ever tries to shed "Friday" and develop a more mature sound. The saddest part about Ark's approach to production is that Black sounded better live, without all of the technical alterations and heavy editing. It's quite possible that Ark producers are making their artists sound worse.
At the end of the day, Black is laughing all the way to the bank, even if her success results from making possibly one of the worst songs ever. Ark does not produce music that stacks up to that of current top record labels like Atlantic, Columbia and Island Def Jam. But if the ends justify the means, one cannot deny Ark's temporary success, producing music through the web that preys on America's fascination with the latest low-brow Internet trend.
