The impacts of subcultures within the music industry

Most artists or bands particularly under the genre of Punk or Rock will have to be keeping up an image of themselves which can sometimes go against everyday society or even the law.

It is this image that their fans will try to copy and therefore can lead to tragedy.

For example. Pete Doherty.

Pete Doherty has been in two bands The Libertines and The Babyshambles and is now going solo. But he is more famous for his out and about antics rather than for his music. He has been arrested several times for drug pocession as well as abuse.

NME have several articles related to Pete Doherty about his off-stage antics

Pete Doherty's show tonight (June 11) at the Derby Rockhouse has been cancelled after the Babyshambles man was arrested in Gloucester for driving and drugs offences.

Pete Doherty was arrested yesterday (November 18) for crack cocaine possession

Pete Doherty is to stand trial in Gloucester Crown Court after being arrested for drug, drink and driving offences.

As well as The Guardian

The Babyshambles singer was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning after police spotted him driving erratically as he left a gig in Gloucester. The singer has been remanded in custody and is due to appear before magistrates in Stroud on Friday.

And The Daily Mail

The singer, who famously dated model Kate Moss, was detained at an airport in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday after he was found slumped in a bathroom on board a British Airways plane.
He was believed to be intoxicated and was taken back to his seat, but flight staff alerted police when a hypodermic needle was later found on the plane, which they wrapped in tissue.Read more

Pete Doherty plays music to the Indie genre which has a massive fan base and therefore fans of his music will be looking at Pete as a 'role model' with the idea that the only way to be 'cool' or 'outrageous' is to take drugs and get arrested.

This article found on http://www.contactmusic.com/ is the point which I'm trying to focus on and is an impact which is known within the music industry:

Editors of British magazine NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS (NME) have been accused of glamorising drug abuse by naming troubled cocaine and heroin addict PETE DOHERTY its "Cool Icon" of 2004.
Drugs charities ADDACTION and DRUGSCOPE are furious the influential publication chose Doherty, who was thrown out of rock band THE LIBERTINES for failing to combat the addiction and for breaking into the band's co-founder CARL BARAT's house last year (03) to steal possessions to sell for drugs.
But NME's deputy editor ALEX NEEDHAM insists, "It is not a heroin addiction which makes Pete Doherty the coolest. He is a very talented musician who has become a modern day minstrel.
"There is a parallel with KURT COBAIN but NME does not endorse drug abuse. Readers can see it has caused the disintegration of a great band like The Libertines."
Addaction's policy manager REBECCA CHESHIRE counters, "Young people are vulnerable to hard drugs and not everyone has the ability to afford expensive rehabilitation programmes like rock stars."

There are clearly fears that these artists are encouraginf more people into taking drugs with other indie artists MGMT including in their lyrics, 'I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and f*** with the stars.You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.'

The lyrics are telling young people that drug taking will make you attractive and famous.

However despite all this in 1998 Sir George Martin the producer for the Beatles tried to voice his concerns about drug taking within the music industry by proposing that 'record companies refuse to sign new bands if they took drugs. Sir George added, however, that he was not "unrealistic" enough to believe companies would drop existing artists just because they were on drugs.'

But sadly had this thrown in his face by Alen McGee. Alan McGee, head of the Creation record label, said Sir George had personally gained from music recorded under the influence of drugs.

This appears to be the case amongst most producers and artists as the artist is able to write better music if they are under the influence. And producers and executives are being selfish for this "I can hear some record company executives say: `You must be out of your mind, you would ruin us.' What's more important? Is it the future of the country, the future of the youth, or the bottom line?"