Adele, Swift and Co. are setting the rules.
Only in Munich will Adele give ten concerts. Fans must come to her, her performances may not be photographed. Superstars like her stage themselves differently today. With rules they determine themselves and clear boundaries for the public.
A few years ago, Adele disguised herself with facial prosthetics for a performance. At first glance not recognizable as the superstar she was, she called herself Jenny and performed at an Adele look-alike event. The other look-alikes only realized who they were dealing with when Jenny started singing and Adele's unmistakable powerful voice echoed through the room.
This 2016 episode is exemplary of how Adele presented herself earlier: She seemed approachable and spontaneous, funny, smoked between her songs at concerts, drank, and cracked jokes. Today, her staging looks different. For a ten-part concert series, Adele is having a lavish stage set up in Munich. She is not performing elsewhere in Europe - fans must come to her. The press is not allowed to photograph her performances.
Adele's concert series shows: Superstars stage themselves differently today. With rules they determine themselves and clear boundaries for the public. This is also noticeable with Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Selena Gomez. Swift is currently on a world tour, but she hasn't given interviews in a long time. She dictates the conditions of her world fame herself.
"I hate fame"
Cyrus recently caused upset when she said she wasn't going on tour anymore because she found it too exhausting. Instead, she gives concerts with selected guests at the "Chateau Marmont Hotel" in Hollywood, Los Angeles. "Singing in front of hundreds of thousands of people is not really what I love," she told British Vogue.
Adele also doesn't like everything about her job. "I hate fame," she said in an interview with the TV magazine "Kulturzeit" on 3sat. "My memory is quite empty because I'm so sensitive, and because I'm always on stage," she explained. And added, "I don't even sing at home, how strange is that?"
Media and pop culture scholar Jörn Glasenapp describes it as follows: "I believe that with the really big ones, one can say that they are no longer dependent on classic media and therefore do not have to play by their rules." At the same time, he emphasizes that the superstars each approach this differently. She says that she "doesn't have to dance to the industry's rules."
Stars lack privacy
His assessment is that in this regard, the industry has also changed - and the big pop stars suffer less from gag contracts. "They are so big, these artists, Adele, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, etc. They can decide whether they go on tour or not. No record company can force Adele to do anything."
If one looks at the big artists, one can see quite different approaches. "And that proves - if we think in particular of Miley Cyrus' total refusal - that it is apparently possible and that it is individual decisions of the artists who say: 'I do this because I want to.'"
At the same time, superstars live in a world where there is much less privacy. When Adele, Swift, or Cyrus became big, social media was not as omnipresent as it is today. It is therefore understandable that the stars wish for more privacy and control the conditions of their performances more strongly - if they can afford to. Less prominent celebrities are dependent on concert revenues and, as a rule, also on interviews.
Between Album Releases, Adele Often Keeps a Low Profile
Between the release of her albums, Adele is often not seen in public and keeps to herself. She also stays away from social media, as she told "Time" magazine in an interview. "Privacy is key to writing a genuine album," she said. "How can I write a real album if I'm waiting for half a million likes on a damn photo?"
A Greater Focus on Mental Health
Some musicians also retreat to protect their mental health. For instance, Selena Gomez, who said in an interview that she hasn't been on the internet for over four years. "It's completely changed my life," she described on "Good Morning America". "I'm happier, I'm more present."
She hasn't been on tour for a while. "Nothing makes me happier than being on stage with my fans for 90 minutes and celebrating together," Gomez said in another interview. But: "It's emotionally very draining for me. And then you realize you're just surrounded by a bunch of people you're paying."
Mental health is now treated with much greater sensitivity and understanding. In the past, it was different: A memorable moment from the Netflix documentary about Robbie Williams is when he recounts performing an entire show during a panic attack. Today, stars are more open about their mental health struggles. Adele, for example, once said she suffers from seasonal depression.
Fans at her Munich concerts are sure to have a great time. Adele's live performances are known for at least two things: plenty of interaction with the audience - and a powerful musical force.
Beyoncé Knowles, like Adele, is a superstar who sets her own rules and determines her own boundaries. In a 2013 concert, Beyoncé surprised her fans by releasing her self-titled visual album suddenly and unexpectedly, bypassing traditional music release channels. She announced the album's release on her Instagram page, allowing fans a more intimate and immediate experience with her music.
Just as Adele's concert series in Munich demonstrates her desire for privacy and control, Beyoncé's approach to releasing music shows her ownership over her art and her willingness to challenge the industry norms. In both cases, these superstars are asserting their agency in the face of fame and public expectation.
