How Lady Gaga Conquered the Music Scene

What can you say about a girl who works a meat-dress (yes, made with real Grade-A meat) into her MTV Video Music Awards performance?  Lady Gaga is a music star of the new age, one who is self-aware and very crafty when it comes to promoting her name.  She knows how to keep the industry watching her.  She knows just when to be offensive, and when to pull back. 

A studied professional when it comes to the business of show business, Lady Gaga also shows signs of true eccentricity, following in the footsteps of music legends like Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Madonna.  Instead of going the route of all the other teen queens, Gaga has embraced an androgynous character and welcomed controversy. 

She intentionally makes bizarre fashion statements in every music video, testing her fan base and further alienating her critics.  Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta also has one up on her competition: she can actually sing, dance and write her own songs.  In fact, she worked as a music songwriter for label artists for a few years before finding her own stardom.

Her music albums have made an international splash and jumped to the top of the Dance/Electronic genres.  Not only has she sold 15 million albums and 51 million singles, but she has also been listed as one of Time’s “most influential people in the world” and Forbes’ second most powerful music artist in the world.

One of Gaga’s most significant accomplishments is in her savvy Internet promotion.  Her music videos increased in fame and notoriety because of viral sharing.  Her music videos reached over one billion hits in 2010, which probably accounts for much of her mainstream popularity. 

Gaga’s unconventional success and unapologetic “character” has made her some enemies in the music industry, but like any true artist, she stays steady while the world revolves around her.