Borkowski Media Trends: Doja Cat, Dubai Beyontroversy & More...
PLUS , AI-generated Music, Rod Stewart and ChatGPT on its own deal with Microsoft
Doja Cat’s Scarlet Crystal look worth its weight in Diamonds
So was the five hours of excruciating patience spent adorning Doja Cat with 30,000 Swarovski crystals and then painted red for Schiaparelli's Paris show worth it?
From a PR, reputation and fame standpoint the answer is an emphatic yes.
The look (if you can’t see the visual aids, imagine how someone with trypophobia would picture Satan) was striking, instantly memorable and genuinely brave. Every iconic red carpet look walks the line between public admiration and ridicule, and for Doja Cat the risk paid off with overwhelmingly positive reviews in media and on socials for designers and model alike.
This isn’t to say that the internet is sternly and uniformly kowtowing to the greatness of the design: as with every distinctive and well-known visual these days the look has become a meme, and the good-natured ribbing is likely to endure. But Doja Cat is a rare breed of celebrity with enough self-awareness and sense of humour for that to have a positive effect on her reputation.
The other risk for celebrities trying to pull off a distinctive look is causing offence, and igniting the ‘Culture Wars’. Doja Cat’s admirable avoidance of controversy was amplified by the plight of Kylie Jenner. The two were photographed together frequently, with Kylie, thoroughly overshadowed by the scarlet crystals, among several models sporting Schiaparelli's ultra-realistic animal heads.
Designer and Kardashian alike caused themselves an issues here. Employing Kylie as a celebrity model for the controversial aesthetic provoked an onslaught of context-less media coverage, which wouldn’t necessarily have been the case had the designs adorned less famous catwalk models. This attention led to criticism by animal rights activists and social media commentators. Kylie’s crisis management operation kicked in, with defenders including PETA likely to help her move on from the criticism quickly, but her predicament just emphasises further the scale of Doja Cat’s triumph.
Bey’s Dubai Beyontroversy
Just weeks after the global spotlight shifted away from Qatar’s world cup, Mordor’s eye was pulled back to the Middle East this week for potentially the biggest PR stunt of the year. To celebrate the opening of Dubai's latest ‘ultra-luxury’ hotel, Atlantis The Royal, Beyonce was wheeled out, fresh from reported foot surgery, to sashay through a medley of her biggest hits. She is understood to have been paid at least £19 million for her efforts, equivalent to nearly £250,000 for every minute she performed.
The performance was her first since the release of her seventh studio album, Renaissance, which was widely regarded as an ode to her black queer fans. But while her 85 minute set included the back catalogue classics Halo, XO and Drunk In Love, none of her Renaissance hits were even teased. Maybe Beyonce’s team agreed the four-minute smash, Break My Soul, wasn’t worth £1 million. Or maybe they realised that performing where the gays are illegal is one thing, but performing gay anthems there is another. In a country with a questionable women’s rights record, her choice to steer clear of the banger If I Were a Boy was also diplomatically astute.
It wasn’t just Beyonce’s team that seemed to be aware of the tightrope of PR in the Middle East. In fact, judging by the list of those in attendance, it appears as though many celebs had learnt from the World Cup and decided to steer clear of the whole ordeal altogether, for behind the short-list of A-Listers (Beyonce, Jay Z, Kendall Jenner and Rebel Wilson), was a notably long list of, well, less-A-Listers. Jodie Kidd, Hugo Taylor, Ashley Park. Millie Macintosh, Sonia Kruger, Jules Sebastian. Maybe organisers had spent too much of the budget on Beyonce to cover first class flights for others. Or, more likely, the others had learnt from Beckham’s World Cup mess, and decided even a free Beyonce concert wasn’t worth the potential PR fall-out...
AI-Generated Music: Pastiche or Number One hit?
One of the best-publicised theories and talking points about AI's impact on music and the broader industry centres on speculation that it could replace producers, DJs and even performers.
Despite the risk of inviting the onset of what many see as a dystopian future, there's no doubt that musicians and labels are dabbling in AI-powered tools to compose and produce music.
AI can generate original songs in various styles, an example of which became a talking point this week when two hyperactive TikTokers gave a demonstration of the power of AI music production software that caught many off-guard.
The duo inputted "party anthem in the style of Charli XCX/Ava Max make it sound like Crazy Frog", which generated a structured and well-produced number that impressed many people.
But some pointed to its resemblance to a Rita Ora number, Bang Bang - one of the criticisms of using AI to produce music; it's heavily influenced by existing songs and styles, struggling to push beyond (admittedly sophisticated) pastiche into genuine originality. Creating catchy 'party anthems' is already widely considered a formulaic process, but many have also pointed out that AI music lacks emotional depth. So producers will likely use AI to speed up music creation, but on its own, it'll struggle to create anything with the profound humanity of truly great music, or boundary-pushing experimentation needed to bring new genres into existence...for now.
Beyond production, labels also use AI to analyse data about audiences, music trends, and marketing strategies, which informs executives to make decisions about which artists and songs to promote. And if humans influence what users see on platforms like TikTok, back-end collaborations between tech giants and industry players might see them harness AI and ML to change how we 'discover' music. So, leave music creation to the humans, but music creation to AI, with the industry pulling the strings.
When Sir Rod Stewart says what we are all thinking, you know we’re in wild times…
In a spontaneous and instantly infamous call-in to Sky News, no less of a political heavyweight than Sir Rod Stewart called on the Conservative government to "stand down" and make way for Labour, despite admitting he has always been a Tory in the process.
Firstly the reputational impact on the ageing rocker: Sir Rod isn't shy about a PR stunt or two to grab headlines, and this dramatic u-turn may bring Rod back from the woke political grave after he was caught celebrating Boris Johnston's win in 2019.
Then the political impact: there is agreement across the spectrum that, despite the distraction it caused, this was the last headline Rishi wanted as he fights off another major scandal in the form of Nadim Zahawi's tax affairs. Add to that Sajid Javid’s ‘pay to see a GP’ plan giving Labour - even in its milquetoast ‘Blairite Lite’ centrism- multiple avenues through which to further outflank the Tories, and Sir Rod’s plain spoken-assessment is likely to resonate with the country - including a fair few traditional Tory voters- in a way Rishi could currently only dream of.
Continuing our experimentation with various AI tools, we decided to let ChatGPT write its own entry on Microsoft’s massive investment in its parent company OpenAi…
"Microsoft's OpenAI-quisition: Making a Power Play in the Tech Industry"
Microsoft recently announced that it is making a "multiyear, multibillion dollar investment" in the artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, the maker of popular tools such as ChatGPT that can write readable text and generate new images. This move is the latest development in a growing partnership between the two companies that began with a $1 billion investment in 2019. The partnership positions Microsoft to sharpen its competition with Google in commercializing new AI breakthroughs that could transform numerous professions, as well as the internet search business.
From a communications and public relations perspective, this partnership could have a positive impact on Microsoft's image. It demonstrates the company's commitment to investing in and developing cutting-edge technology in the field of artificial intelligence, which could be seen as a sign of innovation and forward-thinking. Additionally, by making OpenAI's technology available to customers through the Azure cloud computing platform, Microsoft could be seen as making powerful AI tools more accessible to a wider range of users, which could be viewed positively by both businesses and the general public.
However, this acquisition also comes with the responsibility of addressing ethical concerns related to AI and ML, such as data privacy, data security, and fairness. It's important for Microsoft to make sure that they are transparent about how they are addressing these concerns, and to communicate clearly to the public and its customers about the steps they are taking to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI technology.
Overall, the partnership with OpenAI could help to enhance Microsoft's image as a company that is at the forefront of technological innovation and is making powerful AI tools more accessible to a wider range of users. This acquisition will also enable Microsoft to capitalize on OpenAI's technology and to further integrate it into Microsoft's products. With this acquisition, Microsoft is expected to sharpen its competition with Google in commercializing new AI breakthroughs that could transform numerous professions, as well as the internet search business.
Bit on the nose…but not bad for a first attempt…