Lady Gaga’s rise to fame is as much about her shock status as it is about social networking.

Mashable released this very interesting article (written by Alex Mann) about the rise of Lady Gaga as the world’s most popular pop star.

According to Mashable:

“Lady Gaga has played a hand in manipulating fame to her advantage, emerging this year as arguably the hottest pop star on the planet. She’s done this by developing the image of a shock artist — wearing futuristic attire, sculpted hair styles and glittery makeup to complete her socially disruptive persona that ultimately drives the popularity and consumption of her music. Today, Lady Gaga isn’t just popular; she’s rapidly accelerating in popularity.”

Importantly, the role of Twitter has been prominent in her rise:

“On Twitter, the phrase “Lady Gaga” has averaged over ten thousand mentions per day over the past three months, soaring in frequency past other 2010 Grammy performers.”

Yet, most importantly, the hype around Lady Gaga has led to an increase in album sales, indicating that Lady Gaga’s approach is built on more than just fluff:

” Alex Mann 11 minutes ago Alex Mann 1
Shock Artistry: Lady Gaga’s Social Factors of Fame
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Alex Mann is the director of Trendrr, a business intelligence platform for social and digital media. You can read more by Alex on his blog and follow him on Twitter.

Ten years ago, even the most shocking entertainer’s rise to stardom was missing the accelerating momentum of social media. While fame’s appeal lies within its ambiguity, we do know it accelerates with rapid conversation.

Lady Gaga has played a hand in manipulating fame to her advantage, emerging this year as arguably the hottest pop star on the planet. She’s done this by developing the image of a shock artist — wearing futuristic attire, sculpted hair styles and glittery makeup to complete her socially disruptive persona that ultimately drives the popularity and consumption of her music. Today, Lady Gaga isn’t just popular; she’s rapidly accelerating in popularity.
Lady Gaga By the Numbers

On Twitter, the phrase “Lady Gaga” has averaged over ten thousand mentions per day over the past three months, soaring in frequency past other 2010 Grammy performers. Does the buzz translate into commercial success? Do people actually listen to Gaga’s music, or is she merely a spectacle?

“As it turns out, Lady Gaga’s Twitter buzz isn’t just noise — it’s backed up by consumption data. Take, for instance, her number of listeners on Last.fm. They continue to rise, with an accelerating upward trajectory… “

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Checkout the full article over at Mashable.

So what do you all think? Can one become a musical success by merely ‘playing’ the image and social networking ‘game’?

- Bret D
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