No place for Plain Janes in music industry

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Gerson also agrees with Wilson about the marketing factor. With dwindling profits and budgets, record labels try to maximize artist exposure with clothing deals, cosmetic contracts, movie roles and modeling gigs.

“How many endorsements does Beyoncé have? Do you think it’s because she’s the most talented person on earth or do you think it’s because she’s gorgeous? I think she’s talented but she’s also gorgeous,” Gerson says. “I think you need the whole package.”

And that notion, according to Wilson, “totally sucks.”

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“My favorite singers in the world were Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, and Patsy was a large woman, and Loretta — she was never some kind of a supermodel, but they were the greatest female voices in country music, and they changed lives and they made a difference,” says Wilson, who, although considered sexy, feels she doesn’t fit today’s beauty standards.

Where are the Patsy Clines of today? More often than not on smaller, underground labels, which put more of a premium on talent. And with the devolution of today’s music industry, Gerson says, small labels may be the best path to success for a woman who doesn’t look like a mold of a Barbie doll.

So how would Gerson advise the flat-chested, overweight, amazingly talented singer to chase her dream? Put out her own music and promote herself on the Web.

“As far as we’ve come as women,” Gerson asked, “where are we really?”

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