And where there is a chart-topping pop star, you can be sure that a biography will follow. Madonna, for example, has produced any number of picture books and biographies.In recent years musicians have learned to set their sights a little further. Star-endorsed energy drinks and own-brand fashion labels are increasingly fashionable in the US. Women in pop are also wising up: Gwen Stefani's solo LP, released this year, seemed little more than an advert for her fashion range - they even had the same name.Last year, Kylie Minogue added lingerie to her catalogue of must-have merchandise, though the big money is more likely in the calendar in which she models the collection.The days of commercialism and creativity as separate entities are clearly gone.
As fans are happy to promote bands by wearing their T-shirts, artists are equally comfortable with advertising commercial products.Think Madonna and Gap, Britney and Pepsi, Justin Timberlake and McDonalds. Eyebrows were raisedwhen Bob Dylan announced an exclusive deal with Starbucks, allowing them to stock CDs of a long-bootlegged concert at New York's Gaslight. So has Bob sold out? That depends on whether you think the grizzled one is best enjoyed with an extra-large skinny latte.. If you'd mentioned Editors six months ago, anybody would have thought you were talking about newspapers, not an indie band. But now they've played at Glastonbury and the Wireless Festival, their third single, "Blood", is out on Monday and their debut album, The Back Room, is due out later this month: this four-piece Birmingham-based band has taken off.
"We got recognised by a bunch of schoolgirls in front of Big Ben in Westminster today," says Tom Smith, 24, the lead singer. "They let out a scream when we confirmed we really were Editors. That's never happened before."How was it for the band at Glastonbury? "We were on stage after the deluge of rain on Friday morning. The whole site was recovering when we went on at at 2.30pm," recalls Smith. "We were performing on the biggest stage we have ever played on.
