Between art and journalism — musical biographies in Poland
When entering a bookshop or multimedia store, the reader should not have any problems finding an interesting biography of a well-known contemporary musician — biographies are precisely what more and more artists have in common today. It can be said that these books are more than just a literary curiosity — also on the Polish market. They are a fully-fledged literary genre that has emerged largely thanks to journalistic research and a need to follow the Western standards, which place such publications on top of best-seller lists. The growing celebritisation of pop culture, popularity of tabloids and gossip websites have paved the way for colourful musical biographies. However, is there a common denominator for traditional biographies and light contemporary products focused mainly on commercial success? How do Polish musical biographies compare with their British or American equivalents?