In today’s technologically savvy society, it should come as no shock to anyone that even talent can be tweaked and turned into something it’s not, something that sounds good.

Since the 1960s, the pop music genre has had hits dominate the charts but the actual skill of the performers seems to be taken into question from time to time. Especially in recent years, the questions of lip-syncing and Auto-Tune have become major issues.

A few weeks ago, Britney Spears upset many Australian fans after they had spent hundreds of dollars to see her perform live and were disappointed to learn that during the entire show Spears was lip-syncing. Fans were so outraged that the people of Australia are looking to pass a law which would require any artists looking to lip-sync to provide a disclaimer stating so.

The problem is, however, that many artists like Britney Spears who put on a show with constant dancing and movement physically can’t carry a tune and perform at the same time. So where is a good place to draw the line, and would the honesty of these artists even have an effect on ticket sales and iTunes purchases?

“No concerts should be 100% prerecorded, that’s completely cheating the audience and the fans,” Brittany Kalmanowitz, an undeclared sophomore, said. “Singers who plan on lip-syncing should choose at least a few numbers where they can sing live because otherwise it seems like, what’s the point of paying to go to these shows when listening on my iPod is the same thing?”

Marcus Lalli, professor of Pop, Rock, and Soul Musics, believes lip-syncing is a large problem in the music industry. However, for many artists in the teen-idol pop genre, he doesn’t believe would be career-killing.

“If Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers were to provide a disclaimer regarding performance, (I think they actually do sing, but for the sake of argument) would it really matter, or affect concert attendance or CD sales or downloads? Probably not, considering the demographic group that has their posters hanging in their rooms,” Professor Lalli explained.

This definitely is not true for all areas of music.

For example, for some artists, their live shows are what draw in most of their fans and if they were found lip-syncing, people would be extremely disappointed. For artists like Dave Matthews, John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen, fans live for their concerts and there is nothing like hearing these singers perform live. So what’s the difference then? Why do some artists get away with it?

This question brings us back to the constant movement of the artists in the pop genre.

“Pop idols who engage in two hours of aerobic activity, stage shows, theater etc., with that much body movement it is almost impossible to get a solid consistent vocal sound,” Lalli explained. “Pitch, breath support, articulation is all affected. Imagine playing soccer and trying to sing opera the whole game.”

The messages that these artists send out are very questionable.

When Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-syncing during her performance on “Saturday Night Live,” her music career seemed to be over. That performance involved little to no movement at all, making many wonder about her musical abilities.

“There are ‘artists,’ I’ll use that term loosely, who cannot even get through a full sentence or phrase in the studio, parts and segments of vocal lines are punched-in, even individual words,” Lalli said. “Then large portions are copied and pasted. If they cannot sing in pitch, no problem, put it through Auto-Tune, pull it in, change the vibrato, fix it in post.”

It seems that all the technological advances are not really a good thing when it comes to making music. Lip-syncing disclaimers may force artists to think twice before flipping the Auto-Tune.

“A disclaimer might discourage some fans from attending shows, even a boycott of the artist or group. In turn this may force the performers to step it up and rise to the challenge. It could weed out those who should think about a career switch,” Lalli said.

No matter what, people will always be most impressed with those who have serious talent and fans aren’t always so forgiving. Just ask Milli Vanilli.

“Those with true talent will always stand out from the pack, and will probably have longevity in the business, not to mention integrity,” concluded Professor Lalli.