YOU'VE probably never heard of Marty Sampson. He's the 21-year-old singer and guitarist for a successful young Sydney band called Able - a group which was formed four years ago in Castle Hill.
Sampson is gearing up for his first supporting gig with Something For Kate at the Newtown RSL Saturday week, and he has just taken time off work to concentrate on writing songs.
It hasn't been easy for Sampson to quit work temporarily, and his band mates haven't been so lucky. Luke Munns, Michael Guy Chislett and Joel Houston are all working full-time to support their musical aspirations - guitarist Chislett spends much of his time tending to plants in a local nursery.
Contrast Able's working week to the lives of Scandal'us - the latest Popstars sensation - and the differences are phenomenal. Tamara Jaber, Anna Belperio, Jason Bird, Daniela Scala and Simon Ditcham are busy rehearsing for their first live concert at Australia's Wonderland, which will be watched by an audience of more than two million people on Channel 7 next Sunday.
When the members of Able met as 17-year-olds in their local church, they delved straight into the hard-working world of an aspirational rock band. After four years of plugging away at school discos, friends' parties and local pubs, their talents were recognised by Channel V, which named them one of the best new bands in Australia when they won this year's Leg-Up competition.
Things are starting to happen for Able, and they're following the same road as great Australian bands including Midnight Oil, Crowded House, INXS and Cold Chisel. But fame is still a long way off.
Meanwhile, Scandal'us - who met during the gruelling auditions on Popstars earlier this year - have their own stylist, a manager, a record company, their own cars (with personalised numberplates) and, of course, a matching wardrobe.
Before they auditioned for Popstars, they had never met or performed together. They hadn't shared their love for music as young teenagers, or struggled slowly the dreams of stardom.
Of course it's not the first time a band has been formed among strangers. The Monkees, the Spice Girls and an immeasurable number of boy bands were created through an auditioning process - but music fans were privy to what was going on behind the scenes.
Because Scandal'us are mobbed by music fans wherever they go, the message to young performers is clear: forget about playing the guitar with your mates at school, start polishing up your auditioning skills and you might have a chance at fame.
"This show has become the great Australian dream," said Andrew Blackwell from Screentime, the producer of Popstars.
"What can beath the idea of the kids next door becoming instant pop stars?"
"I have great admiration for anyone who sits inside a garage for 10 years and hopes to make it, but this is the shape of the music industry today."
Backwell and his company Screentime have been a driving force behind the popstars phenomenon, and he controls the key element behind the instant fame awarded to Bardot and Scandal'us - televison.
"These shows are watched by two or three million people for 13 weeks, that sort of exposure is something the music industry can only dream about," said Chris Moss, the CEO of Warner Music.
"That's the thing that upsets so many people. So many musicians with genuine talent can never get that sort of exposure, while the kids picked of the street can. That's the pill most people can't swallow."
"But from a record company's perpective, television reaches so many more people, it's much more cost effective. If you'd proposed this show to TV executives five years ago, they would have laughed, but now it's big buiness," he said.
Moss has been close enough to the Popstars action to understand the power of the new relationship between TV and music. When Bardot joined his label last year, desicions regarding performances and public appearances were often jointly made between record company management and staff at the television station - and Bardot were contracted to both companies.
"Each party had their own considerations and their own interests in what was happening with the band. But as long as they got entertainment value on TV, they generally let us deal with the talent content," said Moss.
There's no denying the current crop of Popstars have talent, but when their first single Me, Myself and I went to No.1 last week, Backwell admitted it had nothing to do with their musical skills.
"Most record companies trying to promote a new band or new single wouldn't be able to addorf a 30-second slot on primetime TV - let alone and entire show," he said.
Backwell said it was undoubtedly the mix of multimedia exposure over three months which was responsible for the band's success - but that was the goal of Popstars in the first place.
"Only a couple of years back there was only a small amount of music on television, and certainly nothing with the same promotional impact as this," he said.
The reason this creates difficulties for young bands such as Able is that many music fans have stopped monitoring the live music scene and are switching on their television instead. Folklore surrounding successful young bands has almost vanished entirely: where once they were stuggling, talented artists, now they have to look sexy and sound good on the small screen.
"It was basically guaranteed Scandal'us were going to No. 1, but if the people on Big Brother put out an album, it would probably go number one as well," said Dylan Lewis, presenter of music show Pepsi Live on Channel 10.
"These people need to prove to me that they will actually have a marvellous career. The quiet guy [Simon Ditcham] needs to get some tattoos up his arm, and get an attitude, then Scandal'us will really be scandalous!"
As a musician and TV presenter, Lewis understands the growing link between TV and music but believes many young musicians would still prefer to struggle for a few years, instead of winning fame on Popstars.
"With the onset of all these reality shows - Big Brother, Survivor and Popstars - people seem to be accepting the idea of the people next door becoming famous. But once you get to that place, I don't know if it's half as satisfying as you might think."
Alongside his TV hosting roles (and a cameo appearance in the Star Wars prequel) Lewis has peformed in his band, The Brown Hornets, for seven years
"When I first got a presenting role on television, it seemed like a great opportunity to promote my own band at the same time. But I shied away from that because it didn't feel right. Our bands feels as though we should earn our way, we would prefer to put in the hard yards and work organically."
But record executives including Moss will continue to embrace the joint relationship, but they will still have concerns about longevity.
Moss said Warner Music decided against signing Scandal'us to their label this year, as a sign of commitment to Bardot. (Scandal'us are signed to Festival Mushroom.)
"We were genuine about our long-term commitment to Bardot, we didn't think it was appropriate to get another group 12 months later."
"That's where we differ greatly from the television perspective. There's no way we could pick up one group and promote them, then move onto another group a year later and ditch the old ones. That's just not how we work."
Although Warner Music has an ongoing interest in Bardot's career, it's a different story for fans. Scandal'us have firmly replaced Bardot at the top of the charts.
Sampson doesn't know much about Popstars, because he's never been a big fan of the show. While he recognises the impact of the TV phenomenon on all young performers, he believes hard work will triumph in the end.
"We're not jealous of anyone esle, we're excited about our own careers. Really, it's been like winning the lottery for the group on Popstars and good luck to them," he said. "But hopefully with our hard work comes the ability to sustain our efforts, to keep performing for many years.
"We're friends, we're mates and we're already bonded together as a unit - hopefully that will help us stay in control when we hit the big time."
