Hollywood!

  The studio system during the early days of Hollywood acted as nothing but promotion. Through Tait's lecture, we saw how strict Hollywood maintained its vertical integration. Through various examples, we see how stars, and even directors and screenwriters were seen as a way to bring in the money. But in reality, we never see, or recognize their names much later on throughout the years (we recognize the titles "Gone with the Wind," and "Casablanca," but in reality we probably wouldn't ever guess the person who directed either film).
   Through "contract talent," the studio system owned certain people to keep their image (or studio name) alive throughout pop culture. Studios like MGM managed to film movies with stars who had big voices and thus, most of MGM's films were musicals (examples: "Singing in the Rain," "The Wizard of Oz") MGM knew that the singing voice of Judy Garland would bring their studio popularity, and it became known that whatever movie Garland was in, she would probably be singing sometime throughout the film. Aside from just singing, some of the stars would even include other MGM stars (example: seeing Garland sing to the infamous Clark Gable).
As sad as it is, audiences saw the rise and fall of Judy Garland (who is a perfect example of the studio's "contract talent"). After fame and recognition in "The Wizard of Oz," people saw her singing in more and more movies by MGM. However, MGM Studios eventually overworked Garland, and her fame soon went downhill. After constantly moving from film to film within MGM Studios, she couldn't keep up with all of the Hollywood fame, or continue to live among "the stars in heaven." As we all know, Garland died by an accidental overdose, after all her life she was told this and that about her appearance by various studio executives, and even attempted to commit suicide more than one time.
The studio system liked to use their stars, rather than just "promote" them. Though contract system seemed like a good idea (i.e using singing sensations in various films and promoting other actors in the process), there could also be drawbacks, as anyone could see just by reading about the life of Judy Garland.