You wouldn’t know there was a recession by watching last night’s Grammy Awards – the chorus of Beyonce’s winning song, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” has echoes of “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” and the glitz and glamour exhibited in the nominees outfits – like Lady Gaga’s silver ensemble — were far from recession-chic.

But it hasn’t been a great year for the music recording industry overall. With record stores shuttering, ticket brokers consolidating, and album saless tanking, big music has taken a big hit. Could Lady Gaga-esque antics be an antidote to low record sales? The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that while Lady Gaga may be the ultimate example of excess, she’s also representative of a new business model for the industry.

Underneath Gaga’s haystack wigs is a case study of what it takes to succeed in the music business today. Gaga, 23 years old, has made shrewd use of new digital platforms, while still leveraging the clout of a major label, an institution deemed obsolete by many proponents of DIY culture. She is a product of a new kind of recording contract which goes beyond just selling records to encompass everything from touring, merchandise–even her make-up deal. Though she writes her own material, she is as focused on visual theatrics, fashion, and global appeal as she is on the music.

While Lady Gaga may be bucking the trend with her glam style, singing about the recession is best left to other end of the musical spectrum — bluesmen. The NewsHour’s Paul Solman spoke with investment advisor-cum-country singer Merle Hazard (not to be confused with Merle Haggard) who’s created a new genre of musical comedy using country and blues tunes — economics humor.

“In his song H-E-D-G-E, for example, he takes on the persona of a hedge fund manager watching his fund go bust, to the tune of Tammy Wynette’s D-I-V-O-R-C-E:

I was leveraged 10-to-1
But it should have been 2 or 3.
Oh, how I wished I had a working
H-E-D-G-E.”