Richard Dyer’s Star Theory• Dyer writes that there is a difference

between a pop performer and a pop star. Pop performers are fundamentally known for their music whilst a pop star is all rounded and known from not just their music but perhaps their fashion, or TV personality. Their persona becomes a ‘brand’ and they regularly appear in magazines and online news due to their lasting significance.

• Dyer proposes that- “A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music]).”

• The Star Theory can be fit into 3 sections

Industry and Audience• Dyer explains that stars are constructed and

their human emotions are sometimes neglected when tabloids talk about them. Their Unique Selling Point (USP) constructs them into individual and recognisable ‘stars’.

• Through their USP, the star’s record company manufactures and brands them through shaping them into something audiences would get attracted to. This is why a lot of pop stars, especially boybands are sometimes moulded similarly to other boybands. This can produce ‘cookie-cutter’ popstars due to audiences liking certain types of images. Nevertheless, each popstar has a USP.

• Dyer states- “Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings.”

E.g. Adele’s USP is her big ballad songs which is getting rarer these days.

E.g. Justin Bieber’s hair-flip which formed a global trend and his signature style.

Ideology & Culture• Stars promote certain ideologies through the way they share cultural

values and attitudes. This is also a tool for audiences to connect and attract to them. For example Miley Cyrus supporting the LGBT community or a star addressing a particular controversial issue in their music. This is particularly helped by social media such as Twitter to show human qualities and present them a person who’s aware of the world.

E.g. Beyoncé and her supporting feminism.E.g. Nicki Minaj using Twitter as a platform to raise awareness for black musicians being side-lined in the music industry.

Character & Personality• The star transitions from a ‘normal’ human to a construct. Through this, they

may lose some personal connection to their socio-historic background as they transition into a ‘brand’.

• These stars can conform to the hegemony in society with set ideals such as women being thin & beautiful. However many stars also differentiate from this as they can be fat but still lovable.

• Dyer says that “it can be argued that stars are representations of persons which reinforce, legitimate or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what it is to be a human being in this society…. On the one hand, our society stresses what makes them like others in the social group/class/gender to which they belong. This individualising stress involves a separation of the person's "self" from his/her social "roles", and hence poses the individual against society.”

• For pop stars, they usually establish their character and personality through their own songs and performances, especially ones that they’ve written for themselves. Their albums give clear indications of their character and personality as their songs can be very personal. This helps to connect and relate to audiences. Each album they produce, we see their star persona developing and/or perhaps them creating a new star persona for themselves.

Examples of Star Persona’sRIHANNA

Her star persona is very evident through her constantly being the subject to talk about whether it is being fashion choices, extravagant music videos, different hairstyles, photoshoots, perfumes etc. Rihanna is clearly an all rounded star.

MICHAEL JACKSONHe was widely known around the world as the ‘King of Pop’ & he lived through this title with him being a pop icon from his catchy music to his cinematic music videos to his fashion and his live performances in which many passionately state he was the greatest performer of all time; a true legend and a pop mogul.

My Star Persona• My star persona will have a signature hairstyle of a quiff and his Unique

Selling Point will be his music. His music will be a fusion of different genre’s such as Pop, RnB, House, Disco, Dance and Soul to form an alternative genre that will be recognisable as ‘his’ genre.

• He will also have a dress-code that people would recognise him with; a mix of Urban and Smart Casual. Nothing too over the top as he wants to relate to normal audiences targeted around 16-24 years old, nevertheless his fashion style will still have a certain edge that he’ll take on as his own signature style.

• His Ideology will take on the minds of a young adult and the world around him, including his personal life, his mind-set on relationships and this generation.

• His personality will be confident (but not too overconfident), he will be genuine in interviews and funny so audiences can be attracted positively to him. He will also, however, have this mysterious and edgy vibe to him that is only uncovered in his music. Therefore audiences are appealed and want to know more about him, thus this brand identity will make them want to buy his albums and watch his music videos.

• In the media, he will be predominately respected, however, there will be tabloids criticising him for small things such as his dating life and some rude moments he has on bad days captured by Paparazzi.