Star Theory

Mehbobur Rahman

RICHARD DYER

Richard Dyer came up with a theory, suggesting that a pop star and pop performer are two different perceptions of an artist; he believes that pop performers only perform to an audience which their music only attracts them but a pop star is something that is constructed- the construction of their image is what makes them a pop star. And this includes their appearance in different media platforms like magazines, music videos or Tv shows/ movies.

CONSTRUCTION OF A POP STARThe major part of the construction of the pop star is through their image and how they are presenting themselves to their audience; this is mainly done through the company in many ways like: a change in fashion, behaviour- different persona like Rihanna who had a ‘good’ girl image and now has a ‘bad’ girl image. The intention of this is to appeal to many audiences and to give them a sense of visualisation which they can relate to or refer to along with the pop star. Dyer also suspects that the main reason why companies intervene in the construction of an artist is to give them a specific image which audience will appeal to and this allows them to reach their full potential of becoming a star and creating more revenue.

KEY INFLUENCES TO DYER’S THEORYAlthough audiences may get a sense of realism of artists; they may seem real but dyer argues that institutions are creating artificial people in the sense that their emotions/personality and beliefs/ideologies are fake; it may sound inhumane but it is beneficial to companies as it allows them to create a unique selling point which will catch the eyes of the audiences as they will always remember the uniqueness of the artist; this could be their iconic image or their music which will allow them to use their unique selling point and synergise in many media platforms like magazines or movies/music videos and this will cause the audiences to engage more and will promote their products- creating more revenue for the company. The USP is own by that one artist and it become iconic in the sense that audiences will always recognise it and they will associate themselves with it- It is like a trend that people will follow.

Stars are moulded by industries and developed into something which will gain the attention from a mass demographic and this is because stars use this as a marketing strategy in order to make money and the companies will accumulate. For example, Nicki Minaj was only known for her music and made a great success as well as making a lot of money for the industry. However, with the success of her music, her star persona allowed her to excel within other media platforms- being in different movies like Barber Shop 3 and appearing on TV shows, on radio; as well as being on magazines and on the news for things like being the ‘new couple’ that everyone looks up to. They all have impact her as she creating a lot of revenue and become more famous as well being with other famous stars which created a lot of buzz which allowed her to engage with a wider audience and she is the face of many products that many people would be eager to buy so her face is a marketing strategy used to advertise different products.

Stars as Constructions: Onika Maraj aka Nicki minaj was born on the 8th December, 1982 in Trinidad; she originally started acting for TV dramas before her music career started. She had a natural talent for rapping and joined a Hip Hop music group called ‘The Hood stars’. She got her name Nicki Minaj due to her lyrical flow which had a massive impact on her star construct as well as her success- this lead to her joining Cash Money Records where she was first seen on a hit single called ‘Bedrock’. She then released a successful album called ‘Pink Friday’ which included the hit single ‘Starship’; from there, she became very famous and created an image and a trend where she had many procedures like plastic surgery and dyeing her hair pink in association with her album. This created a buzz and many people thought that she had the ideal body and face- she went from an aggressive rapper to a ‘sexy pop star’; her type of music style changed as so did her ideologies. Her fame and success led her to many leads in different movies like Ice Age: continental drift to Barber Shop 3; she even became the face of her own cosmetic products and she was the front cover for the Cosmopolitan magazine; it goes to show that she went through many changes from a talented pop performer which lead her to develop into a sex idol and then into a successful women who many look upto.

PLENARY

Richard Dyer’s theory is very useful and it has an impact on my artist as I now know how to construct my artist into becoming a ‘pop star’; this also help to market my artist through different platforms like albums and music poster and this will help to construct my start which will appeal to a wide demographic as well as the audiences who have a passion for the genre of music which my artist will perform.