Research - Richard Dyer Star Theory - Ms Begum

Richard Dyer Star Theory

 

 

Introduction:
Richard Dyer has a theory "Star Theory", this theory is the idea of celebrities that are made to make money and fame in the industry. Their is two types of stars "Pop Stars" and "Star Performers", with these two types of stars we can see that they have different aspects in being a star such as:



Pop Star:
With being a pop star it is where they have a appeal to the audience as they have a star image, also what the artist record label is able to do is use them to make money and be successful in the financial side of the record label. With a pop star what they are able to do through their fame and music is promote brands, fashion and trends to the audience and social media. A great example of this is; Kanye West, Beyoncé, Tyga, Chris Brown etc...



Star Performer:
With a star performer, what they do is perform the music to the audience. With this "Star Performer" they are known for the performance of the music more than "fame". What this means is that they only perform but have no star image to the audience.



Richard Dyer:
Richard Dyer was a theorist, and what he states is that a pop star is a person who can promote their status to the audience because of their management. With their management they have, they would use synergy through the different media platforms like, interview, adverts, radio appearance and more. Also what he said was a true pop star has a lasting significance and has "brand awareness" among a wider market over a period of time.

Distinction be made between those who are simply known for performing pop music and those who are known for being pop stars.




He identified four elements to recognising a star:

1) Stars and constructions

2) Industry and audience

3) Ideology and culture

4) Character and personality

Stars and Constructions:

- Helps if their image contains a USP.

- Star are constructed, artificial images.

- With some TV programmers such as "The X Factor", "American Idol" etc. What these shows do is show us the process of making a person become a star. Showing how an normal person is styled, changed image, and coached into making the record company's expectation to the audience.



Industry and audience:
- Stars have been made to make money for the record label and for the artist.
- Pop star, who and whatever their nature may be are the company and they must be sold.
- With a artist their is always someone new/fresh to be chosen from, there is another way this can be make a star/s with having a audience that would have a long lasting appeal to the artist. Once the artist is able to establish their brand, the company can cater to the fan audience by adverting to them and have a audience where they are loyal and which will last for decades.


Ideology and Culture:
- What stars do is represent some cultural and attitudes, as for also promoting a certain type of ideology. With the audience taking interest in these values it enhances their "star quality", and it creates them to have a star persona.
- With the new technology and having great social media, what the artist/pop star is able to have a opportunity to be able to establish their own values to the people/audience without using music, just using the social media to show this.


Character and Personality:
- Star is a construct, but the construct that has a foundation of realism.

- Stars may support hegemony/dominant cultural ideology by conforming to it (thin/beautiful) or providing difference (fat/still lovable).

- Stars provide audiences with a focus for ideas of ''what people are supposed to be like''.

Control:

With the artist they don't have much control over their star image, this is because the record label and the manager is the one who will give it to them as they would shape the artist in a way that the audience would want. Also with the artist the label and manager is the one who is in control of their look and the way that they dress, this is because they would want to keep their audience and also be able to enlarge it.

Conclusion:
With the information above it has helped a lot as it allows me to understand what the star image and the star theory does for the artist. With the information of this it has allowed me to understand the difference between a pop star and star performer and their appearances. With my artist I will present them in a way that the target audience would like in a way that is suitable for the audience. With doing this I would make sure that the artists image will attract and engage the audience to him/her.