Research: Dyer's 'Star Theory'

Dyer's Star Theory

Introduction: What is Star Theory?

Star theory is a set of meanings that have been constructed around singers in order to sell their music to a mainstream audience. It mainly focuses only on mainstream audiences which means a more loyal fan base equals more money made. Star theory differs from the star image theory as it only applies to pop stars and suggests that the star is not a real person as they are constructed by institutions for financial gain and audience appeal. The stars are constructed through a range of media platforms such as magazines and advertising etc.

Who is Richard Dyer? and What does he say?

"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 (e.g advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])" - Dyer, 1979

Richard Dyer was a British theorist who constructed the idea of 'Star theory'. He believes that celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial reasons to target their specific audience.

What is the difference between a performer and a pop star?

• Performer: A performer may be talented that simply performs songs but not might not be necessarily famous. The term performer and pop star are closely linked however have their distinction that separates the two. A performer are more likely to be promoted to this status by their management to increase the likelihood of fame and the size of their fan base. For example, Josh Kumra that is an artist who is considered to be more of a performer than pop star despite having number 1 in the UK charts, he focuses on performing at smaller venues such as the 02 Academy Brixton and Hotels. He targets a niche audience rather than a large mainstream audience which means he might not be easily recognisable worldwide. 

• Pop Star: The name Beyonce should be very recognisable to everyone, becoming a brand through the use of synergy, promoting her other exciting products such as her perfumes, calenders, adverts etc. A pop star is different to a performer because unlike their niche audience, pop stars are generally specifically constructed go the audiences liking to sell their music more. The talent show 'X-Factor' promotes performers who have potential in becoming a pop stars that the audience like such as the bands 'Little Mix' and 'One Direction' have been created by X-Factor. They started off as performers and then after their success on the show they became globally known to a mainstream audience and a massive fan base.

Dyer has identified 4 key elements to recognising a star:

• Star theory - Stars are seen as constructions: Star theory argues that stars are constructed as artificial images keeping the audience happy by what they want to specifically want to see, it helps if their image contains a unique selling point. Stars such as pop stars have a massive advantage over film stars in that their constructed image may be more consistent than theirs over a period of time. Moreover, a film star is more dependent on the creative input of others such as screenwriters who write stories and lines for them to act out and once that is done, film stars may have to audition for the roles. Stars must be consistent with their fans or else fans will loose interest for example, pop star Britney Spears was extremely slim in her first years of fame but gradually gained noticeable weight which changed her image drastically. This resulted in criticisms from mainstream audiences and even from some of her fans calling her 'less attractive' and 'fat'. As a result, this made her change immediately to maintain her image and construction. However, the construction process is not fully clear and understood. Record companies think they know about it but witness the number of failures on their books. TV programmes show the audience on how an ordinary individual is groomed, style and coached in a specific way to fulfil a set of record company and market expectations to ensure their product (the individual) sells. This is not true stardom which must happen through a combination of other factors.

• Star theory - Industry and audience: Stars are manufactured to serve the purpose of making money out of the audience by ensuring that that they buy the artists records and become loyal fans through that. Pop stars are a product to their record company as they are shaped these companies to make them successful and sell to the audience. Record companies are responsible for identifying what would sell and produces the same and because of this, there is always someone fresh to choose from to keep the audience interested maintaining the quality in the music industry. Another way to produce a star is with a long lasting appeal who once their brand is established, can cater for fans and audiences for decades becoming a commodity. Through this, it is likely to maintain their success and keep the audience satisfied fulfilling their expectations.

• Star theory - Ideology and culture: Stars can also represent cultural values and attitudes and promote a certain ideology. Audiences interests are in these type of values that enhances their 'star quality' and create their star persona. Social network sites such as twitter and facebook give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music for example, Lady GaGa on twitter rewets frequently about LGBT issues and expects her fans to engage just as much as she expects them to listen to her music.

• Star theory - Character and personality - Star theory explains that the star is a construct however, the construct has a foundation of realis, Stars provide audiences with a focus of 'what people are supposed to be like'. Stars may provide the audience with the some ideas of 'how you're suppose to behave or look like' and may support hegemony by conforming to it. For example, certain mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna, Arianna Grande, Justin Bieber etc, provide an 'ideal image' as they have the 'ideal bodies' encouraging many young audiences to conform to. This links to hegemony as the media promotes this is a positive light, informing audiences that 'we should look like this' and that this is the ideal beauty standard of how we must look. However, other stars promote a difference such as Adele who are portrayed as 'cubby and lovable' going against hegemony teaches young audiences to be accepting of who they are despite the negative criticism they may get from the press.

How much control do artists/bands have on their star image?

Artists/bands actually have little control over their star image as large institutions such as their record labels guide and instruct the artist on how to adapt to their image to suit their audiences expectations the most, this is so they are able to be successful within their target audience and be successful. However, it can also be argued that they sometimes do have some control over their star image as they can change how they may look such as their weight, fashion trends, surgery etc which may not necessarily have positive responses from all audiences but its how they choose to be represented in the public eye.

Conclusion

Dyers theory is important as it shows how an artists success can be manipulated by other key factors such as their record labels and how they think their star image should be represented. Without constructing an artists image, it could lead to the artist loosing fans as they are not able to keep up with their mainstream audience expectations. After researching about Dyer's theory, when creating my music video, I want to ensure that I use it to represent my artist with a firm construction to make sure he is perceived by the audience on how I want to ensure a successful video.