Music Conventions Part 2

1. Richard Dyer
“Pop performer” and “pop star” are not the same thing.
‘‘Pop stars’ have lasting significance and have “brand awareness.”
Dyer states: “A star is an image not a real person this 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]).”

2. Stars as constructions
• Pop stars are constructed, they are artificial images, even if
they are represented as being “real people”.
• Helps if they have a USP – they can therefore be copied or
parodied because of it.
• Their representation may be metonymic.
• Pop stars have the advantage over film stars in that their
constructed image may be much more consistent over a
period of time and is not consistent over a period of time and
is not dependent on the creative input of others.

3. Stars as constructions
• Yet that construction process is neither automatic nor fully
understood. Record companies think they know about it — but
witness the number of failures on their books. TV programmes such
as The X Factor show us the supposed construction process, how an
ordinary person is groomed, styled and coached into fulfilling a set
of record company and market expectations. This is not true
stardom, which must happen through a combination of factors.
None of them labelled 'X'.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWWMt_rZpwY
• As a record buying public, we prefer to believe in stars who are their
own and our constructions rather than a transparent offering
designed explicitly to appeal to our blander taste buds served up by
a record company interested only in our wallets.

4. Dyer States
• “A star is an image not a real person this 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]).”

5. Stars as Constructions
• Yet that construction process is neither automatic nor
fully understood. Record companies think they know
about it — but witness the number of failures on their
books. TV programmes such as The X Factor show us
the supposed construction process, how an ordinary
person is groomed, styled and coached into fulfilling a
set of record company and market expectations. This is
not true stardom, which must happen through a
combination of factors. None of them labelled 'X'.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWWMt_rZpwY
• As a record buying public, we prefer to believe in stars
who are their own and our constructions rather than a
transparent offering designed explicitly to appeal to our
blander taste buds served up by a record company
interested only in our wallets.
• “Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the
strength of their meanings.”

6. Industry and Audience
• Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a
purpose — to make money out of audiences, who respond to
various elements of a star persona by buying records and
becoming fans.
• Stars are the cogs around which a plethora of record
company gears find themselves turning. Record companies
nurture and shape their stars — as the TV talent show
processes have shown us. They tend to manufacture what
they think audiences want, hence the 'photocopied' nature of
many boy bands, teen bands etc.
• However, there are whole markets out there who are not
convinced by the hype and don't want to spend their money
on blandness. The record industry also has a duty to provide
bands/artists who are perceived as 'real' (for 'real, maybe
read 'ugly' or unpolished) for these audiences. Stars can also
be created by this route.
• Pop stars, whatever their nature, are quite clearly the product
of their record company — and they must be sold.
• “Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the
strength of their meanings.

7. Industry and Audience
• The music industry is well aware of the range of audiences it caters to, the perky
pre-school Tweenie fan to the ageing hippy, and it does its best to keep us all
happy.
• Historically, the industry has provided us with a range of commodities all with
different appeal. One way to achieve this is by producing new stars of different
types playing constantly mutating genres of music - there's always something
and someone fresh to choose from (important for the younger audience).
• Another way is to produce a star with long-lasting appeal, who, once their brand
is established, can cater to a fan audience for decades (in the way U2 or the
Rolling Stones have done).
• Unfortunately, these methods are oppositional. The 'conveyor belt' approach to
new stars means that talent isn't developed, and a star's value may be very
short-lived. A star may only be significant or relevant for two years, or two
albums.
• Too much focus on 'golden oldies' means that younger fans can't identify with
stars, whom they see as belonging to their parents' generation. A healthy music
industry develops both types of talent, and generates a diverse range of stars,
who mean different things to different audience segments.
• Many pundits who say that the music industry is in the doldrums claim it is
because this range of meanings is absent, or because the meaning of the
modern star is superficial and transient.