2. Richard Dyer’s theory
Richard Dyer made the suggestion that there is a big difference between a pop star and pop performer.
He suggested that a pop performer only performs music which an audience is only attracted to, whereas
a pop star is an image which is constructed. The construction of a pop performer is what makes them a
pop star. The construction includes the person(s) being in magazines, films/tv shows, within other artist’s
music videos etc. A major part of the construction is the image the ‘pop star’ is presenting to the
audience which is designed by the company to make the person more appealable, for example the person
may have a change of fashion or overall look which the creators want the audiences to visualise with the
pop star. Dyer also suggested that the institutions which construct the pop star make them appeal to the
audience in their specific image due to the fact it will allow the pop star reach their full potential of
appealing to specific audiences.
Dyer’s theory can also be split into 4 different sections which consist of star construction, industry and
audience, ideology and culture and finally character and personality.
3. Stars as Constructions
Dyer argues that even though stars are trying to portray a type of realism as real people, it is in fact the
institutions which are putting forward this fake reality of the star’s emotions and beliefs labelling them
as being artificial. Dyer also suggests that this is highly beneficial for the institutions for a few reasons.
Firstly he suggests it allows the institution to create the pop star’s unique selling point and use that to
attract a wider audience of around the world. This also helps making the pop star unforgettable. This is
due to the fact the artist’s unique selling point (USP), which is created, will become eye catching
towards audiences. Typically this USP is unique to that one and only star (celebrity) which audiences
will always associate with that star, which in turn, will keep audiences engaged throughout the different
medias that the institution will put them in. For example the institution may use the artist’s USP in
magazine covers, films, radio shows, advertisements to establish their creation of a pop star to
audiences around the world.
4. Stars as Construction: Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole is a British born musician which is a great example for the use of star theory. She started
out by auditioning for the tv show Pop Stars: The Rivals. After her weeks in the competition the show put
her and the other female contestants Nadina Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh
into a girl band named Girls Aloud. The girl group went on to get 20 top 10 singles, 2 albums that topped
the UK charts and a BRIT award in 2009 for their single The Promise. In the same year of 2009 the group
announced they are taking a 1 year break but instead the group never reunited due to the fact Cheryl’s
solo career was skyrocketing. This was due to how the institution (which Cheryl was with when she
went solo) created a new Cheryl Cole hence the use of star theory. Instead of Cheryl being the young,
cheeky girl singer she became the attractive and powerful woman that the industry want her to be
recognised as by audiences today. And these audiences will easily become aware of these stars by the
use of magazines, tv, social media etc.
6. Industry and audience
Richard Dyer states that stars are created and moulded by industries in order for
them to gain attention from a wider mass audience. Richard Dyer suggests this
could be due to the finance the industry will accumulate. For example in Cheryl
Cole’s case she use to only be imaged for music so the institution will gain
money from her music only. Nowadays she models, appears in TV, appears on
radio and she is hired by many companies for perfume and clothing lines in order
to sell their product. The industry benefits from this as the wider mass audience
she has accumulated will buy all what she does, for example the shoes she
might wear in a fashion magazine or the perfume that she is advertising at the
time.
7. Reflection
Richard Dyer’s star theory will be extremely useful for me to market my ‘pop
star’. By learning and researching into his star theory I am now able to outline
how to construct a star, make them appeal to a variety of audiences to create a
mass audience and how to make them appeal to the audience for the genre of
music they will perform.
