A2 Media Studies coursework

1. Dyer’s Star Theory
By Lucy Billington-Groom

2. Star Theory
Dyer proposes that a ‘pop star’ is, more often than not, a
manipulation of a ‘pop performer’ by the music industry to gain more
revenue and hype. A pop star’s main purpose is sales and therefore
profit whereas a pop performer has an ambition to sing and truly
unadulterated intentions. The term ‘pop star’ is applied to the
creation rather than the person as Dyer proposes the star is no
longer a person simply an image created through industry, audience,
ideology, culture, character and personality.

3. Stars as Constructions
The construction of a pop star is through the subtle messages that are released to
the public. The aspects of Dyer’s theory all build up to make a person go from a
simple performer to the popular and widely distributed image of music. Hayley
Williams is the lead singer in Paramore, an American Rock band, before being
discovered in 2003 she had limited experience in mediocre rock bands and was
writing pop songs with songwriters in Nashville. Hayley was signed when she was
only 14 years old and still had a lot of innocence about her. With little experience
of the music industry she was considered a pop performer as she was only known
for her musical ability and had no identity within the public eye. Now she has a
wide presence in the public eye and her career has been very successful after
gaining popularity within the band she has also ventured into solo work and
collaborating with other popular artists such as b.o.b on Airplanes.

4. Industry and Audience
The music industry is responsible for the manufacturing of pop stars in order to gain
as much revenue as possible from the audience. The star is nurtured and shaped to
fit a stereotype that appeals to a certain audience which we are continually shown
through talent shows such as The X Factor. Despite this process to be proven
successful countless of times there is still an audience which refuse to invest in bland,
‘photocopied’ pop stars, this type of audience tend to buy in to more ‘real’ stars or
artists that are perhaps less polished and the music industry still has an obligation to
provide these types of artists therefore despite their nature, pop stars will still only be
a creation of their record label which needs to be sold.
Due to this approach of creating new pop stars a stars worth will often be short-lived
and their careers will hold little to no meaning. It is imperative that the industry creates
artists that are relatable to a younger audience as too much focus on idyllic stars from
previous generation may cause the current audience to feel isolated and unable to
identify with music which will then lead to drops in sales. An example of this is the
large following of rock fans that the band Paramore have, Hayley Williams being the
lead singer is appealing to the target audience whereas the aging Aerosmith lead
vocalist Steven Tyler is becoming known for his judging roles on talent shows
amongst younger, current audiences rather than his success with Aerosmith.

5. Ideology and Culture
Stars that are publicly linked to certain ideology and cultures automatically include
that as part of their image and use it to identify with the audience which again
helps increase knowledge and popularity of the artist. By broadcasting beliefs and
opinions outside of their music and through the ever popular social media sites
such as Twitter their star persona is being furthered as they now have the
potential to publicly establish their own sets of values.
Stars are often used in the promotion of a certain movement or idea for example
the LGBT community, feminism and causes for charity such as Children in Need.
An example of this with Hayley Williams is her openness about her Christian faith,
she has openly expressed her love of her religion and how it continually gives her
strength, she has also been quoted supporting gay marriage which is being
welcomed by the younger generation of fans. She has recently been involved with
the promotion of Pinktober and the fight against breast cancer. Although a
member of social media Hayley Williams does not take advantage of it to express
views on certain ideology and cultures but rather interacts with friends and fans
alike.

6. Character and
PersonalityA pop star always begins as a ‘real person’ displaying the traits of their gender and race as
well as existing in ‘the real world’ surrounded by normal people and experiencing life as the
audience would but once the transformation process has begun they ultimately lose every
aspect of that image unless it is useful to the image they are trying to present as a star. A pop
star’s character and personality will be depicted through their music and the audience will base
their judgement of the artist on what music they are currently producing as an audience reads
‘music=person’ therefore the audience is basing the star on a snapshot of their lifestyle
portrayed through music. Manipulating a pop star’s persona is easy as the audience view them
as being able to control a lot more such as writing their own songs and controlling what their
body looks like but in reality the work develops slowly, over time in keeping with society.
Hayley Williams has changed considerably compared to herself before the fame but her
personality and character have been very consistent during her time in the public eye. The
industry would have enhanced her feelings, likes and dislikes that were beneficial to her
persona now and her early interest and experience in bands is one of those. The audience feel
she is very appealing because when needed she is presented to be a ‘hometown girl’ and very
appreciative of where she originated but often this wouldn’t be a focus.