Richard Dyer's Star Theory applied to Pop Stars

The Theory 



David Bowie is a good example of a long lasting pop
star with a success career

• Richard Dyers believed that 'Pop Stars' and 'Pop Performers' are different things
• Pop Stars and known for being famous and Pop Performers are famous for their talent 
• Performances and talent can be easily forgotten about because of publicity stunts and scandals
• Pop stars are constructed by management and labels to create a person that an audience will want to love and be 

The construction of Stars

• Pop stars are created from 'artificial images', even if they are being represented as 'real people' with 'real emotions'
• They are told what to say and how to feel when in public, and are 'controlled' by record labels and institutions



Daft Punk are unique for their anonymity image

Industry and Audiences

• Stars serve a purpose of making money from their audiences using their various elements of their persona that attract the audience
• the music industry is well aware of the different audiences that can be targeted, such as 'Tweenies' who are attracted to Justin Beiber
• The 'conveyor belt' approach to new stars means that talent isn't developed, and a star's value may be very short-lived

"...stars are representations of persons which reinforce, legitimate or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what it is to be a human being in this society...our society stresses what makes them like others in the social group/class/gender to which they belong. This individualising stress involves a separation of the person's "self" from his/her social "roles", and hence poses the individual against society. On the other hand society suggests that certain norms of behaviour are appropriate to given groups of people, which many people in such groups would now wish to contest...Stars are one of the ways in which conceptions of such persons are promulgated."

Richard Dyer — The Stars (BFI Education 1979)

Lady Gaga wearing her iconic meat dress in 2010

Important to remember...
A star is an image not a real person, but is a construction made out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines etc. as well as films and music)












Useful Website
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Music/music.php?pageID=popstar