Dyer Theory - Album Cover

Does the promotional material ‘construct’ an image rather than reveal a ‘real’ person whereby you know about their likes/ dislikes, family, background, education etc.

Richard Dyer star theory is a theory which defines a star and ideas behind a star. The term ‘star’ is semi-mythological (half true) persona and set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience. This means that a star is presented as an artist but we as an audience don’t know them as a person. The stars do this so people would want to buy their products. For example we know Beyonce as an artist but we don’t know who she is as a person.

Here are some common values of music stardom: youthful, rebellion, originality, creativity/ originality etc. Not all stars carry all these common values. For example Susan Boyle is original and creative but not a rebel, although Paramore can be seen to carry all these values.

Dyer theory suggests media makes the artist and the star is the images made out of different things e.g. magazines, films. For example Paramore were open to the public and fans through media’s such as radio, television and internet, if it wasn’t for these media platforms then their music wouldn’t be heard and they wouldn’t be artists. Stars are commodities (products) produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings. This means that for them to be ‘stars’ they were on covers of magazines and featured in movies. From my mood board you can see that Paramore were on a number of magazines and were featured in a well-known film called ‘Twilight’. As the Dyer theory suggests ‘stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media (magazines, TV, radio...) in order to construct an image for the target audience.’ This means that an artist has to act and present themselves in a certain way to attract a certain type of audience. For example Beyonce may be seen in a magazine such as Cosmopolitan in a sexy dress. This may be to attract a male audience as she looks seductive or female teenagers/ young adults as they may aspire to look like her. From my mood board you can see that Paramore wouldn’t be on magazines like Cosmopolitan as that’s not their target audience, they would be seen on a magazine such as ‘Kerrang!’ in casual clothing doing youthful poses. This creates a target audience like teenagers of any gender as they are portraying a rebellion youthful persona; teenagers will feel like they can relate to this.

This theory also suggests that the ‘star’ is incoherent (incomplete and open), this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes:

1.       The ‘star’ must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. This is because the ‘star’ being ordinary means the consumer can relate to them. For example Paramore are ordinary in the sense that on magazine covers they wear normal clothes and not expensive designer wear such as Gucci. Consumers can relate to this as they don’t normally wear designer wear due mainly to the price, they will feel like they don’t need to buy these designer wears as their ‘stars’ are portrayed not to either. A ‘star’ being extra ordinary allows the consumer something to aspire to. For example Paramore are on the cover of magazines and host festivals and gigs. This is extraordinary for consumers because they aren’t able to be on the cover of magazines and be able to host gigs, although they may aspire to this as they see their ‘stars’ living like this.

2.       The ‘star’ must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. This is because as they are present the consumer can feel closer to the artist. Paramore can make their consumers feel closer to them by putting their music videos on youtube.com, this way their consumers can watch them anytime they like without the artists having to be there in real life. The ‘star’ being absent means that the consumers rarely see them in real life. The only time you would see them is if you buy a ticket to see them in concert.

The incoherence (incomplete) of the ‘star’ image ensures that audiences continually strive to complete the image. They may do this by listening to their music, going to their concerts and watching their interviews. This makes the audience want to know more but it is never satisfying so the cycle begins as they will never know the ‘complete’ artist. This is an advantage for the artist and the record label as it produces profit for them. For example a fan of Paramore may collect all their albums and go to all their concerts trying to get everything they need to know and them. But they will never find out everything they need to know so they continue consuming their goods thinking that they are one step closer.

In conclusion I believe that the promotional material does ‘construct’ an image of the star rather than revealing the ‘real’ person. This is because as we see stars such as Paramore on magazines and music videos, we consume their goods because of how they are portrayed in the media. As we don’t know the artists as a real person we will never know whether they are truly like this putting it on for the media. Even if we research the artist and find out there likes/dislikes etc. We will never know for sure if that information is the truth or just said so we can feel like we know the ‘star.’

This will help me in planning my album cover and magazine advert because I will know what to include to attract an audience. For example I can include a location which the audience are use to seeing like a cinema. The audience will then feel connected to the artists and be attracted to purchase the album. I aim to create the ‘star’ image for my own artist by putting our finished music video on YouTube. By doing this I would be following one of the two paradoxes from Dyer theory (The ‘star’ must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer). Our artists will be present on YouTube causing our target audiences to feel closer to the artist. This may also attract the target audience to purchase our artists album because the target audience may be trying to find out everything about their ‘star’ to feel closer to them.