Analysis of a star and Dyer star theory- Miss Miller

Intro – Explain why artists may feel the need to reinvent themselves
Some artists feel that they need to re invent themselves they do this as they feel it will have a positive impact on there careers, this is because that if an artist changes their style they will get a larger audience especially if they are making music with a larger target audience, this will increase the artists revenue. The artist could be changing genres to be more creative, and they want to make music they like, this would be the reason for Snoop dog who changed his name to snoop Lion and started making  a different genre of music. Miley Cyrus may have felt that she needed to re-invent herself as she grew up being an actress on the Disney channel, this means that people and her fans associate her with that, so to get away from the label of being an actress she needed to make her own brand edgy and unique, this makes people pay attention to her and she loses the label of an actress.

What is Richard Dyers theory and the two paradoxes?
Dyers theory is that the term 'star' refers to the semi mythological set of meanings contructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience. Dyer made a list of values that are common of 'stars'.
-Youthfulness
-Rebellion
-Sexual Magnetism
- An anti-authoritarian attitude
-Originality
-Creativity/Talent
-Aggression/Anger
-A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex and good behaviour.
- Conspicuous consumption, of sex, drugs and material goods
- Success against the odds.
another element o Dyers star theory is that a star is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials. Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings. Stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media- Magazines, TV, Radio, the Internet- in order to construct an image which can be marketed to their target audience. The star image is made up of a range of meanings which are attractive to the target audiences. The star image is coherent incomplete and open. The star image is based upon two paradoxes:
Paradox one
The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer.
Paradox two
The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer 

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus-Party in the USA, this video shows the way that Miley Cyrus used to be like. In this video she is following typical conventions of  a pop star such as performing her song and following elements of Goodwins theory such as inter textual references when she name drops artists and that their songs are 'on' in the song. The purpose of doing this is to gain a larger audience, as when the song is played and fans of other artists hear their favourite artists names on the song they might be more likely to listen to Miley Cyrus too. Another element of Goodwins theory that she meets on this is that there are lots of close ups of the artist, this is usually a demand set by their record label, the purpose of this is to gain the artist a larger audience and for her brand and face to become recognisable. Again another element of Goodwins theory is used in this video, for example there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals, this is seen with the American flags and the Lyrics about a 'party in the USA'. The artists image in this video is normal as she is still being conventional to her genre of music and following typical conventions of that genre in her music videos. 

Miley Cyrus-Can't be tamed. This video is 

Miley Cyrus-We can't stop. This video shows that she has changed her style and her character, from how she used to be normal and follow conventions that are expected of teen stars such as making videos that please her target audience which this video doesn't for some as they don't like the way she acts and how drastically she changed from her old character. Goodwins theory is used in this video with the sexualisation of the female body, this is seen during most of the video with her dancing and choice of clothes, this might have been included to show her target audience that she is more grown up, especially as this is one of her first videos that really showed the changes she has made to her appearence. Goodwins theory is used again with the reltionship between the lyrics and the visuals, for example the lyrics say 'its our party we do what we want' and then they are shown to be acting in a rebellious manor, Miley Cyrus might have chosen to include this in her video as it is showing her audience that she is this new adult un-responsible person. This would benifit her as she is trying to attract a new audience, that might enjoy this side of her better.

 

Genre and generic conventions – What is the genre of this artists and the three videos analysed. Is it conventional?

The genre of Miley Cyrus is generally Pop although she has appeared on some Hip-Hop songs more recently. The three videos that I looked at were pop songs as they used pop conventions such as a catchy chorus. This is conventional to the artist although it is the way that she now acts and the songs which are different than what she used to be like, but the genre of music is the same as before.

The artist

Target audience – Who is the artist’s target audience at each stage? Has it changed/stayed the same? Why do you think that is?

Her target audience when this video was released was typically children and young teenagers for party in the USA, it has since changed from the Wrecking ball and We cant stop videos as they were made to attract an older audience especially with conventions such as promiscuous dancing and swearing in the lyrics of the songs. The target audience that Miley Cyrus once had would have now grown older and maybe changes their preferences of music to music that Miley Cyrus now makes, so what Miley Cyrus has done is keep relevant to her loyal audience and keep them happy with her music, this now means that she no longer targets a child and young teenager audience and a more older teenager and young adult audience.

Messages and values in the music video and also of the time –  What messages/values is artist portraying? Have they changed? Why is that? Is it in accordance with the era?

The messages and values that Miley Cyrus shows in her videos has changed massively over the years, this is evident from her lyrics in her videos which used to be about enjoying her self and having party's now they are more serious, such as relationships and adult themes like drugs and rebellion. This could be due to her growing up, or her being told by her record label to change her style to be more relevant to current conventions in the Pop genre such as rebellion and drugs, which are also pat of the Hip-Hop and rap genres which Miley Cyrus has appeared in some songs from. This makes her change in accordance with the era of music she is working in and to become successful she knows that she needs to follow popular conventions.

Summary - on the main points that you have identified, explaining why you think the artist made certain choices and decisions to reinvent their image and their career.

In summary, Miley Cyrus has changed her appearance and style to fit into conventions of the current era and to gain a larger target audience and bigger following of fans, this level of fame for her could have died out if she carried on making songs that her old target audience liked as they were also growing up so the music wouldn't be sustainable for her as the music wouldn't have a audience. This is why I believe that Miley Cyrus decided to change her appearance and style, to become more popular. Which has allowed her to re invent her career, and get more fans than before.

Explain how your research will help you to decide on an artist and also discuss why it is important to identify and maintain a target audience.

This research that I have carried out on Miley Cyrus will help me decide on an artist to make a video for as it has shown me how important the appearance of an artist and videos they make are. As the target audience need to be entertained. It is important to identify a target audience as that is who you are making the video for, so the conventions of the music genre and artists they listen to need to be looked at and met in certain ways so the music video is relevant to them and the genre we will choose. It is important to maintain the target audience that the artists has as re-inventing you're self to get a different target audience is risky and doesn't always work, so maintaining a target audience is a good options as they will b loyal to you.

Using your analysis of a star task answer the
Following questions:

žHow does the video represent the artist?
The first video before she changed representsd the artists as a normal star that wants to party and enjoy herself with her friends, she followed typical pop conventions at this time. But in the more recent videos, she has completely changed from her old self and the videos represnt her in a different way to different audiences, for example older audiences that arent her target audience might be put off of her music by her actions in her music video. But her target audience might like her new style, so her change has been worthwhile for her as she is gaining publicity with her new edgy style and a larger following of fans.

žCan the artist be viewed as a product?

The artist can be viewed as a product in some ways as she is playing up to her stereotypes in the wrecking ball video of being outrageous and different to others in her genre, and she is also playing up to typical Goodwin's theory conventions and points from Dyers theory such as showing a anti-autharoitarian attitude, and showing some sexual magnetism along with other points of Dyers star theory.

Is the artist both ordinary and extraordinary?

I would say that Miley Cyrus can be seen as ordinary and extraordinary, for example she shows some signs of being ordinary within her videos, this is seen sometimes when she sings about normal themes of her genre and life in genreal such as love, pain, enjoying herself and adult themes, apart from  this she is mostly seen as extraordinary as she acts in a different way from normal people in her music videos, and this would be seen as strange to normal people if it happened in public, so this shows her to be extraordinary. 

Do the videos place fans for or against hegemony?

The videos place fans for hegemony as Miley Cyrus talks about serious themes in her songs such as drugs and sex. She also references popular themes in society in her songs, and her audience like the artist and person that Miley Cyrus is so they respect her opinions, and the way she acts, the way that Miley Cryus is possibly going to try to be re-inacted by her fans, as they are influenced by her. And as a result if enough people follow her actions then t will be a normal thing to do in society such as act in a overly sexual way and dress like her.

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You need to:
1) Change either Wrecking Ball or We Can't Stop to something like 'Can't be Tamed'- the other two are from the same transition point in her career so show no change
2) Apply Goodwin's and Dyer's theory to each video throughout the analysis
3) Talk about who the target audience is for each video and how they have changed over time
4) Explain the messages and value of each video and how they have changed over time
5) Use micro-elements to support points made about generic conventions etc.
6) Analyse video by video rather than point by point as it is unclear what video you are referring to throughout
7) Include a conclusion stating how this research has helped you understand the importance of an artist's image and helped you decide on your artist and target audience