Richard Dyer's theory - Mrs F

In order to understand the relationship between the music industry and its audiences, it is important to consider to the roles of music stars. The term star refers to the semi-mythological set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to large and loyal audience, for example Lady Gaga is someone who can appeal to wide audience is because she is so unique and she always reinvents herself to the audience to make herself unique

Richard Dyer suggests that the stars are made to look more appealable to the audience through the audience to make them more interesting to the audience, so that they reinvent themselves so they can sell them self to an audience this way they can appeal to a wider audience. Stars have to have common values, which can be shown to the audience and certain traits which relate to the audience.

Paradox One says that the star has to be ordinary and extraordinary for the audience which means that star has to live her normal life such as being a mum or dad and doing normal things which the audience can relate to and they have to extraordinary such as the glamorous and perform to the audience which the then audience can inspire to be. For example Snoop Dogg, who is father of 3, a coach of a school American Football team which is his ordinary life which he lives and then also he is a performer, and an artist who follows the genre of rap and hip hop lifestyle.

                                                                                                                         

Paradox two says that the star has to be absent and present at the same time to the audience so we know about their private life which the audience want to know about them because as an audience we want to complete their life, but we can never complete them because we never actually know them personally only what we know from the media for example, magazines and the internet.

Artist > Fan > Music > Television > Interviews > Concert > Artist

The chain about how the fan, tries to complete the image and know the star personally but because we never meet them personally the audience are never able to complete the image.

The star image ensures that the audience are always left on edge making them search more to complete their image or to make some sense of the star; this is achieved by consumption of the start through their products. In the music industry performances seems to promise the competition of the image. Finally the star can be used to position the consumer relation to dominant social values.

The image of the star has been developed by the star themselves and/or the management team across a wide range of media (advertising etc). It helps if the star has a USP (unique selling point) for example, Lady Gaga's range of headpieces, Madonna's Leotards etc, this construction brings with it connotations of the artist i.e. Lady's Gaga's hats suggest she is eccentric and wants to stand out from the crowd, whereas Madonna's leotards show she wants to be a voyeuristic icon who relates best to the 70/80's style of dress as this was her best era for music.

A record company will listen very closely to audience demands and will construct stars that will appeal to the likes and tastes of various different audiences. Stars are constructed to meet audience demand, for example, Cheryl Cole were constructed to appeal to a female audience who would most likely try and copy her style of fashion and dance moves.

The star represents a set of values and attitudes that reflect audiences own values. For example, Miley Cyrus gained lots of media attention after claiming she is a virgin and wouldn't have sex till she is married - young girl audiences might follow her lead and this could be beneficial to society and its problem of underage sex etc.