So what is a star? A star are icons and celebrities that have been constructed by institutions for financial gain and to be able to target one specific audience/group of people. Richard Dyer believes that a star is not a real person so therefore it is an image; this is constructed out of a range of materials such as advertising, magazines, news paper, music videos and so on.
The star that I have chosen that I am familiar with and be putting in Richard Dyer's theory to the test is Troye Sivan. Troye Sivan is a South-African, Australian singer, song writer, actor and a Youtube sensation. On 15th of August 2014, Sivan released his first major-label EP entitled 'TRXYE', which peaked at the top 5 charts in the US Billboard 200. And then on the 4th of September, Sivan releasedhis official first ever album entitled 'Blue Neighbourhood'. The term 'pop performer' and 'pop star' have become interchangeable. One of the many reasons why singers are described as pop stars is that they are quickly to be promoted to this status by their management.
However, true pop stars do have a lasting significance and has 'brand awareness' amongst wider market over a period of time. Many so called pop stars populate the top forty currently have not made a sufficient sociological or cultural impact to be classified as true stars if we return to Richard Dyer's theory. Two of the top stars, Taylor Swift and Adele, complemented his EP on social media where millions and millions of their fans would much rather see. Swift called his Wild EP 'STUNNING AND AWESOME' adding that 'YES CAPS LOCK IS NECESSARY HERE'. Later on, Adele went to the record twice in support of Sivan, saying that this low-quality live performance clip gave her chills and casually mentioned him by his first name in an interview.
Sivan's success has to do with his unabashed dedication to being himself- which, from the beginning of his time in the spotlight, has been engrained in almost everything he does.
Stars are constructed in artificial images, even if they are represented as real people experiencing real emotions and so on. It is beneficial if their image contains USP (unique selling point) in which where they can be copied and or parodied. Applying this to Troye Sivan, he made a first step into the music industry as huge and meaningful star from being a large, young online sensation. Sivan's audience and fans knew his quirks and habits and wanted to invest him. At first, he was particularly known as a "Youtuber" before going to a music career pathway which is what he has been wanting to do ever since he was a little boy. His record labels are EMI Australia and Capitol; he has associated with Broods, Betty Who, Tkay Maidza and Alessia Cara. Though he was known in the Youtube community, he started off as a child actor. In 2008, Sivan was cast as young James Howlett in X-men Origins: Wolverine. Sivan's music has been described as "layered electropop with constant tinges of EDM", as well as "youthful", "dreamy" and "mature". His baritone voice has been described as a "coffee-and-cream voice" as well as "sultry", "wounded" and "breathless". His work has been compared to well known stars such as Lorde and Taylor Swift.
Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve purpose - which means that they make money out of audiences and responds to various elements of as star persona by buying records and becoming fans. However, there are markets out there who are not convinced by the hype and would not prefer spending their money on blandness. Pop stars are quite the product of their record company - and reluctantly they must be sold. But historically, the industry has provided us, as audience a range of commodities with different appeal. One way to achieve this is by introducing new stars of different types; playing constantly mutating genres of music- there is always something and someone fresh to choose from (this is important for younger fans).
The star that I have chosen that I am familiar with and be putting in Richard Dyer's theory to the test is Troye Sivan. Troye Sivan is a South-African, Australian singer, song writer, actor and a Youtube sensation. On 15th of August 2014, Sivan released his first major-label EP entitled 'TRXYE', which peaked at the top 5 charts in the US Billboard 200. And then on the 4th of September, Sivan releasedhis official first ever album entitled 'Blue Neighbourhood'. The term 'pop performer' and 'pop star' have become interchangeable. One of the many reasons why singers are described as pop stars is that they are quickly to be promoted to this status by their management.
However, true pop stars do have a lasting significance and has 'brand awareness' amongst wider market over a period of time. Many so called pop stars populate the top forty currently have not made a sufficient sociological or cultural impact to be classified as true stars if we return to Richard Dyer's theory. Two of the top stars, Taylor Swift and Adele, complemented his EP on social media where millions and millions of their fans would much rather see. Swift called his Wild EP 'STUNNING AND AWESOME' adding that 'YES CAPS LOCK IS NECESSARY HERE'. Later on, Adele went to the record twice in support of Sivan, saying that this low-quality live performance clip gave her chills and casually mentioned him by his first name in an interview.
Sivan's success has to do with his unabashed dedication to being himself- which, from the beginning of his time in the spotlight, has been engrained in almost everything he does.
Stars are constructed in artificial images, even if they are represented as real people experiencing real emotions and so on. It is beneficial if their image contains USP (unique selling point) in which where they can be copied and or parodied. Applying this to Troye Sivan, he made a first step into the music industry as huge and meaningful star from being a large, young online sensation. Sivan's audience and fans knew his quirks and habits and wanted to invest him. At first, he was particularly known as a "Youtuber" before going to a music career pathway which is what he has been wanting to do ever since he was a little boy. His record labels are EMI Australia and Capitol; he has associated with Broods, Betty Who, Tkay Maidza and Alessia Cara. Though he was known in the Youtube community, he started off as a child actor. In 2008, Sivan was cast as young James Howlett in X-men Origins: Wolverine. Sivan's music has been described as "layered electropop with constant tinges of EDM", as well as "youthful", "dreamy" and "mature". His baritone voice has been described as a "coffee-and-cream voice" as well as "sultry", "wounded" and "breathless". His work has been compared to well known stars such as Lorde and Taylor Swift.
Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve purpose - which means that they make money out of audiences and responds to various elements of as star persona by buying records and becoming fans. However, there are markets out there who are not convinced by the hype and would not prefer spending their money on blandness. Pop stars are quite the product of their record company - and reluctantly they must be sold. But historically, the industry has provided us, as audience a range of commodities with different appeal. One way to achieve this is by introducing new stars of different types; playing constantly mutating genres of music- there is always something and someone fresh to choose from (this is important for younger fans).
A stay may only be significant or relevant for two years. Focusing too much on older audience means that younger fans cannot identify with stars whom they see as belonging to their parents' generation. But for Troye Sivan, ever since he started Youtube he has been targeting the younger generation and those younger generation would obviously grow old with Troye as they have been a fan of him since the beginning. Therefore, Sivan's style of music will be able to target different age groups as he has been very relevant ever since he released his official album.
A star begins as a real human, possessing gender and race characteristics, and existing against a socio-historic background. The transformation turns them into a construct but the construct has a foundation in the real. Normally, stars provide audiences with a focus for ideas of 'what people are supposed to belike'. For example, women should look thin and beautiful. They support hegemony by conforming to it or providing difference.
Hegemony in the media encourages people to consent to status quo meaning power structure. Troye Sivan released a teaser for his new song, 'Heaven' where he talks about coming in terms with his sexuality. He is openly gay and has announced this news through Youtube in August 7th 201. He had truly inspired his fans; recently he helps a fan come out to her mum during his concert and it was all emotional. He describes his LGBT fan base as his 'absolute heros' so Troye was more than happy to help out one of his admirers during his latest concert. He assisted a fan in coming out to her mum who was also in the audience - and the crowd was overwhelmed. This then clearly shows how stars could possibly relate to their fans as well as helping them out as if they were just an ordinary person. Troye speaks on a montage of prominent LGBT equality moments saying "The hardest person for me to come out to was myself."
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