Star Theory

The theory of ‘Star Image’ was created by Ricard Dyer. In this theory he proposes that celebrities and icons are constructed out of a range of materials by institutions for financial gain. Dyer has split his theory up into different sub-sections, these are; Constructions, Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs) as well as  Audience and Institution.

Constructions: 
Dyer believes that celebrities are built for an audience instead of being a real person; for example, stars are sometimes built to be different to create originality and likeablility. This construction is then emphasised through magazines, music videos and advertisements. Record companies are usually responsible for the construction of a “star”.
Audience and Institution: 
Dyer believes that celebrities are built only to make money. Therefore their image is constructed by institutions who are keen to benefit commercially. This suggests that every 'star' is constructed to met the interest a specific target audience to generate revenue for record companies. The 'stars’ are constructed to be what the record companies believe audiences want. 
Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs): 
Dyer believes that celebrities are constructed to have certain beliefs, values and attitudes. Therefore audiences relate to them because they have features/ideas that they share or admire. This results in audiences seeing 'stars' as role models and aspiring to be them.

Dyer also believes that the rise of social media has created more opportunities for 'stars' to engage with their audience/fans and spread their ideas on subjects and issues which are beyond music (hegemony). In addition to this he thinks that a 'star' should be both ordinary and extraordinary. This is because they need to be relatable to an audience so that they can aspire to be just like their idols. 
There are many examples of bands/artists for all genres of music which posses a star image, some of them are; The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rhianna, Lana Del Rey and One Direction. However I am going to focus on Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift Case Study: 

Taylor Swift is an example of an artist that fits into the different sub-sections of star theory. Taylor Swift released her debut album in 2006 and has since released and has since released another 4 albums, in addition to this she has won numerous awards for her music. Over these albums Taylor's music has matured along with her public image; this makes the audience feel like they are growing up with her. She was first introduced as an innocent teenager, whose blonde curly hair contributed to a youthful image which would have helped to make her seem more relatable to her audience. Taylor has a unique selling point which other artists sometimes lack; this is that she is a normal girl who is living her dream in the music industry, this inspires other young girls that their musical aspirations are also achievable. When Taylor first started to release music it was under the genre of country however as she started to gradually started to release pop music throughout her albums and in 2014 she released her first full pop album called '1989'. It is possible that she did this in order to reach a wider audience with her music and make more money from it.

As her music has changed so has her image, initially her image was innocent and friendly however she has steadily developed into a style icon, who frequently wears red lipstick, a straight blonde bob haircut who follows current fashion trends. Taylor's image is often shown a lot in her music videos such as 'Wildest Dreams', '22', "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"  as well as many others and sometimes

even in her song lyrics, for example in her song 'Style' from her latest album she sings 'I got that red lip classic thing that you like', this shows how she is helping to familiarise the audience with one of her signature looks. Taylor is also well known for voicing her opinions on the music industry and standing up for artists rights, hence why she removed her music from Spotify and wrote a letter to Apple, addressing what she believed was wrong with Apple Music's 3 month free trial. This shows how she likes to voice her opinions about the industry, this will help her to inspire her fans to stand up for what they believe in. I believe that Taylor Swift does follow Richard Dyer's star theory in a number of different ways. Firstly because he states that he believes that stars should follow specific values, such as youthfulness, sexual magnetism, creativity as well as disregard for social values and consumption of sex, drugs and material goods. Taylor follows all of these values; 

she is youthful because of her young age, she is able to attract a wider audience built up of mainly young girls who feel like they can relate to her. Taylor also has sexual magnetism, she is able to attract males who might not otherwise enjoy her music due to the fact that they might find her music videos attractive. For example her video to 'Bad Blood' which features many other young females dressed in tight black lycra which shows off their figures; this would probably be very appealing to men.  Taylor also isn't afraid to share her beliefs and opinions on current social issue as well as issues within the music industry; however it is possible that these beliefs have been constructed for her in order to attract a wider audience and inspire her current audience.  Taylor also has a good balance of being extraordinary as well as ordinary because whilst she is a successful musician she still likes to do activities which she participated in when she wasn't famous.