Star Theory

Richard Dyer was a media theorist who believed that artists are constructed through artificial images such as advertising, films, magazines and music. He claimed that consumers prefered artists who choose to convey their true emotions themselves instead of being groomed by record labels who try to exploit them and falsify their image. Dyer felt that a "real" artist can use the fact that many artists are synthetic as their unique selling point. A good example of a current "real" artist is Ed Sheeran. Ed Sheeran values his music as being extremely important and he doesn't seem to focus on his image. His songs are full of emotion and honesty; he's creating music that he wants to create, he is not creating music purely because he thinks it will sell. He is also very down to earth and often shuns stylish events to spend the night at home.

Dyer also believes that stars are manufactured to make money for their record labels by appealing to target audiences.As a result of this record labels have to market different artists to cater for certain target audiences as there are both ‘niche’ and ‘mainstream’ markets.

Another one of Dyers beliefs within his Star Theory is that artists become trendsetters in the sense that audience members will imitate hairstyles and artists clothing styles. Artists may have certain religious beliefs and cultural values that audiences may also pick up on if shared by the artist. For example Matty Healy's hair from the 1975 has become a trend among their male audience.

The internet has resulted in audiences having greater access to the personal lives of stars. Many artists now have facebook pages, twitter accounts and instagram profiles. Many bands also have fan clubs and websites. This access helps present the artists as "real" human beings.

Dyer also believed that stars support hegemony which is the dominant ideology of their time. Hegemony is the leadership/dominance by one state or sub group over others. In our society the dominant sub group is white, middle classed, middle aged men. Gramsci discovered the theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how states use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist societies. 

A good example of how stars promote hegemony is Drake's music video to "Started from the bottom". Drake is singing about moving up the social level from being poor to rich. This suggests to the consumer that if he can do it, anyone can do it when in reality it is extremely difficult to be socially mobile as the dominant sub group are oppressing the subordinate. This promotes hegemony as it is used to give the lower class hope and keep them satisfied. 

The music industry creates and promotes artists within clearly defined genres such as rock, rap etc.

These genres offer signifiers (signs / symbols that send out specific messages) relating to race and gender identities. A good example of an artist who's videos reinforce stereotypes is Nelly. Nelly reinforces the typical stereotype of rap artists as he is a young black male who is singing about drug use, sex and violence. However some music videos challenge these stereotypes.

Deconstructing Britney Spears
In Britney's early videos she was surrounded by "girlie iconography" such as dolls, dressing up with friends, hanging out, applying make-up. Her innocent image was completed by her pigtails. Her choreographed dance routines create the desire of her young fans to be part of "her gang".

Although Laura Mulvey's feminist theory relates to classical hollywood cinema it can also be applied to pop videos, especially Britney's videos. Throughout many of her videos the male gaze is present. The male gaze is when women are viewed as objects of male erotic desire. The male view is active while the female view is passive. Many of her videos force the audience to identify with the male gaze and her videos reflect a patriarcal society as it is predominiatly men who control her image. An example of where she enforces this is in her video "Slave 4 U". This video contains many close ups of her body and in many shots its almost like the camera is carressing her body. This forces the audience to see Britney in a sexual way therefore enforcing the male gaze.

Many of Britney’s songs and video narratives express teen girl identity, the concerns and reflections.

In her video for“I’m not a girl, not yet a woman” (2001) from film “Crossroads” she is constructed as a role model. The narrative to this song explores tensions of growing up and passage journey from childish innocence to realities of adult life.

Although many of her videos promote the male gaze, her video to "Overprotected" is considered to be empowering to women.Within the Music Video’s narrative, her performance is a result of watching a news report on her wearing few clothes. This video implies that she is no longer a girl and should not be told what to wear and many would argue that by Britney being half-naked presents her as being empowering. There is also a more confident tone to her choreographed routine which suggests she is in control.

When it comes to gender debates, Britney Spears’s Music Videos are what is known as polysemic text (a text that has multiple meanings). Her career has evolved from ‘Teen Princess’ with connotations of innocence and girliness to a half naked woman who performs for a male audience in FHM and Loaded. Both identities are stereotypical visions of femininity as presented in a range of media texts.

However in her music video to "Hold it against me" which was released in 2010, it could be interpreted that she is rejecting her constructed image".  This video expresses how she is being artifcially created into an artist the industry wants her to be. Throughout this video she is seen as a mature women who is using product placement to sell her own products. During this video she is trapped in a panopticon prison surrounded by screens displaying all her old videos. This suggests that Britney feels trapped by her old image and that she doesn't want her fans to hold her old image against her anymore. During this scene she is wearing wedding dress and is elevated in the air.  The wedding dress could symbolise that she felt married to her image, however later on the dress is destroyed. This could suggest that she is destroying her old image.