Keith Negus's Theory

Negus is a record company executive in the music industry. He says that there are two ways of thinking about potential artists, Organic and Synthetic, these two ideologies will shape the artist in every way throughout their career such as their star image. And the way they reach their target audiences depends on how they are marketed and whether they are organic or synthetic.

Organic ideology

This is a more 'naturalistic' artist where they are all about the music they produce and not so concerned on the image they give off, they are often sold on their 'authenticity' and their 'unconstructed' image. The record company allow the artist to develop in their own way and progress themselves without creating this glamorous over the top look. Ed Sheeran, an incredible artist, is a great example of a organic star, he focuses everything on his music and doesn't go out to impress anyone on all the other things apart from his music. Negus says that the profits generated tend to be part of a long term strategy by the record company to enhance sales and market the artist in a specific way.

Synthetic ideology

This is when the record company constructs the artist in every way but to benefit them, so how much money the star generates, the star in constructed. The record company emphasise sales on singles and first albums to reach target audiences and increase sales as they construct the star's image more. The star would normally be quite over the top and is usually aimed at a more younger and less sophisticated audience. The record company come up with this plan as an immediate and short term strategy, the music isn't necessarily focused on like organic artists. Justin Bieber, founded very young, is a clear example of a synthetic star and how he is sold more on their 'look' or personality then the actual music.

Kieth Negus says that how successful synthetic acts will fund the development and investment of organic acts. Record companies tend to find a balance between the combination of synthetic and organic acts to make sure there are funds to run the company on a day-to-day basis but also making long term profit.

Richard Dyer's theory



That a star is an image that has been constructed from a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines, films etc.). He goes on to say that stars depend on subsidary media such as Tv, radio and so on, to allow themselves to create a certain image and attract their target audience by being made up of a variety of meanings which bring the audience to them. Overall, the star is incoherent incomplete and open. Due to the incoherence of this star image will mean that the audience will strive on understanding or completeling the overall star image.


How is this achieved?
A continued consumption of the star through their products.

 He explains 2 paradoxes:
Paradox 1:
The star must be ordinary and extrordinary. This will attract consumers to the star due to the originality.
Paradox 2:
The star must be simultaneoulsy present and absent for the consumer.

Hegemony
Dyer explains this as the star is used to position the consumer in relation to the dominant social values. However, this depends upon the artist. Either the audience is positioned against the mainstream, within the mainstream or somewhere in between.

Below is a quote that Richard Dyer said summarising his theory.

“In these terms it can be argued that stars are representations of persons which reinforce, legitimate or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what it is to be a human being in this society.  There is a good deal at stake in such conceptions.  On the one hand, our society stresses what makes them like others in the social group/class/gender to which they belong.  This individualising stress involves a separation of the person's "self" from his/her social "roles", and hence poses the individual against society.  On the other hand society suggests that certain norms of behaviour are appropriate to given groups of people, which many people in such groups would now wish to contest (eg the struggles over representation of blacks, women and gays in recent years).  Stars are one of the ways in which conceptions of such persons are promulgated.”

Richard Dyer (Stars, BFI, 1981)

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

Below is a presentation I created about Justin Bieber in raltion to Richard Dyer's theory.

View more PowerPoint from sadiemiddleton

For A2 I believe that it will obviously be much harder then AS, this year we will be creating a music video. This task will be difficult yet if I work as hard as I have expected for myself I know I will be able to achieve my goals. The decision of what song we shall pick will, I prefer less of a pop style and more of an organic feel to music, where its about the music and not the image. We will also be creating things like album covers and some of us may be creating websites but we are not completely sure yet. There will be various difficulties within the A2 course but it will also allow us to develop our skills within media and our knowledge of the area we are studying. Improving these skills over the next year will allow us to become more developed with our knowledge and the way we handle things individually and as a team. So far we have already been introduced to theory's such as from Richard Dyer, this is already a step up from what we did in AS and is quickly developing our knowledge.