Research: Star Image

Star image is the way an artist is represented to the audience. Evidently the most effective way of doing this is through music videos, this is because it is the most efficient way it can reach a mainstream and international audience. Music videos are able to help an artists career in different ways. Videos often help when artists want to reinvent themselves or come back from a break. They also rely on music videos to supply them with publicity around new music and to enable there to be a relationship between the star and their fans.

As a class we analysed Kylie Minogue's Star development:

Independent analysis:

Justin Bieber: 

Justin Bieber was first notice as a young teenager on youtube who was discovered by his mentor to this day Usher. He was well known all over the internet for his impressive cover of Chris Brown's "With You". In this video he is innocent, with not very much style. Within the video you can see there is not much of a performance element, it is all about his voice and not his image. The lyrics in this song state "With the love of their life who feels what I feel when I'm with you girl" suggesting the innocence to his music choices at such a young age. He is speaking about love rather than sex portraying his image in a positive way.

In 2009 he then goes on to release his first single entitled "One Time". Justin is 15 in this year, he has remained with the same hair style but has become trendy with what he is wearing. However his persona still comes across as a very "normal" teenage boy. At this age most of his songs still held a lot of innocence as he confessed his crushes and feelings for a lot of teenage sweethearts. The lyrics state "Girl, ima tell you one time, girl I love you" suggesting the remaining innocence he still has.



2010 Bieber comes out with one of his most successful songs "Baby". Within a year he has matured as in the video we see him flirting more as he has turned in to more of a heart throb. In this video his love interest is played by someone else who was popular amongst his target audience at the time, this helped cause a buzz around him. Also this song was a collaboration with hip-hop artist which helped boost Bieber's career as he was branching out and becoming known within other genres. The lyrics state "I know you love me, I know you care" suggesting his growing confidence amongst the opposite sex. This shows a sense of maturity as he evolves into a 'star'.



The next change in Justin came along with one of his most popular singles he has released; "Boyfriend" in 2012. In "Boyfriend" it is evident that he has got rid of his babyface looks and is coming out with a much mature approach. It is also clear that he is growing with his audience which would help his career as they will feel as if there is a closer bond between them and their idol. We also see that Bieber has tattoos, showing that he is coming further away from that 'clean cut' look he had before. Within this video Mulvey's theory is becoming more apparent showing that he is maturing more as a young adult and his thoughts and views towards women are adjusting. The lyrics state "I can take you places you ain't never been before" suggesting that he has become a man and is now able to treat his girlfriend like a lady. This shows the transformation Justin has made from innocence to experience.




In early 2015 Justin took on being a model for Calvin Klein where he was shown without any clothes apart from the underwear. This promotion gave Bieber a drastic change in image as he exposed his body covered in tattoos globally. This change allowed him to gain much more publicity as he was now being portrayed as a young man and not a 'boy'. The fact that Justin agreed to being a part of the successful campaign for Calvin Klein showed his masculinity as he was not afraid to show his body in a sexualised manner.

Lastly, in late 2015, Justin released "What Do You Mean?" which was another extremely successful single. In this music video, it is clear that there are changes in his image, personality and characteristics. His hair has yet again changed as he has grown it longer and this time, he is being very interactive with the female in the video. He is shown undressing her and being undressed suggesting their sexual intentions that he has developed. The lyrics state "Wanna argue all day, make love all night" showing that on the one hand, teenagers go through tough relationships, but, on the other hand, Justin also making sexual references. This shows his transformation from a child to a young adult.





Other star representations in the music industry:

These artist's also show the same transformation process as Justin Bieber...

Austin Mahone, Connor Maynard and Cody Simpson also took the same steps into becoming a 'star' similarly to Justin Bieber. They all transformed from being young and innocent into young men with more mature attitudes.

Changing "star" image can be done in 4 ways:

1. Sexual: Some people can use music videos to exploit or to feel comfortable within their sexuality.
2. Political: Some people can use music videos to express their political views.
3. Moral: Some people can use music videos to express their personal opinions on issues that they believe are important.
4. Social: Some people can use music videos to represent a type of lifestyle of ideologies.

Overall, it is evident that star image is a significant process that takes place on many artists. It is also clear that artist's are dependent on star image as it is a huge part in creating a successful career for them. I plan to represent my star as powerful and confident similar to Justin as this will attract the audience and gain more publicity for my artist. I will also ensure my artist is seen in a sexually attractive way as this will ensure my artist constantly being in the public eye.