The terms "pop performer" and "pop star" have become interchangeable. In media terms they are not the same thing. The study of stars as media texts and components of media texts, demands that the distinction made between those who are simply known for performing pop music and those who are known for being pop stars, have an identity or character which is not restricted solely to their musicianship.
One of the reasons so many pop performers are described as pop stars is that they are quickly promoted to this status by their management. However, a true pop star does have a lasting significance, and has "brand awareness" amongst a wider market over a period of time. Many of the so-called pop stars populating the top forty currently have not made a sufficient sociological or cultural impact to be classified as true stars if we return to Richard Dyers’ definition. They will be forgotten by all but their most avid fans within a few years.
Stars are constructed, artificial images, even if they are represented as being "real people", experiencing real emotions. It helps if their image can be copied and/or misrepresented because of it. Pop stars have the advantage over film stars in that their constructed image may be much more consistent over a period of time, and is not dependent on the creative input of others such as screenwriters writing their lines.
Dyer proposes that, “A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials, for example; advertising, magazines and films.”
Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose; to make money out of audience, who respond to various elements of a star’s personality by buying records and becoming fans. Record companies shape their stars in a similar way to how TV talent shows have shown us such as X Factor. They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want. However, there are whole markets out there who are not convinced by the hype and don't want to spend their money on blandness. The record industry also has a duty to provide bands and artists who are perceived as 'real' for these audiences. Pop stars are the product of their record company because they show individual costume style towards their fans to make them stand out and sell themselves for fans to buy their albums.
Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, and promote a certain ideology. Audience interest in these values enhances their 'star quality', and it is through conveying beliefs, ideas and opinions outside music that performers help create their star character to their fans. A star may start a fashion trend, with masses of fans copying their hairstyle and clothing. Stars benefit from cultural discourse for example, via their Twitter feed. Now more than ever before, social networks give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music. Lady Gaga tweets frequently about issues, and expects her “Little Monsters” (The name of which Lady Gaga calls her fans) to engage with that discourse just as much as she expects them to listen to her music.
On the other hand, pop stars establish their character and personality through songs and performance and will strive for immediate star identity with a first album. They appear to have more control over their character in that many of them write their own songs, and that their body of work develops, chronologically over time, along with society.
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