Female Pop Music Essay

Female pop stars have been a force to reckon with within the modern music industry and have dominated music charts around the globe. Each female pop star creates her own unique sounds, lyrics and catchy music to entice a fan base to follow them. However, are female pop stars really that different? Jennifer Lena argues in "Chapter 2: Three Musics, Four Genres: Rap, Bluegrass and Bebop Jazz" that "music histories are full of hints that there is a pattern to the evolution of communities of sound" (2012: 27). This idea leads us to believe that while female pop stars are thought to have their own styles, careers and own sound in the pop music industry, they all follow a similar pattern in their careers. There is a lifecycle to the female pop star …show more content…
"Artists generate income from sales, licensing, merchandise, and product endorsements, and this often drives aesthetic decisions" (Lena, 2012: 41). This could also influence their decision to change their image or brand as a way to promote themselves, their brand, and their music. The ways that female pop stars choose to rebrand themselves may differ, but the cycle in which they brand themselves generally follows similar patterns. In this sense, the life cycle of female pop stars could be described as a paratext because "paratexts tell us what to expect" (Gray, 2010: 26). Female pop stars try to use their brands as ways for consumers to connect with them through the meanings of their brands. Similarly, audiences can create meanings from the construction of female pop stars brands. Female pop stars brands are important for their audiences and important for the paths their careers take and the longevity of their careers. Though each female pop star may brand themselves differently, their careers all follow similar patterns and they have to rework their brand around different stages of their