Pop Reinvention - Thesis

POP REINVENTION:

VISUAL AND CONCEPTUAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF FEMALE ARTISTS IN POPULAR MUSIC

STANISLAVA HOUDKOVÁ

Design Writing Research

BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Prague City University

School of Art & Design 2022/2023

Supervisor: Sarah Frost Mc Namara

Word Count: 5425

CONTENTS: Introduction 1 Artist Brand in the Music Industry 1 Pop Reinvention 1 Background 2 Roots of Pop Reinvention 2 Launch of MTV 2 Video Music Awards 5 Case Studies 6 Miley Cyrus 6 Bebe Rexha 10 Doja Cat 14 Sia 18 Analysis 21 Conclusion 22 References 23 Bibliography 25 Image References 27

POP REINVENTION

Fig. 1. Filip Kozak, Lady Gaga’s Evolution Through The Years, 2016

INTRODUCTION

ARTIST BRAND IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

In general, building a brand is considered a key part of being a musician in the current pop culture. Consisting of not only the sound, but various visual aspects and values such as music genre, artwork, attitude, story, goals and physical appearance, artist brand combines these elements in order to represent a person as an artist and communicate their music to their audience (O’Neil, 2020). For some, as Unlabeled Academy (2021) describes, it is the more complex part of releasing music: “One typical mistake that many artists make involves confusing branding with authenticity. ‘It’s all about the music, man’ is something you hear people say when discussing the image of a musician, for instance.” For others, a well thought-out branding can become a way to global success.

POP REINVENTION

“Consistency is everything in capturing and growing your audience, especially as an artist and musician,” stated Katy Goshtasbi in her blog about branding for musicians (2020). While some of the points about consistency made by experts are relevant such as avoiding brand confusion for emerging artists (Gornell, 2017), consistency shouldn’t be applied to all aspects of branding, especially for stable artists.

Thus the question is, why is it that most experts preach consistency in branding while some of the most memorable moments of pop icons were about breaking the rules and transforming? For instance, the world will never forget when Miley

Cyrus cut her hair short in 2012. Taylor Swift would not be the Taylor Swift people know today if it was not for her genre shift from country to pop the same year. Going back in history, can you imagine Madonna without her constant actions to push boundaries in entertainment? In fact, when thinking about these examples in female pop culture, we come to a realization that they all have something in common – a strategy that involves change.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, to reinvent oneself means to change the way you look and behave in order to become a different kind of person (2022). In the pop music world, the idea of reinventing is oftentimes the genesis of the promotional cycle for an upcoming album (Sinks, 2018). Pop reinvention is a strategy that relies on one or more changes applied to an artist’s visual style including their appearance such as hair or fashion, but also on changes coming from the inside – artist’s values, beliefs, what they stand for and what message they want to communicate. This way, together with the music release, a new chapter referred to as “era” is created which later becomes a segment in the chronological evolution of the artist’s career (Fig.11).

Although many experts stand for pure brand consistency and its importance, referring to recognition, memorability and trust (Marino, 2022), this might apply to other professions and businesses in general, but it certainly does not apply to musicians. Musician brand needs to be discussed as a separate topic and has to be applied to artists individually based on their uniqueness and long-term goals.

INTRODUCTION 1

Even though consistent branding is generally considered essential for musicians, in order to reach long-term success, female pop artists should consider utilizing the method of pop reinvention throughout their career which includes changing different visual and conceptual aspects and/or values in branding while maintaining consistency through them at the same time. In the long-run, pop reinvention is the method of building an evolution by creating concept eras linked to new music releases.

BACKGROUND

ROOTS OF POP REINVENTION

To fully understand the meaning of pop reinvention, it is necessary to look back at the roots of popular music. Beginning with the 1950s, icons such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Prince, David Bowie, and Madonna are those who come to mind. Defined not only traditionally by the sound of their music but also their overall visual image, they undoubtedly opened a new door in the music industry at that time. With a strong visual appeal, their approach to branding was initially very similar. However, most of their visuals evolved around the same theme throughout all her eras which is what differentiates all of them from Madonna’s approach to visual strategy. Comparing Michael Jackson’s and Madonna’s approach to visuals specifically, Movie Pilot stated: “Whilst MJ’s videos were strictly a promotional tool for his music, Madonna’s had become completely at one with her image, and arguably helped create a brand around her which was more important than her record sales.” (2015).

Thus, the one artist who dug her way through pop culture and defined the meaning of pop reinvention was Madonna, seemingly dividing the history of pop music into “pre-Madonna” and “post-Madonna”, as it is said by the Billboard staff (2018). In fact, she was the first female pop artist who has taken full control of her image which she evolved countless of times and stood strong behind a message she wanted to convey.

LAUNCH OF MTV

Madonna is a great example of an artist who started putting all means of communication to use at that time. She used every method of com-

munication possible to get into people’s awareness beginning with television. She realized the impact television had on younger audiences at that time and used it in her own convenience by incorporating storytelling into her music videos. This moment in particular is considered the beginning of building an artist’s image in digital media (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2018).

What enabled the arrival of music to television was undoubtedly the revolutionary establishment of the American cable channel MTV in 1981 which was dedicated solely to music content at that time. Thanks to that, music videos became the main focus of musicians and created an innovative way for them to connect to their audiences (CNN & Entertainment Weekly, 1998). “And like a march through time, MTV has brought us Madonna and more Madonna and even more Madonna,” stated the same report, emphasizing the effect the channel had on shaping artist’s careers at that time (Fig. 2). Increase in record sales was quickly noted. MTV started to be perceived as a platform for artists which supercharged the impact of using music videos as a marketing tool and pushed the visual aspect of music to become an important component of mainstream pop culture (Behr, 2021). “The enduring power of music videos is such that most of us can name several videos that are etched into our brain,” said Maria Vole in her article about MTV’s impact on its audience (2022). As MTV gave artists the push to create music videos for their singles, it refers to the start of building up a strategy where visuals become directly associated with music, often a specific song, album or a whole era.

POP REINVENTION 2

Fig. 2. National Museum of American History, MTV Advertisement Targeted at Musicians, 1982

Fig. 3. Richard Corkery , Madonna during a performance at MTV Video Awards , 1984

VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

The first MTV Video Music Awards ceremony took place three years after the launch of MTV. With the goal to celebrate the best of music videos each year, it became a lot more than that – a monumental show filled with revolutionary moments that helped shape today’s music industry. Such a defining moment was Madonna’s performance of “Like a Virgin” from her second studio album of the same name. Dressed in a provocative white-lace wedding dress, gloves and the famous “Boy Toy” belt, Madonna opened the first ever MTV VMA ceremony at New York City’s Radio Music Hall in 1984 from the top of a wedding cake, leaving the audience stunned (Fig. 3) (Herron, 2021; InStyle, 2007).

Despite being considered relatively tame by today’s standards, the performance was the beginning of a revolution to the point where not only music critics but also Madonna’s team speculated that her music career was over. However, what happened was the complete opposite. Instead of committing to the old standards, Madonna embraced the opportunity to create a moment.

With the concept of breaking traditional western wedding ceremonies that preached virginity, nobody talked about anything else but her shocking performance which resulted in Madonna’s hit “Like a Virgin” reaching number one on the Billboard chart when it was released. Eventually afterwards, there were more than fifteen Madonna songs charting on the same chart during one era. In addition to that, the album of the same name became the first album in history by a female artist which sold more than five million copies (Fig. 4). Needless to say this turned out to be the first of many defining moments in Madonna’s career that provided her not only with a path to success, but also shifted boundaries in the industry and stood for the freedom of expression for artists (Rossen, 2021).

With Madonna’s ability to reinvent herself countless of times and being the first pop artist to do so, she created a formula for her successors and shaped every aspect of the music industry the way it is today.

BACKGROUND 5

Fig. 4. On The Cover of a Magazine, Billboard 1985 Like a Virgin Award, 1985

MILEY CYRUS

POP REINVENTION 6

Reinvention itself can be as extreme as changing every part of an artist’s visual representation. It might not work for everyone, but it certainly worked for the former Disney-star Miley Cyrus whose career was already developed in 2013. For her, it was a way to push forward. When people think of Miley Cyrus today, she is not defined by being a teen Disney sensation anymore. That is thanks to her pop reinvention of the Bangerz era which she proudly calls “the movement” (Miley: The Movement, 2013).

However a few years before Bangerz, there was the title track of the Can’t Be Tamed album. Despite the rebellious meaning of the song and its music video with Cyrus trapped in a cage as a bird (Fig. 5), it did not break her out of her Disney image just yet. Regardless, it was already hinting at the big pop reinvention moment that happened three years after. The Bangerz era was obviously still yet to be planned, but Cyrus admitted that the connection between the two albums is actually very real: “I was already telling ya’ll that something was about to happen, that I wasn’t Hannah Montana,” Cyrus told Jimmy Fallon after several years (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2020, 3:23).

The reason why Can’t Be Tamed did not work the way Bangerz did is because there seemed to be no further thinking behind it: “She wanted us to know that she was breaking free of her former image, but she had no true backup plan yet,” (Unterberger, 2013). Comparing the two albums, the older record did not visually represent a change big enough for people to dissociate the popstar from Disney, they simply needed more. Despite the braver music video, Cyrus still looked the same and even though she knew she wanted to depart from her old image, she was not clear about who she wanted to become. Combined with the reality that her audience was still younger at that time, she decided to take a break. She had referred to her upcoming Can’t Be Tamed album: “I kind of want this to be my last record for a little while and be able to take a break and just get all the types of music that I really love… in a few years, as I grow up, so will my fans, and I won’t have to focus on that as much.” (Unterberger, 2013). It was not until 2013 when she cut her hair short and executed a vision of who she wanted to be with a stable direction where she was going. In her documentary, she mentions the importance of figuring this out first before record-

ing the music itself (Miley: The Movement, 2013).

The three-year-long break between eras did nothing less but intensified the moment. The song Cyrus chose to break her hiatus was the controversial “We Can’t Stop”, saying she felt like a new artist when it was released.

CASE STUDIES 7

Fig. 5. Maria-Editions, Miley Cyrus’ look in the music video for “Can’t Be Tamed”, 2010

The fact that it was a risky move is something she was more than aware of: “It was a way for me to find out if people trusted me,” (Miley: The Movement, 2013). “We Can’t Stop” was a party anthem that preached fun and freedom with the mention of several disturbing aspects such as recreational use of drugs (Miley Cyrus, 2013). Above all, the rebellious concept was kept for the music video which presents Miley in white tank top and tight leggings enjoying a house party with her friends. Some of the most controversial parts for its time of release include twerking in contrast to large teddy bears (Fig. 6), together with the symbol of tongue which all became symbols associated with the singer throughout the whole era (Miley Cyrus, 2013).

With the help of developing popularity of social media in 2013, Cyrus particularly made sure to make her fanbase feel part of the release by putting Twitter hashtags to use and interacting with them on the platform (Miley: The Movement, 2013). Reconnecting with her supporters created stability for the start of the revolutionary era. By accepting their favorite singer’s transformation, it might have become part of the reason behind the music success.

Visuals for the album Bangerz, which were fully controlled by Miley Cyrus herself, added onto the first single which created consistency throughout the reinvention era. Picking out vintage outfits with song titles on them combined with a modern customized collection of emojis helped create symbolism with fun elements that will always be associated with the record (Fig. 7). Bringing up the importance of visual changes and their meaning, Cyrus stated: “I needed to let go of the past in a way [...] I felt like we needed to see change. Everything that happens we need to see for our own eyes.” (Miley: The Movement, 2013), which also refers to the reason why she decided to cut her hair.

A notable moment in Cyrus’ movement era is her provocative performance of “We Can’t Stop” at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. After appearing inside of a large bear, the singer performed her hit single while twerking in a bodysuit among teddy bears. Dancing controversially with Robin Thick after was a cherry on top to have general public talk for weeks (Fig. 8) (Miley: The Movement, 2013). Using a strategy invented and commonly used by Madonna, Cyrus created a moment in the show that was heavily talked about afterwards.

Fig. 6. Louise Ellwood, One of Miley Cyrus’ looks in the music video for “We Can’t Stop”, 2013

“The public were left either scratching their heads or shaking them. Yet no one could look away,” wrote Henry when analyzing the singer’s Bangerz era (2018).

It is performances like these that push boundaries that create a moment positively or negatively perceived by the public. Cyrus said: “Everytime I do anything, I wanna be like : ‘This is what separates me from anybody else.’” With this, she came to a realization that everything she wants to do needs to be a moment – a stamp in an era (Miley: The Movement, 2013). The change she has gone through as an artist seems rather genuine to her as a human being. She wanted to take a different path artistically because she simply grew up. And so did her fanbase who followed her throughout the movement.

CASE STUDIES

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Fig. 8. Jeff Kravitz, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke performing at the Video Music Awards, 2013 Fig. 7. Vadim Axyonov, Bangerz Booklet Side One, 2014

BEBE REXHA

POP REINVENTION

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In contrast to reinventing, there remain individual elements through which an artist needs to communicate consistency – those, however, should be unique to every artist, their story and their goals. A good example of this is an American singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha who has been using consistency in values that she stands for since the very beginning of her solo career.

“Figure out who you are as a human and as an artist. The two should always coincide. [...] You take your human with you to all your shows. Your fans love your human,” says Katy Goshtasbi, an expert on personal branding (2020). With the release of one of her very first singles in 2014, Bebe Rexha managed to build her first fanbase. The raging powerful pop record “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy” is an anthem with a dark theme that stands for self-acceptance, which stepped against the pop mainstream at that time. Putting up the track on Spotify in 2014 when the platform was not internationally popular yet, the song achieved more than forty million streams without any promotional push which was life-changing for the up-and-coming artist (The View, 2021, 6:46).

Generally, a loyal fanbase is a crucial component of building a career as a musician. It adds to popularity, streams and above all, it gives the artist motivation and purpose (Ditto Music, 2022). Despite not necessarily becoming a global hit, “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy” was the start of Rexha’s fanbase – a group of young people who connected to the meaning of her song and its music video. “The song isn’t about being crazy,” Rexha explained in an interview for MTV, “It’s about people making you feel like you’re crazy ‘cause you’re [different]. We’re fighting to be ourselves in a world that’s trying to make us like everyone else.” (Paoletta, 2015). When the singer performed the track at the 2015 Vans Warped Tour across the United States, it was there where she learned the impact of the message she wanted to convey with that song (Fig. 9). Touching upon the importance of projecting her own experiences into her music in the form of songwriting, the singer explained: “It was nice hearing stories from mothers and their daughters coming to the show to tell me that this song had saved their lives.” (Bebe Rexha: The Ride, 2017, 18:33).

CASE STUDIES 11

Fig. 9. Grant Gouldon, Bebe Rexha performing for a small audience at the Vans Warped Tour, 2015

Bebe Rexha has continued to build her music upon her own experiences as a human being ever since, not trying to become a perfect pop star but rather disrupting pop mainstream. “When I’m completely honest and real in my songwriting process that’s when I notice people connect the most,” she commented (Menachem, 2015). Eventually, she brought consistency to a next level by releasing her sophomore studio album titled Better Mistakes solely based on her struggles with mental health (The View, 2021).

Through her songwriting, Rexha manages to ignite a sense of belonging and acceptance within her listeners and her music becomes their safe space (Rahman, 2015). By incorporating her humanity to her music, Bebe Rexha created a continuous bond with her audience which allows her to be extremely versatile in genre, visuals, and other reinvention aspects. Ideally, consistent

parts of branding as such should be well balanced with reinvention, with both aspects complementing each other to communicate messages the artist aims to convey. Rexha might not be on the global megastar level just yet, but her connection with her supporters is no doubt exemplary.

POP REINVENTION 12

Fig. 10. VK.com, Bebe Rexha (left) with a fan at her merchandise tent at Vans Warped Tour, 2015

Fig. 11. Gabe Becerra, Bebe Rexha interacting with the crowd at Vans Warped Tour, 2015

DOJA CAT

POP REINVENTION 14

Incorporating visuals and storytelling into eras is one of the absolute key elements to build an environment around an album. Elevating the strategy, an American rapper and singer Doja Cat (who had her breakthrough thanks to TikTok during the global pandemic) has managed to build a fictional world around her third studio album which almost felt like her debut (Spanos, 2021).

According to Garvey (2021), Planet Her was set to “mark her official transition from a viral internet weirdo to a full-on pop star”. However, with Doja Cat’s past that evolved around her chaotic social media presence and gaming, and later with her song “Say So” going viral on the popular platform TikTok in 2020, she managed to create a balance between showing her chaotic personality and becoming a pop star. Cat described the record as the first album that felt fully her own with the goal to embody her own kind of pop star: “I feel like people separate the pop star from the very humane, normal internet teen goofball kind of girl,” says Doja Cat. “I feel like they complement each other. There is no separation, in my opinion. I always looked at myself like, ‘I can do it.’ But I feel like people thought I was this goofy girl, and that’s all I could ever really be.” (Garvey, 2021).

Even before its release, Doja Cat has made sure to throw hints for the world she created for the upcoming album. “I haven’t been waiting for this my whole life, I was preparing. Welcome to Planet Her,” are the words that mark the beginning of the era which was first announced with the futuristic performance of “Say So” at the 63rd Grammy Awards in March 2021 (Trend Worled DX, 2021). A few months later, she sang a medley of three songs including the lead single “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The performance included rich storytelling where the singer walks in a cornfield and eventually gets abducted by aliens (dancers) who beam her up to their U.F.O., symbolizing the departure to Planet Her (Doja Cat, 2021; Sanchez, 2021).

The album came out in late June 2021 and presented a world unique to Doja Cat who described Planet Her as “the center of the fictional universe where all races and species live in harmony” (Zipper, 2021).

CASE STUDIES

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Fig. 12. Just Jared, Doja Cat dancing with alien dancers during performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, 2021 Fig. 13. Just Jared, Doja Cat flying up into a U.F.O.during her performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, 2021

Fig. 14. Nikola Kitanovski, Doja Cat (left) and SZA (right) in the “Kiss Me More” music video, 2021

The planet was thought out to be a reflection of Doja Cat’s values, introducing her as a pop star, but originally combining all aspects the general public was previously associating her with: “I wanted to kind of go outside of what I knew as pop aesthetic or rap aesthetic. I wanted to quite literally travel outside of the planet [...]. I wanted it to feel different. I wanted it to feel otherworldly.” (MTV News, 2021). By also incorporating her chaotic artistry that stemmed from the public’s confusion about who she was, Cat created a world that shaped her as a pop star but at the same time stayed true to her personality.

The worldbuilding did not end there. Using rich storytelling and a consistent color palette, all music videos released during that era were each meant to represent a different part of the planet. Mentioning Lady Gaga and Beyoncé as inspiration, Cat explained: “I would say what makes a music video iconic is the willingness to go outside of the box. [...] You can’t burn a message into someone’s mind without being innovative and traveling outside of what people expect.” (MTV News, 2021).

The lead single’s music video “Kiss Me More” presents the first full look into the mystical, feminine world where an astronaut from Earth arrives at Planet Her to explore the planet, yet gets trapped in a video game played by Doja Cat and SZA who rule the world (Fig. 14) (Doja Cat, 2021). The music video is a great example of building up on Doja Cat’s chaotic personality from the past. Other videos explore aspects such as the planet’s astrology, royal settings or modern city nightlife on the planet (Doja Cat, 2021).

Regardless of the different sounds of the tracks, Doja Cat managed to create a balance between sound versatility and visual consistency. On top of that, she let her audience peek into a fictional world with values true to her personality which embodied a new version of herself as a pop star. The Planet Her album is a great example of embracing all aspects of an artist’s personality and bringing that onto the next level with visual worldbuilding. Apart from going viral on TikTok all over the world, all five singles charted within the top twenty of Billboard Hot 100 and the album peaked at number two on US Billboard 200 (Wikipedia, 2023).

CASE STUDIES 17

Fig. 15. David LaChapelle, Doja Cat’s promotional photoshoot for Planet Her, 2021

SIA

POP REINVENTION

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In spite of making music for nearly 30 years and being recognized in Australia, Sia Furler’s desire was to work solely behind the scenes as a songwriter. Her breakthrough happened after the unexpected success of David Guetta’s “Titanium” in 2011 which she wrote and unknowingly got featured on: “I had worked so hard to be this cool, credible artist,” she says. “And then finally, I’ve retired to just work behind the scenes, and then I’m on, like, a cheesy pop house song.” (Aron, 2018). After that, she was required to release an album because of a publishing deal, which she eventually agreed to under the condition of having full artistic control and receiving no promotion as she had no desire to be famous (Aron, 2018).

The first single from the album, “Chandelier”, came out in 2014 and its video marked the first time Sia had worked with Maddie Ziegler – the dancer who has appeared in most of her videos and performances ever since. Ziegler danced in an abandoned building, portraying a character of a broken doll in a blond bob wig (Fig. 17) (Aron, 2018). After “Chandelier” became one of the most watched videos in history, Sia’s album 1000 Forms of Fear debuted at number one on the official Billboard 200 chart (Wikipedia, 2023).

The dancer, combined with Sia’s decision to wear a wig to protect her privacy (Fig. 16), have become key parts of Sia’s brand ever since (Freydkin, 2017). It almost seemed like the fame Sia feared was distributed among herself as the voice and Maddie Ziegler as the face (Fig. 18). The famous duo ended up collaborating on two albums which included global hits such as “Elastic Heart” or “Cheap Thrills”, multiple music videos and live performances, and a tour (Malkin, 2017).

After two successful albums, Furler formed a group titled “LSD” with artists Diplo and Labrinth in 2018 and released an album with several singles out of which some of them reached moderate success (Wikipedia, 2023). In 2021, her musical movie Music received strong backlash for starring Maddie Ziegler as an autistic character and her poor representation of people with autism, which overshadowed the music itself. The movie received several award nominations despite heavily failing in the market. The focus was fully on the backlash despite the singer’s explanations of not wanting to do a project without the young dancer (Gilang, 2022).

Sia has not been able to reach the level of success comparable to her previous albums since. Her decision to wear a wig and create a character to represent her visual image was special, but it became a continuous aspect of her brand that got visually too consistent as the years went by, resulting in the significant decrease of video views and streams, but also of public recognition of new releases due to the backlash. As of now, Sia’s image, brand as well as her next artistic steps remain unclear.

CASE STUDIES 19

Fig. 16. Jeff Vespa, Maddie Ziegler and Sia attend The 57th Annual Grammy Awards, 2015 Fig. 17. RCA, Maddie Ziegler in the music video for “Chandelier”, 2014

18.

Fig.

Mat Hayward, Sia Furler (left) and Maddie Ziegler (right) during a performance at Coachella, 2016

ANALYSIS

When observing some of the strongest moments of pop reinvention, the dominance of female examples cannot go unnoticed. It is true women are generally considered to have more options when it comes to makeup and fashion. However, Madonna has kept reinventing herself throughout her entire career while touching upon topics such as feminism, sexism or ageism (O’Brien, 2007). The question is, would she be as impactful on these issues if it wasn’t for her reinventions? To say the least, she would not be able to bring attention to them and to herself the way she managed to. One of the reasons might be the unequal treatment women get in the music industry both in the past and now. At the present moment, Taylor Swift referred to pop reinvention exactly in this sense in her Miss Americana documentary (2020): “The female artists that I know have reinvented themselves twenty times more than male artists. You have to – or else you’re out of a job.”

While analyzing examples of pop reinvention, it is necessary to understand the mindset of why particular things worked for such successful artists and what is the best way to utilize the pop reinvention method individually. In fact, individuality can be seen in all examples above. What worked for Miley Cyrus in the past might have not worked for Bebe Rexha when she first started out because their paths in their career were different, and the other way round. “You see everyone come and go but what’s gonna make someone last?” asked Miley Cyrus in her documentary (Miley: The Movement, 2013). Madonna discovered the importance of creating a moment which is something all the case studies have in common in

their own way. Beginning with Madonna, all artists above who utilized the method of pop reinvention in their career had to step out of the current definition of what a pop star was. They re-defined the meaning of a pop star, everytime. In Rexha’s time of breaking into the music industry as a solo artist, there was a lack of pop singers who talked about mental health struggles like she did. In the history of pop culture, no one had ever had another person represent their visual image like Sia did. Doja Cat brought visuals to a whole new level by creating a world out of the whole era.

Nevertheless, when studying the examples deeper, similar patterns are revealed. Showing us the importance of visual change, it was Cyrus’ boldness to take risks and create a whole new image for herself that enabled her to achieve her goal of being able to freely express herself through her artistry and not be associated with Disney anymore. Cyrus maintained consistency within that era which intensified the reinvention. She did that while genuinely showing fans who she grew into. That takes us to Bebe Rexha who has built a whole fanbase based upon the same quality and being authentic with her actions. Doja Cat did not forget to show her true personality through her innovative visual worldbuilding and kept visual consistency within the era just like Miley Cyrus. On the other hand, Sia visually reinvented by incorporating a character into her brand which represented part of her personality although she maintained excessive consistency for too long (throughout four eras) which may have resulted in decrease of interest of part of her audience.

ANALYSIS 21

CONCLUSION

Established and utilized by Madonna, pop reinvention is a method used by various pop artists who have reached a long-term form of worldwide success with their music. Their careers usually consist of several key moments which define specific eras in their career. These moments tend to push boundaries in the music industry as well as challenge the public’s perception of what a pop star should be. Changes within the method can be applied to visual and sonic aspects as well as values of the artist.

To successfully utilize the method of pop reinvention and build a new era for an artist, individual adaptation is required. It is essential for a creative director to fully understand not only the artist’s vision and goals but also their past album cycles and steps. Once applied, a level of consistency needs to be incorporated into the plan within the era.

Artists like Taylor Swift mention the negative aspect of being forced to reinvent to the point where the change does not feel true to who they are (Miss Americana, 2020). There has to be a genuine story to pop reinvention and has to be adapted in its own way according to the artist’s past career and future goals.

Pop reinvention is about finding balance between who you are as an artist and going out of your way to innovate – to redefine the meaning of pop star in your own way.

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