Marketing a Pop Star

•  Social media can be key. If a music act is to claim an audience on social media then they have to charm them. One Direction is the perfect example of doing this. Interacting and engaging with the audience should not be underestimated.
• To a large degree the pop music industry is driven by the pre-teen market, with TVs and computers in their rooms and plenty of cash in their pockets. Appeal among this age group is key for many up and coming acts.
• Popularity in this genre often requires regular reinvention so that the act remains relevant to their core base while attracting new fans. This is more relevant on the pop music scene than other scenes because the initial fan base often stems from the pre-teens and they are growing and changing.
• Part of the success of the Korean pop star has been the crazy hair and sizzling dance moves that make them stand out from their Western counterparts.
• Korean pop stars have translated success in the Korean market to the Western market, partly through their willingness to engage on social media in a way western stars are unwilling to. Korean pop stars talk about their families and pets, post no makeup photos, and generally come across as approachable. This has translated into success for them.
• A lot of territory can be gained for a relatively low investment through maximizing a pop acts presence on YouTube.
• For international acts, many feel the key to successful marketing is looking to their culture and finding the things within it that they can capitalize on. The things that internationally will make people take note.
• Often with international groups it is about finding what is popular within the culture and marketing around that as part of the branded image for a particular culture.
• For a large part, consumers buy the brand as much as the music, so establishing a strong brand identity that marketing can be developed around is considered, by some, to be as important as the actual music itself, at least in terms of estabsing an act and gaining a following.

Summary

• As we continued our research in this area it became apparent that the marketing is about creating a strong brand identity. There appears to be no right or wrong in this regard. However, for international acts wanting to gain traction on the American market there is a need to find something that is going to act as a hook and appeal to the pre-teen market, such is the influence this segment currently has. There is a considerable amount of information available publicly in this regard.