Artist image

Palmer’s image will be very important to her brand. As a role model to young fans, her style, attitude and behaviour will be appropriate and sweet. She will wear a lot of pastel colours as these are considered pretty and youthful. I have gained inspiration from many similar celebrities in order to decide on a look which is right for my artist. Like Perrie Edwards from girl group Little Mix, Palmer is a pop artist with young, female fans. Edwards often wears bright colours, especially pink, and I think this is effective in reflecting her genre of music. Taylor Swift’s sensible but sweet lacy dresses are mature, yet pretty and girlish. This represents her as a perfect role model; she is not trying to be provocative, but instead is grown up in a matured way. Furthermore when wearing a shirt dress, she opts for a high neckline. This further shows her perfect balance between maturity and youth. I also want Palmer to have a slightly bohemian edge to her style, like Disney star Vanessa Hudgens. Hudgens is famous for her cute festival style, and I was inspired by her individuality. For Palmer, this boho look could include, perhaps, a lacy white crop top paired with patterned palazzo trousers. This style conveys a sense of peace and happiness. I also love how Blake Lively styles her hair, and think that her look would be perfect for Palmer. Her long blonde locks are reminiscent of a fairy-tale princess, and therefore are often considered desirable by young girls. A princess look would also present Palmer as a kind person. Being ‘likable’ is very important for pop artists, as fans are less likely to be avid music fans; the pop genre appeals to the masses, so listeners may not be just interested in the music. Pop artists are also more likely to have ‘megafans’ who want to know absolutely everything about their idol.

 

I have chosen Francesca Banat to present my artist. Her blonde hair is perfect for the role, and her skin tone looks great in both pastel and bright colours. She is very pretty and her appearance is very sweet, just as Palmer’s should be. She simply looks like a kind person. I also think she will very good at performing because she is a good actress. She is also the correct age, as Palmer is supposed to be 18 and Francesca is 17. Therefore she will look like a teenage pop artist. Furthermore she doesn’t look too young; she looks mature, and thus like a good role model for children to idolise.

 

 

Artist Background

Lily Palmer

Lily Elizabeth Palmer (born September 15, 1996) is a British singer from Sheffield. She has a sister, Amelie, who is two years older than her. Her Grandmother is Lithuanian and her Grandfather is Polish. When she was 12 years old, Palmer created a band along with her sister, cousin (Joe Richards) and his friend. They called themselves Vivid Panic and performed at school and busked around Sheffield. The band lasted for three years before Richards and Palmer were left as a duo.  

When Palmer was 16 Vivid Panic auditioned for the ninth series of The X Factor in Manchester, singing a version of fun.’s Some Nights with Richards on the guitar and back up vocals. The performance was greatly praised by the judges, with Nicole Sherzinger in tears and Louis Walsh saying “you guys have pure talent; amazing vocals”. They also received a standing ovation from the audience. They again wowed the judges at Bootcamp, singing Beyoncé’s Crazy in Love as a cappella, sending them to Las Vegas with Walsh for the Judges’ Houses stage of the competition. There they performed Carly Rae Jepson’s hit Call Me Maybe, sending them through to the live shows. Unfortunately before the inaugural show, Richards became ill and was unable to continue. After much deliberation, Walsh made the controversial decision to carry on mentoring Palmer as a solo artist, despite her now fitting into the Girls category rather than the Groups.

 

Palmer made it to the final having only one being in the bottom two once (where the judges voted for her over Rylan Clark). After meeting Ed Sheeran when he performed on the show in the sixth week, he agreed to join her for the duet in the final. The two sang a rendition Sheeran’s Give Me Love. At this point she was eliminated, coming third overall in the competition.

After two years recording. Palmer is releasing her debut single Shake It Off, which is mostly directed at those who criticised her during her unusual X Factor journey.   

Name Choice

Lily Palmer

 

I chose the name Lily Palmer for my artist, because I think it is quite ordinary. This highlights that my artist is down-to-earth and relatable. The name is also very feminine, with natural connotations (with lilies and palm trees being plants). I think this will suit my artist’s target audience, because it will show young girls that ordinary people like them can be successful. Furthermore lilies are supposed to reflect beauty, purity and innocence. Palm trees are considered exotic, so this suggests that Palmer’s talent is new and exciting.

Pop Artist Research: Amelia Lily

Amelia Lily

Amelia Lily is a nineteen year old English pop artist. Yet to release her debut album California in November, she has already released successful singles; You Bring Me Joy reached number 2 in the UK. However she has scrapped this first album (Be A Fighter) as she wanted to go in a “different direction”.

Lily was brought to the public’s attention on talent show the X Factor aged 16. In her audition she sang Piece of My Heart (originally performed by Erma Franklin) and received praise from the judges. She progressed all the way to the live shows, however there was no public voting in the opening show and Lily was eliminated by her mentor, Kelly Rowland. However she returned for the sixth show after another contestant was disqualified. The public voted her back in, and she won nearly 50% of the votes. Lily reached the show’s final and came third.

At the start of the live shows Lily was made over and given pink hair. This clearly reflects her target audience of young girls, as pink is often considered very feminine. The bubble-gum colour made her stand out as an artist and suited her genre of music. It also makes her look fairly young, which means that her target audience can relate to her. While originally dying it back to blonde after the show finished, Lily has since gone back and forth between pink and blonde locks.   

Lily has supported Girls Aloud and Olly Murs on their tours. Both of these acts have similar demographics of listeners, so these were good opportunities to attract a larger fan base.  Her overall public image heavily presents her as a sweet girl; her youth suggests that she is nice, while sometimes giving her appearance a grungy look also suggests that she is quite tough. This combination presents her as a good role model for her fans.   

 

Pop Artist Research: Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande 

Ariana Grande is an American singer and actress aged 21. She rose to fame in 2009, playing Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon’s Victorious.  She also starred in a spin-off sitcom with iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy; Sam & Cat from 2012 to 2014. While enjoying acting, she has stated that “music has always been first and foremost with me”. Grande collaborated with Mika on his Popular Song, which is based on Popular from the musical Wicked. Her debut album Yours Truly was released in 2013 and her second album My Everything was released in August.

 

Grande’s fan base is mostly comprised of young girls, most of whom watched her Nickelodeon shows. Unlike similar teen idols, Grande’s public image is considered appropriate for her fans. Instead, she receives attention for her music rather than her sexuality. While she often wears crop tops and miniskirts on stage, this is much less provocative than many analogous artists (such as Miley Cyrus), whom tend to wear much less clothing. Furthermore Grande’s signature go-go boots are knee high, and considerably reduce the amount of skin she is actually showing. This look establishes her as a suitable role model, and infers that she has a correspondingly sweet personality.

Part of Grande’s signature look is her famous ponytail. Across social media platforms, users criticised her for never changing her look. This led Grande to explain her reasoning on her Instagram profile. During her portrayal of Cat Valentine, the director asked her to dye her hair red so that not all of the female characters were brunettes. So for four years Grande had to bleach and dye her hair every two weeks, which “completely destroyed” it. The ponytail also makes her hair extensions look more natural; this long hair gives Grande a princess-like appearance, fitting with her sweet public image.

Grande is an avid user of social media, using it as a way to communicate with fans. She is well known for her ‘selfies’, and for constantly expressing her gratitude to her fans. By communicating with her fans, Ariana creates a sense of familiarity with them and reinforces her friendly public image. Her selfies and informal language are typical of teenage girls; her fan base. This makes her appear relatable and attracts her target audience. Her diehard fans are often referred to as Arianators.

Pop Artists Research: BEYONCÉ

BEYONCÉ

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is a 33 year old American singer and actress. As a solo artist she has sold 118 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. In total she has won 17 Grammy awards. Her musical influences include Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Whitney Houston. She is also a successful actress and has starred in many films, including Dreamgirls and The Pink Panther. Being known mononymously is very powerful as it suggests that she is incredibly famous. It also provides a sense of intimacy, as if everyone is on first-name terms with her. This therefore gives her a friendly image.
 

Beyoncé first rose to fame in 1997 as part of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child. That year their debut song Killing Time was featured on the Men in Black soundtrack, and the group went on to be incredibly successful. Four of their singles went to number 1 in the U.S., and their third album Survivor reached number 1 in seven countries worldwide.

 

Beyoncé has described herself as a “modern-day feminist”, with her public image strongly presenting her as an independent woman (coincidently this is the name of a Destiny’s Child song- reinforcing this idea). She also has an alter-ego called Sasha Fierce. Beyoncé says that it is Sasha who performs on stage, as she is not “aggressive” or “sassy” enough.  There was a very regal theme to the marketing of her Mrs Carter Show World Tour, referencing her independence but also suggesting superiority to other artists.

 

Her beauty is a very important side to Beyoncé’s public image. Wearing revealing clothing onstage, she has become a sex symbol. People magazine named her “World’s Most Beautiful Woman” in 2012, and GQ chose her to top their “100 Sexiest Women of the 21^st Century” in 2013. Beyoncé’s image is a careful balance; she does not overly sexualise her image, and remains a strong role model to young girls. However by owning her beauty Beyoncé draws in a male fan base; listeners who may not be interested in her music. Furthermore, girls will look up to her because they will aspire to be a beautiful, independent woman like her. In addition Beyoncé’s healthy, curvy figure presents a positive image as it encourages girls to make healthy choices; unlike many skinny celebrities, Beyoncé’s figure does not motivate girls to starve themselves. She is definitely a promoter of being natural, as in 2013, Beyoncé criticized H&M proposing "retouching" of images of her. Furthermore according to Vogue Beyoncé demanded that only "natural pictures be used”.
 

 

In 2008 Beyoncé married Shawn Carter, aka American rapper Jay-Z. Their marriage is one of the most high profile celebrity marriages, and draws a lot of public attention. Despite this the pair have been reasonably private about their relationship. This shows that they are down to earth and also creates intrigue.
Beyoncé’s fan base is called The Bey Hive, a name chosen by fans afters petitions on twitter. The competitions were so popular that there were online news reports. Many artists name their fan bases, however this is mostly distinctive of pop artists.

Song Choice 4: Ella Eyre- Comeback

This song would be great for a music video because it is so powerful. I would create a narrative based video, showing various relationships involving the same man. It would start showing one relationship, with some dialogue before the song starts about their relationship being so fantastic. This relationship would also involve the artist. From here I would follow the man go from one woman to another, with all being seemingly happy relationships. This would be interwoven with some performance elements from the artist. Finally all women would confront the man, and the video would end with him running away from them.