ARTIST RESEARCH By Catherine White

Miley Ray Cyrus (Destiny Hope Cyrus) was born on November 23rd 1992. She is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter who achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.

Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana in 2006 and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus in 2007, released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol.

In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful.

Miley Cyrus began her foray in to film by being the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt in 2008. She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009. The Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.

She began to cultivate an adult image in 2009 with the release of The Time of Our Lives, an extended play which presented a more mainstream pop sound, and by filming The Last Song in 2010. The former included Cyrus's best-selling single, "Party in the U.S.A.".

A studio album titled Can't Be Tamed was released after, and presents a new dance-pop sound. The music video and lyrics of the album's lead single, "Can't Be Tamed", portrays a more sexualized image for the entertainer.

Miley Cyrus’s character from the Disney Channels hit show ‘Hannah Montana’ had established it’s brand image with Miley Cyrus dressed in a blonde wig that she wore when playing the role of ‘Hannah Montana’. When Disney announced plans to release Hannah Montana products (clothing, jewellery, apparel, and dolls), Miley Cyrus would always be present on the product, wearing the same blonde wig. Other ways in which they established Hannah Montana was a guitar and microphone which was usually printed on most of the products they sold.

As Miley Cyrus has grown older, and is no longer filming Hannah Montana, she has been given the chance establish who she really was as a person and no longer as a young girl who is living her dream as a pop star. Due to this, Miley Cyrus’s brand image has drastically transformed and is no longer as commercial as it was before. Miley Cyrus’s brand image is herself, which is what has been used on all albums and single’s she has released. Miley Cyrus is usually shown with her very long, thick hair, and tight revealing clothing which is usually black, and heavy dark eye make up. These are all present mostly in Miley Cyrus’s album ‘Breakout’ where feathers are also a way in which she has established her brand.

Throughout the years of Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus’s audience mostly consisted of white American young girls aged 6-14. The programme Hannah Montana appealed to this audience as they were all similar ages, the same race, and have the same culture to the main character, and therefore can relate to her. Miley Cyrus’s target market however, was not only young girls, but also parents who could look at Miley Cyrus as a role model who they’re children could look up to.

Miley Cyrus’s target audience obviously changed as she grew older, but this became most apparent when she did a photo shoot for Vanity Fair in 2008. Firstly, the magazine itself is mostly aimed towards sophisticated women in their 20’s to 30’s which many understood was not the audience of which Miley most appealed to. The pictures taken in the photo shoot showed a much edgier side to Miley, with one photo where Miley is wearing nothing but a sheet to cover her up. This caused a lot of controversy as at the time, Miley was still filming Hannah Montana.

Now, Miley Cyrus’s target market is white teenage girls who are mostly older than her previous audience. Her music is mostly about being a happy-go-lucky young woman and her relationships with boys. Although Miley Cyrus’s audience is mostly girls, boys also have a large impact on Miley Cyrus’s fame. Her new look appeals to many men as well due to her long hair and revealing clothing. This is shown through her hair, make up, and costume in her most recent music video ‘Who Own My Heart’. Miley Cyrus appears on a bed with wearing nothing but her underwear and a vest.

Releases

Studio Albums 3

Live Albums 3

Compilation Albums 2

EPs 1

Singles 18

Video Albums 2

Music Videos 11

Soundtracks 5

Remix Albums 2

Promotional Singles 10

Studio Album Chart Positions

US AUS AUT CAN DEU ESP IRL NOR NZ UK

Meet Miley Cyrus 1 20 13 3 - 46 - 8 6 8

Breakout 1 1 12 1 24 7 11 15 2 10

Can’t Be Tamed 3 4 2 2 4 1 5 8 2 8

This table shows that in this case, most of Miley’s audience are from the US. This is most probably because this is where Miley is from and therefore, they all understand and have the same culture. Country and dance pop music is usually always in the top charts in the US, which is in the genre of which Miley Cyrus’s songs are usually in.Miley Cyrus has not been as successful in countries such as Germany. This is probably because her songs are in English, and the difference in American culture to theirs.

I have chosen an example to discuss the production of one of Miley Cyrus’s most famous singles ‘Can’t Be tamed.’

The song was co-written by Cyrus, Antonina Armato, Tim James, Paul Neumann, and Marek Pompetzki and produced by Armato and James, though it was primarily written by Miley Cyrus. It was released on May 18, 2010 by Hollywood Records .

Music VideoThe music video for "Can't Be Tamed"' was directed by Robert Hales. The dance routines were choreographed by Jamal Sims. Miley Cyrus and Sims conceived the plot for the video together and proposed it to Hales, who "envisioned it the way they did”.

The music video was shot on April 10 and April 11, 2010 at Sony Studios in Culver City, California.

Cyrus' make-up artist, Denika Bedrossian, focused on the singer's eyes; he used "rich jewel-toned shades" and eyelashes with feathered tips to give Cyrus a "deep peacock eye". In cut-scenes, Cyrus wears a corset made of 2,400 silver metal pieces and numerous peacock feathers. It was designed by The Blonds, debuted during their fall 2010 fashion show, and cost $25,000.

The song my partner and I have decided to use for our coursework is ‘Girls Just Wanna To Have Fun’ by Miley Cyrus. It is a track from her sophomore album ‘Breakout’ and is a cover of the 1983 mega hit ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ by Cyndi Lauper.

Released 18th October 1983 by Cyndi Lauper

Recorded 1983 at Record Plant

Genre Pop

Label Epic, Portrait, CBS

Writer Robert Hazard

Producer Rick Chertoff, William Wittman

Cost of Original Music Video

Less than $35,000

Tegan and I have chosen this song as it fits well in to the genre we have chosen; ‘Dance Pop’. It is also similar to the song we chose for our preliminary video, which gives us many ideas for what we can do for our final music video.