Sick of the Jonas Brothers? Want to strangle Miley Cyrus? Does Selena Gomez grind your gears?
You can do what I do every time something unfortunate happens in my life: blame Hilary Duff.
In 2003, the crossover success of The Duff (television and music) led to the development of what we now refer to as the big tween movement of the 2000s. Duff became the prototype for how to build the perfect tween star: someone who could occupy the film and television market while simultaneously putting out music.
In 2003 Lizzie Maguire was the Disney Channel's biggest hit. The Lizzie Maguire Movie was making waves at the box office. And to top it all off, Duff began transitioning into a career in music with the album Metamorphosis selling a ridiculous 4 million copies. Simply put, Hilary Duff was everywhere, occupying all mediums at all times. The connection the kids develop for the TV persona, carried over to the albums. To put it in perspective:
- The kids love Hannah Montana, so they love the star, Miley Cyrus.
- They love Miley Cyrus, so they love Miley Cyrus's music.
It's a brilliant formula for success. What Disney has affectively done is created a new version of the classic star system. Instead of pimping their shows, they're pimping the stars IN the shows. If you ever watch Disney Channel, it's incredible how they market their movies and events. They make these teen stars out to be friggin' celestial bodies. When they're not starring in a TV show, they're starring in a movie. When they're not in a movie, they're recording songs for the "Radio Disney Jams Mixtape".
It's insane. But it's also quite genius. You establish a familiarity, and spread the love across all platforms. I want to hate it, because it's so fucking cold and calculated, but I have to admire it.
Not surprisingly, Nickelodeon has tried to duplicate this formula with its own tween star, Miranda Cosgrove, but her music career hasn’t exactly been taken seriously like Miley’s. What makes this even more ironic is that iCarly is far better than anything on the Disney Channel, save Phineas and Ferb.
....You know, I should really get a life.
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