14 DAY TRIAL // When Miley Cyrus once said that, with the end of Hannah Montana, she would turn to a more “grown up” sound and image, few actually expected for her to stray completely from her Disney-set path. In the end, it is costing her millions of dollars in revenue and a large chunk of her fanbase.
Fox News sat down with a few media analysts, who looked at Miley’s career in terms of sales and popularity since she ditched her good-girl Disney image and embraced her wilder side.
As it turns out, fans are not digging her more recent image, mostly because, while she may have changed, her fans haven’t – their age remains the same, and they can’t tell the difference between Hannah Montana and Miley.
In other words, Miley’s transition from a child star to a successful adult artist is proving a lot more difficult than she could have ever imagined.
Instead of winning over more fans, she’s lost a large chunk of her previous fanbase which, in turn, translates to decreased album sales and lack of interest at the box office.
“Miley Cyrus should aspire to be on that level and the first step is hard work. Unfortunately, it seems she isn’t far from the path many young adults follow: exploring adulthood; testing the boundaries around them; and flirting with danger through reckless behavior,” Jason Maloni, crisis communication expert at Levick Strategic Communications, tells Fox News.
“I believe for the young fans who have grown up with her, while she is trying to assert her independence, she is alienating this one-time target audience,” Michelle Groover, Public Relations Professor at Georgia Southern University, states.
Groover believes Cyrus’ fans are all the more confused since Hannah Montana is still airing on TV and they’re too young to be able to tell Hannah and Miley apart.
Nevertheless, not all is lost for the once insanely popular Disney star, Maloni stresses. To be a hit still, she needs to work with the fanbase she already has and not go out of her way to alienate it.
“The road ahead for Miley is to master her craft. Whether her future lay in music or acting, she needs to be studying at the feet of the best producers and directors there are, and also, watching the older artists and performers around her to learn from their mistakes as well as their successes,” Maloni adds.