A music video is a short film combining a song and moving images, produced for the promotion of an artist. Modern music videos are primarily as a marketing tool to promote the sale of music records. Also songs are used to tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become a promotional device not just a song. Since YouTube has been created, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers or use other social media sites to endorse their new song and music video. Because of the promotional aspect to these music videos, YouTube has now been made into a social media platform for artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.
Music videos use a wide range of styles of contemporary video making techniques. Also numerous music videos interpret scenes from what the song's lyrics are, but others make no connection to what the songs meaning and lyrics are and make a complete unsystematic idea.
As mentioned before, music videos have become a huge place where product placement is seen in almost every mainstream video. They are always present as the artist is usually linked or connected or sponsoring a product or brand. A huge example of product placement is the Beats Pill being featured in numerous videos across YouTube. The emphasis on product placement is something that has come around due to the global scale music videos can reach because of websites such as YouTube. TNC’s use these video’s as a promotional tool for their products. In addition to this, music videos illustrate various scenarios and world views. Cultures and traditions have been created through music videos. These can enforce the norms and traditions, however, the most influential artist have become trend setters enabling them shift culture.
Conventions of a Pop Music Video
The convention of a pop music video is that pop is a very mainstream genre of music, therefore everything in it and the theme of the video will be very mainstream, for example, costume. Artist’s clothes in pop music videos are all very fashionable and what the style is in that current situation. Within the pop industry, it tends to follow the most popular trends rather than being anything different and being something unique. In the video, artists are usually very happy, dependant on the song they have made, but many conventions of a pop song is that they are cheerful and upbeat songs. In a pop music video there is usually bright lighting or some sort of bright costume to make the video stand out and appeal to their target audience.
There are usually links between the lyrics and what is being shown on the screen. However, if this wasn’t the case many videos have a story unlinked to what the song is saying. Although some music videos do follow a narrative, the artists usually do perform in some way as they do want to be linked to the song and video, as the video can’t be full of narrative otherwise it would become boring. Also many pop artists connect with their audience, which are teenagers so therefore the artists usually emphasise the link they have with teenagers. Many music videos include people partying as this is stereotypical of what teenagers enjoy. Also the actors that star in the music videos if the artist isn’t are usually young and famous and it appeals to the target audience.
Andrew Goodwin
1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals; illustrating or amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
2. A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals; illustrating or amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
3. Genre – related style and iconography
4. Artist’s image – multiple close up shots of the main artist(s)
5. Voyeurism – especially in relation to females
6. Intertextual references to other media texts.
With Goodwin’s theory I will apply what he has said to my analysis to see if all these characteristics are present in the music videos I analyse.
No comments:
Post a Comment