Music Video: Introduction
1) What is the purpose of a music video?
The purpose of a music video is to sell products, the most obvious of which is the song featured in the video. However, other connected products are also marketed by a music video.
2) How has the digital age changed the production and distribution of music videos?Prior to the digital age, allowing the audience full access to the product in the marketing was not too problematic. The song was only available at specified times in places which were approved of by the record company, such as on weekly television chart. The advent of such technologies proved to be problematic for the music industry as audiences were less inclined to buy a physical copy of a song if they could listen to it online for free. Initially, most
record companies fought against their artists’ music videos being available online and attempted to prosecute those who uploaded videos to YouTube for copyright infringement.
3) Which three major record labels are behind VEVO? What is VEVO and why was it created?
In America, three major recordcompanies, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media (along with content licensed by EMI), have also launched Vevo, a video hosting site specifically for music videos. The content of Vevo is syndicated to YouTube in the UK with YouTube and Google receiving a share of advertising revenue for directing users to the official versions of music videos rather than those uploaded by a
third party.
4) What are the key conventions of a music video?
-Movement is essential to music video and usually complements the rhythm of the song. Movement can be achieved by physically moving the camera, the people in the video moving and dancing or through speed of editing.
-A music video may have a narrative. The storyline may relate to the song’s lyrics and illustrate what is being said or be independent from the song and tell a different story.
-Most music videos feature the band or artist as they are also a product to be sold. The artist may be featured performing their music, either in the form of lip-syncing or playing instruments in the case of a band. The artist may also be featured but acting rather than performing, or the video may feature a combination of both.
-Music video is such a well established genre that it is possible for producers to play with the conventions by making references to the genre in general and to other music videos. This is called intertextuality.
5) How can narrative be used in music video? Give an example of a music video that uses a narrative.
A music video may have a narrative. The storyline may relate to the song’s lyrics and illustrate what is being said or be independent from the song and tell a different story. For example, I Was a Teenage Anarchist by Against Me! features a loose narrative which links to the song’s lyrics. The video features a young man running along
Venice Beach trying to avoid the police who are chasing him, indicating that he is a rebel or ‘anarchist’. Other videos have much more explicit narratives which are more closely linked to the song’s lyrics, such as Dilemma by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland which shows a girl moving into a house as Nelly sings: “I met this chick and she just moved right up the block.”
Music video is such a well established genre that it is possible for producers to play with the conventions by making references to the genre in general and to other music videos. This is called intertextuality. Such references may be very obvious, such as the way that the Blink 182 video for All the Small Things makes references to videos by pop artists such as Back Street Boys (I Want it That Way) and Christina Aguilera (Genie in a Bottle) by
directly copying scenes.
7) Why do audiences enjoy intertextual references in media products?
However, references can also be more esoteric and obscure, allowing the audience to feel pleasure when they recognize the reference. For example, the video for My Chemical Romance’s Teenagers features ‘alternative’ cheerleaders, which is reminiscent of the cheerleaders in the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.
Most fans of My Chemical Romance are likely to be familiar with Nirvana and this iconic video.
- Conventions (movement/narrative/artist)
- Intertextuality
- Representation
- Audience
The song Decode is from the film soundtrack for Twilight so it features clips from the film. The lyrics to the song have a narrative that matches with the narrative of the film as both are about troubled relationships from a girl’s perspective. The setting of a forest also compliments the film as the clips used show a forest similar to the one where the band are performing. The footage is cut to make it seem like the characters in the film and the members of the band are looking at each other, as if they are all in the forest at the same time. There is a great deal of movement in the video. Even when the singer is standing still and there is a medium close up of her singing directly to the camera, the background is moving. When the tempo of the song increases, the movement increases too and there are rapid cuts and fast camera movements to emphasise this. The band are shown performing the song as a group and the singer, Hayley Williams, is also shown lip-syncing alone whilst
looking at the camera. This makes it seem like she is singing directly to the audience, which is called direct address.
Hayley Williams, as lead singer, is shown the most in the video with the other members of the band shown much less frequently and from a greater distance. Williams is represented as being attractive but not especially feminine. She is wearing dark clothing that covers her body and is not stereotypically ‘girly’. This fits with the representation of Bella in Twilight who is very much the same. Williams’ hair colour is unusual and unnatural which shows she is ‘alternative’and links with the clothing codes of the genre of rock music. Her facial expressions link to the emotions expressed in the song which the audience are encouraged to think is about her as well as about Bella in Twilight.
The target audience for this video would be teenage girls as they are the primary audience for Paramore and Twilight. They may see Hayley Williams as a role model and like how she dresses or behaves. Heterosexual teenage boys may also like the video if they find Williams attractive or enjoy the band’s music. The target audience would probably also like other rock / emo bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. They are likely to dress in a similar way to the band and follow ‘alternative’ fashions. They would probably read magazines like Kerrang! and Metal Hammer and watch TV channels like MTV Rocks as these include the same
genres of rock music. The audience may also access the video on MySpace or via the record label’s YouTube channel (Fueled by Ramen).
The single Decode was released by Fueled by Ramen, which is the record label Paramore are signed to.However, the film Twilight was made by Summit Entertainment. The purpose of the music video was to advertise the film and to encourage people to buy the soundtrack. However, it also acted as an advert for Paramore and would have meant that more people heard them and possibly bought their albums. Decode was added to the Paramore album Brand New Eyes, which was released several months after Twilight, to encourage fans of Twilight to buy the album.
F. Gary Gray is an African-American film director who began his film-making career in the early 1990s making hip-hop music videos. He is often credited with being the first director to use many of the visual codes that would become prevalent in gangsta rap videos, such as low-rider cars, the ‘hood, basketball courts and gang colours. His 1993 video for Ice Cube’s It Was a Good Day features these conventions and is set in South Central Los Angeles, an area that is synonymous with early gangsta rap acts such as NWA (of which Ice Cube was originally a member).
10) How important do you think music videos are in the marketing and promotion of music artists today? Are music videos still essential to a band or artist's success? You need to form your own opinion here.
i believe that it is important as it conveys a narrative, which helps the audience picture of the idea of this song. This means that the audience get a sense of where the artist is coming from and what the lyrics means towards them. However, I do believe that the lyrics also can speak for itself so the music video doesn’t have to convey the message of the song as people can relate to it in a different way than maybe how the artist has written in.
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