Researching Music Videos
What is a music video?
Before I started to write my pitch, I researched music videos and their history, conventions, genres and purpose. This helped me gain a better understanding of the music video industry. A music video is a short film used to accompany an artist's music. The lyrics and rhythm of the music typically matches the visuals in a music video.
Before I started to write my pitch, I researched music videos and their history, conventions, genres and purpose. This helped me gain a better understanding of the music video industry. A music video is a short film used to accompany an artist's music. The lyrics and rhythm of the music typically matches the visuals in a music video.
What is the purpose of music videos:
Brief history of music videos:
There were earlier adaptations of the concept of music videos such as, musical short films like “the little lost child” in 1894 and “screen songs” in the 1930’s. However, “Stranger in Paradise” by Tony Bennett, released in 1956, is considered to be the first proper music video. The artist himself claims in his autobiography to have created “the first music video”, wherein he was filmed walking through Hyde Park in London, with the song set as the background track. Yet, critics debate that “A hard day’s night” by The Beatles established the basic vocabulary for contemporary music videos. The film showcased The Beatles in live performances with a live audience. Released in 1964, it revolutionized the world of music videos.
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Before 2005 audiences did not have YouTube to view, like and share music videos, instead they had TV programs such as Top of the Pops and MTV that showed music videos from different artists. Top of the Pops helped indie artists promote their singles, which promoted their albums. Bands and solo artists came on to Top of the Pops for a live performance with a live audience.
Famously on August 1st, 1981 MTV aired its first ever music video – ironically called “Video killed the radio star” by The Buggles. MTV enabled independent artists to showcase their music videos to an audience, which helped them gain popularity. Hence, MTV and Top of the Pops revolutionized the development of music videos and how they were used to promote the artist and their music.
Music videos started to play a central role in marketing and many artists like Madonna used their music videos to build a reputation for themselves and create an image. Madonna used seductive sex appeal in her music videos to promote her albums, making her an iconic figure.
Famously on August 1st, 1981 MTV aired its first ever music video – ironically called “Video killed the radio star” by The Buggles. MTV enabled independent artists to showcase their music videos to an audience, which helped them gain popularity. Hence, MTV and Top of the Pops revolutionized the development of music videos and how they were used to promote the artist and their music.
Music videos started to play a central role in marketing and many artists like Madonna used their music videos to build a reputation for themselves and create an image. Madonna used seductive sex appeal in her music videos to promote her albums, making her an iconic figure.
Before the Internet existed, and before YouTube enabled people to watch and listen to their favorite musicians and music videos, VHS tapes, cassettes and DVDs had to be physically purchased from music stores. However today audience interaction with music videos has changed as people have become more active in the sense that the audience can choose what they want to watch. Demand websites such as YouTube and Vimeo allow people to watch music videos of their favorite artists whenever and wherever they want for free. This has lead to a decline in the popularity of music TV programs such as MTV.
The purpose of releasing music videos for free on YouTube and on programs like MTV is to promote the artist’s music and to interest and persuade the audience to buy the album. With apps such as YouTube, Vevo, Spotify and Tidal, it is easier that ever to access and purchase music videos. Music videos were originally intended as a marketing tool
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to promote sales of records, but today they can be used to market, entertain and provoke thought within the audience. Companies such as Vevo, benefit big artists by avoiding copyright infringements and giving them the freedom to freely publish their music videos on YouTube, while getting the right amount of revenue back.
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Sensationalism was used to create controversy that caught the attention of people, urging interest in that artist’s work – it got people talking about it. Today a catchy beat and rhythm or a good music video aren’t enough; instead controversy and word of mouth are two very important things that help give the artist more exposure, boosting sales. Controversial music videos such as “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift and Psy’s “Gangnam Style” both have over 2 billion views on YouTube, these music videos have gone viral as they have gained a massive amount of views, likes and shares within a very small period of time. Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" music video became popular due its visuals and narrative, which featured several big celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham and Serayah McNeill.
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Product Placement:
One of the earliest cases of product placement dates back to 1919. The Garage, a short 25 minute film starring Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle featured a sign that read Zerolene Oils and the logo of the Red Crown Gasoline. This product placement was criticised by Harisson's report in the early 1920's, and then the trend grew.
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Product placement could be seen in films such as The Shining, promoting Heinz products, A Clockwork Orange, E.T, and many more. This trend grew to reach music videos. MTV was synonymous with music and music videos and from its launch in 1981, MTV prohibited blatant plugs in the music videos they featured. This would result in the artist having to provide MTV with a music video devoid of any marketing messages, or blur them. However, with the rise of Napster that allowed file-sharing, the music industry economy dropped from $27.3 billion to $15.9 billion.
Today, large companies such as Youtube and Vevo have become a musical juggernaut and are "leading a renaissance in the music industry". Moreover, the CEO of Vevo said, their company aims to enable product placement in music videos, unlike MTV, since the company "works as a conduit between the world's largest music companies and brand marketers".
Today, large companies such as Youtube and Vevo have become a musical juggernaut and are "leading a renaissance in the music industry". Moreover, the CEO of Vevo said, their company aims to enable product placement in music videos, unlike MTV, since the company "works as a conduit between the world's largest music companies and brand marketers".
Big artists such as Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga have used product placement in their music videos to generate more income. Companies such as Beats By Dre, Coca Cola, Samsung, and many more have spent billions on product placement in music videos alone. This can be harder for smaller, independent artists, who use music videos differently than Mainstream artists; instead they use it to generate more interest in their music and build their star image, not just to promote sales. Independent acts can be a gamble for music companies because the music video may result in bad return on an investment, as it may not be popular enough. Social media has benefited independent artists because it enables them to reach out to new audiences and create a buzz for their work.
Product Placement and brand dealerships in music videos were, at first quite non-traditional and therefore unpopular, lowering the music video's artistic value. However, today's product placement has become a norm in the music video industry. According to Isthmus.com by Jessie Short, "it is a popular way for brands to effectively get their product awareness to an accurately targeted and easily accessible audience". When artists feature certain brands in their music videos, those products are often endorsed by the artist and they are relevant to the music video's narrative, concept and performance, example: Case Study 1 - Hair by Little Mix (see below). However, sometimes when done inefficiently, product placement in music videos can greatly lower its artistic value along with the artist's who is endorsing them. If the endorsed product is not relevant to the the music video, lyrics or artist's image, audiences may assume that the artist is only promoting the product for a paycheck and does not actually consume the brand in reality, this often does not sit well with audiences and instead of increasing sales of the product, may result in a decline. Sometimes the brands being advertised can overshadow the creativity and artistry of the music video. Consumers expect an artist's work to be a direct reflection of their actual selves, therefore, some feel that product placement is unethical, while others argue that it can help brands reach a much larger, accurately targeted demographic.
Case Study: Hair by Little Mix
The music video for Hair by Little Mix features GHD hair straighteners and a blowdryer, which is effective because GHD is a company that makes hair care products. This song is about hair and so, the brand slots in perfectly with the music video when the girls start to style their hair; the hair straighteners don't just come out of nowhere and look out of place. It is obvious, but effective product placement. This music video helps GHD reach out to a larger, targeted female audience aged 12-25, who not only are interested in Little Mix's music but also may be attracted to GHD and their products featured in the video.
Synergy:
GhostbusterMusic videos are ideal for promoting not just the artist and their music, but also the work of a director or a company. Two forms of media such as a music video and a film can work together to create a video that helps promote both with a greater impact on the audience, this is known as synergy. A great example is Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr. who sang the iconic Ghostbusters theme song in 1984. The music video featured short clips from the film Ghostbusters, including a cameo with the main cast at the end. This music video became intensely popular and an therefore, an icon, helping promote both Ray Parker Jr. and Ghostbusters the film. It also helped promote the director of Ghostbusters, Ivan Reitman, and his directorial style as also directed the music video.
A music video helps provide synergy for the artist starring in it. A popular music video helps them to expand their audience and income, but also serves to increase their power in the industry. Synergy is effective because it make the music video more interesting, the audience gets more entertainment and it helps them figure out the stories and themes of the film, while increasing the artist's income from that music video. Synergy can also help artists build up their fan base and promote their music through mass media on YouTube, MTV, social media, iTunes, Spotify, etc.
Analyzing Different styles of Music Videos:
- Narrative (Brief Analysis)
- Performance (Brief Analysis)
- Hybrid (In-Depth Analysis)
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Narrative Music Video - Part of Me by Katy
A narrative music video features a visual story that is easy to follow. The lyrics of the song are often reflected in the visuals, for example, at 0.40 Katy Perry is driving with she the lyrics say "I want to drive away"; and then she exchanges her phone for a military uniform when the lyrics sing "just wanna throw my phone away". Also at 2:01, "that was then and this is now", we see a side mid shot of her at a carnival shooting a water gun, and
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at, "look at me" the scene cuts to her shooting an actual gun at a military camp. Narrative music video often mirror the film genre, "Part of me" mimics the romance and coming of age film genre. This style of music videos often conveys a deeper meaning to it audience, "Part of me" conveys the message to young girls and women that they can do anything if they try. The main target audience for Katy Perry's music that consists of females aged 10-30 will see Katy go from a conventionally feminine appearance - with a dress, long hair, jewelry, and makeup to, joining the military and having short hair, more masculine clothing, and stripped bare of all materialistic possessions of luxury. This connotes that no matter who you are, or however hurt you may be, you can always change your life and make it better. It also uses Levi-Strauss' binary opposites of femininity and masculinity.
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Often a narrative music video will feature a performance by the artist. At 3:07 Katy Perry is standing underneath a large flag of the USA and singing along to the lyrics, this emphasizes that this is her original work and that she supports the message in the narrative. Since this music video has a simple narrative it is easy for the audience to follow along and emotionally engage with the characters, their story, and the message behind it.
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The narrative of Part of Me follows Todorov's narrative structure. The equilibrium shows Katy in a relationship with her boyfriend; the disruption shows up as she finds out he is cheating on her with another woman at work; this is followed by the recognition that Katy needs to fix herself and dull the pain of her broken heart, she is inspired by an advert for joining the Marines; Katy starts to repair her narrative by joining the Marines meanwhile trying to recover from her broken heart. The end of the music video shows Katy settling into a new equilibrium with her new life serving her country as a Marine, singing under an American flag; the artist is therefore, also promoting a patriarchal message of love for her country.
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Performance Music Video - Jealous by Labrinth
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This is a performance music video featuring the artist, Labrinth, performing the song set to a simple piano instrumental and the singer’s vocals. This is effective as it gives the impression that the artist is as good live, as he is on record. This helps promote the artist’s image of authenticity and talent, and indicates to his target audience that he is willing to become completely vulnerable in front of them. In the modern world, artists and entertainers with little artistic integrity have dominated the media industry: people who are willing to present a more stylised version of themselves to their target audience in order to generate a larger income for themselves. Therefore, Labrinth’s stripped down performance in this music video sets it apart from the heterogeneous stream of content in the music video industry, promoting the artist’s star image of authenticity – his USP. Therefore, according to Blumer and Katz theory, the artist’s target audience will be able to identify with the artist and his emotions; build relationships with other fans who also form a strong bond with the artist’s performance and song; and the audience will also be able to escape into the music video due to the several immersive close ups and pans of the artist. These slow horizontal pans also help the audience focus of the artist himself, as the background is plain and blurred – turning our attention towards him and the lyrics associated with his performance.
Most of the shots are mid angle shots, this brings the target audience onto the same level as the artist – helping them form a stronger connection with the artist and is emotions. There are also some low angle shots to make the audience feel powerless or vulnerable, this may reflect the artist’s weak emotions during this performance – making the music video emotionally and visually engaging for its target audience. The director chooses to use a large number of close ups, which connote that the artist isn’t afraid to reveal himself entirely, and is vulnerable as he displays powerful and raw emotions for his target audience – this helps promote his star image of authenticity and originality. The slow pace of the songs rhythm matches the slow and long pans and the jumps cuts; this helps the music video flow more easily, engaging the audience and allowing them to escape (Blumler and Katz) into the video. The artist also does not make any eye contact with the camera – creating a fourth wall between Labrinth and his target audience. This may give the impression that the audience is secretly witnessing the artist’s raw emotional performance as spectators. Furthermore, the mise en scene indicates that he is sitting in a theatre, as the several rows of black leather chairs imply that the audience is watching Labrinth’s perform from another perspective – this engages the audience’s attention. The director Sophie Muller also chooses to employ a special camera that contains a smaller and squarer frame than those typically used in most music videos in the industry. This not only sets the music video aside from its counterparts, but also becomes a USP for the artist and the director. This frame also creates a sense of entrapment, as there seems to be a dark barrier on either sides of the artist; this connotes that the singer is feeling trapped by his emotions of jealousy, anger and pain. These emotions are connoted by the colour scheme of this music video: Labrinth is wearing a yellow sweater, while the background is black and brown. The yellow suggests jealousy, deceit and cowardice, which may indicate that this song is about someone who betrayed the artist – someone he trusted or loved. Since yellow is one of happiest colours on the spectrum, the low-key lighting coupled with the warmly graded shots, connote a sense of tarnished happiness and betrayal. The black and brown background may represent the artist’s dark state of emotional and metal health, as a result of the pain caused by someone who betrayed him. Moreover, the visual presentation of this music video, due to the unique camera used to shoot it, creates a vintage and dated look – promoting the artist’s image of originality and unconventionality to his target audience. Moreover, this song plays like a ballad; since most ballads revolve around themes of love, this connotes that this is a ballad about a love one who acted wrongly and broke the artist’s trust – this may appeal to a target audience whose psychographics indicates a strong interests in genre of romance, drama and tragedy. |
three shot shows a panel of judges in downlighting modeling their face, who all look to be in their 40’s or 50’s and male. Beyonce is thus, also commenting on how even today there is a social hierarchy based upon gender, wherein men are at the top of the pyramid, with women at the bottom. The dark lighting indicates their dark intentions and how their opinions are fuelled by their sexual desires for women. This brings up the controversial issue of racial discrimination and sexism, as the artist clearly connotes that it is still a very big issue and that society is, very sexist and racist.
At 0.10 we see a mid shot of Beyonce spraying her butt with butt glue to make sure her clothes stay in place and don't slip up or down her body. This is suggests to the audience that women in society are required to look perfectly put together and completely flawless. Since flaws is in human nature, this suggests women are often viewed as objects, rather than actual human beings with flaws, imperfections, strengths and a mind of their own. The mid shot of her butt also indicates the sexual objectification of women and indicates just how closely society scrutinizes a woman's body. In the background of this mid shot we see other women who are blurred due to the focus on Beyonce, but can still be made out to be putting on makeup and dressing up. This tells us that this music video is set at a beauty pageant as there are so many women in expensive looking clothes, dressing up. This cuts to a mid shot of a woman sitting down and trying to close another woman's dress from the back. She is roughly pulling on either sides of the dress trying to get it to close around the other woman's already thin frame. This immediately cuts to a long shot of the woman in the purple dress grimacing with pain and the other trying to pull the dress close, looking worried and scared. The shot connotes how women are expected to wear very tight clothes, not matter how uncomfortable for the pleasure of others. Every shot up to 1.24 is hand held and slightly shaky, which reflects the mental instability of women who are conditioned by society to feel paranoid and obsessively about their looks and the opinions of other people. This cuts to a closeup of a contestant prodding the flesh around her ribcage, despite not having an ounce of fat on her withering frame; another example of unrealistic standards set for women, not just at beauty pageants, but also in society. The artist is also commenting on how society has conditioned girls from the day they are born to be thin and perfect. The colour of her dress is a sickly yellow; while yellow typically connotes sunshine, happiness and energy, the dull shade suggests that the model is trying to disguise her pain, insecurities and lack of joy with fashion and beauty. Later we see her eat cotton balls. She is following the cotton ball diet which requires the person to eat cotton balls soaked in juice or smoothies, in order to make the person's stomach feel full without them gaining weight. This fad diet has been constantly been condemned dangerous to the body; nonetheless, some models still follow it in order to stay skinny. In several mid and long shots Beyonce is shown sitting in an un-lady-like way, with her legs wide apart, in a traditionally masculine way. The artist is trying to convey that message that there is a double standard when it comes to men and women. The former can behave and look exactly the way they would like to and not receive much criticism (for example sit with their legs spread wide apart); however, when the latter does the same, they are condemned, degraded and often called promiscuous, egoistic or too masculine. This message of awareness of a double standard, is part of the feminist concept Beyonce is trying to get across to her strongly female target audience demographic not just in this music video but throughout her self-titled visual album "Beyoncé". A view show hows Beyonce consuming weight loss pills when she sees two girls scoot their seats away from her, as if repulsed by her fat. This represents how society often views girls and women, who are not a size zero or very thin to be unconventional and repellant. Resulting in them having crippling insecurities about their bodies, and taking drastic measures to become conventionally thin, such as surgery, weight loss pills, fad diets and becoming bulimic. A bird eye view also shows Beyonce using two fingers to make herself throw up into the toilet, followed by a long showing her wiping her mouth and looking around for potential witnesses in the bathroom. She is trying to hide the fact that she is bulimic, not just because she wants to bury her insecurities and mental illness deep within herself, but also because she believes that by throwing up she can prevent gaining weight, and feel happy. This also shows how the objectification of women in the media affects young girls who will grow up and view their bodies as objects, that they can change at will, no matter how dire those methods. Melina Matsoukas, the director of Pretty Hurts says the main "concept behind the video is really a behind the scenes look into society's take on beauty and how it doesn't bring you happiness; and how it doesn't move you forward in life, that its really finding yourself that brings you to happiness". At 5:10 Beyonce sings "no doctor or therapeutic that can take the pain away", we see a closeup of Beyonce's face marked with a black marker and then at 5:16 we see her get botox injections. While filming these shots Beyonce said, "it represents all of the things women go through to keep up with the pressure that society puts on us". Throughout this video the artist waxes her mustache, consumes diet pills, is publicly weighed, measured and ridiculed by the casting director at an audition. She is also shown exercising vigorously at home, stepping on the scales and looking devastated at not having lot much weight; yet another series of things young girls put themselves through to please and conform to society's expectations. The director says she wanted the music video "to feel like a documentary and have this realistic kind of feel to it. We create an environment and let things happen. I don't want to plan too many of the shots. We had set ups, and you know, things would naturally occur and we can document them. We created new little vignettes that happen within each set up, like the fight that happens and her crying". There are several long shots of Beyonce standing or sitting in front of a wall of trophies and medals. Matsoukas says "I was definitely inspired by this image she has as a child where she’s in front of her fireplace that has these trophies all over. I wanted to recreate that and have her break them so it doesn't really advance you to get these awards that are just based on outer beauty." The artist herself says, “You get this trophy and you’re looking at it. Is it worth it?”, she is asking if all the time, effort, pain and energy that we put into looking beautiful on the outside, is truly worth sacrificing your inner beauty. As we see a mid shot of Beyonce underwater clutching her head as if withering in pain, it is a metaphorical image that connotes the pressure she feels to look perfect and conventional, and how trapped and suffocated she feels by her 'responsibilities as a woman'. Beyoncé is also seen, at 0.20 rubbing her teeth with Vaseline – an industry trick used to help girls remember to keep smiling onstage, as well as prevent their lips from getting dry while their mouths are open for extended pearly white grins. Such "beauty tips" keep popping up throughout the video, to emphasize according to Matsoukas, "It’s really about inner beauty and substance" that brings you happiness, not obsessing over your physical self - "it's the soul that needs surgery". |
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