Music videos

• Performance


  • Focus on performance of artist/band
  • Playing instruments & resonance of voice
  • Ways to live performance (audience & stage)
  • Camera work creates energy & atmosphere
• Authenticity


  Artist accomplished musician
• Depends on genre


  Can be dance & choreography with emphasis on display & voyeurism
• Video

  • Aspects of star image in trademark performance/dress codes
• Narrative


  • Often very filmic
  • Stars brand identity
  • Higher production values
  • Illustrates & adds meanings to song
  • Artist often plays character
• Structure


  • Straightforward with a situation, development & resolution
  • Some combine storytelling with performances, with artist acknowledging audience's presence
• Conceptual


  • Based on idea that communicates metaphorically, not literally
  • Emphasises uniqueness, creativity & artistry
• Critical perspectives


  • Are stereotypes present?
  • Reinforce ideas/ideologies of gender/ethnic groups
  • Ideas about groups in society subverted/challenged
  • How does audience respond? Meanings could be altered because of social & cultural context
• Identities


  • Give audiences opportunities to construct own identities
  • Offer versions of our ideal selves
  • Audiences negotiate meaning in relation to social & cultural experience
  • Use artist to construct sense of identity
  • Social media gives personal connection to artist
  • Sense of belonging in fandoms
• Representations


  • Genre has own repertoire of elements, relies on familiarity & expectation
  • Distinct styles e.g. rock, alt rock indie, hip-hop, pop, R&B, singer-songwriter, folk, country
  • Gender can be reinforced or challenged
  • Ethnicity can reinforce or challenge stereotypes
• Star image


  • Star's persona relies on dynamic between image presented & real person
  • Embodies ideas & values that audiences can identify with & explore own identity
  • Stars also reflect on wider contemporary social, political & cultural concerns through music, lyrics & performance codes
• Music, lyrics & visuals


  • Relationship between music & visuals, relationship with musical style & what is seen on screen
  • Pace of editing matches beat of music
  • Visuals can amplify lyrics, communicate message more clearly, illustrate lyrics at more straightforward level, or offer contradictory message creating disjuncture
• Demands of record label


  • Creation of star image, MV is promotional device for artist
  • New performers need to establish themselves in a new market
  • Close-ups & direct address helps engage with audience directly
  • Develop motif/iconography: easily recognisable, fans imitate their style
  • Theme of new album relates to iconography/motif, appears on merchandise
• Structuralism


  • MVs are short, must communicate narrative & messages within restricted time frame
  • Exploring structure can decode messages & establish meaning, done through binary opposites
• Representation


  • Music constructs different representations of social groups, depends on music sub-genre & artist
  • Rap music can construct less positive representations of women, more misogynistic attitude
  • Female artists construct positive images of women in positions of power, challenge stereotypes
• Star theory - Richard Dyer


  • Star image is manufactured & artificial, grab & hold attention
  • Have own USP, have 2 contradictory representations - ordinary & extraordinary
  • Present & absent, audience strive to complete star image but meta-narrative changes, frustrated in our attempts