Essay
Music videos today dominate a huge chunk of the music industry. It’s now considered normal for artists to make videos to accompany their tracks, as videos provide a whole new level of entertainment to the viewer. Before the boom in music videos, or ‘promos’ as they were originally called, there was a limited amount of publicity a song could gain, as there were only so many ways one could hear it; on the radio, during live performances and on vinyl records and on other forms of analogue systems, such as the cassette tape and, later on, CDs. Music videos were a way of increasing the ways an audience could listen to or ‘watch’ a song, because ways of publicising them then included TV as well and, from 1997 onward, the Internet. The notable introduction of iFilm, a movie sharing website which hosted short videos and launched in 1997, began to really excel the trend of music videos as it was another enormous leap forward in how people could view the videos that were out there. In this essay I’ll be looking at the development of promos to music videos and I’ll be discussing some innovative names involved with their evolution.
Andrew Goodwin developed a theoretical framework of sorts that is widely known by those involved with the making of music videos today. He identifies 5 key aspects of music videos: synaesthesia; narrative and performance; the star image; relation of visuals to song; and technical aspects of music video.
We define synaesthesia as ‘a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a colour.' Goodwin’s theory works on this and says that when listening to music, because of sensory impressions having a domino effect on one another, one imagines images. This means that it is important to try and match the style of the song to the style of the video, in order to enhance those imaginations the audience may be having as they hear the track.
As for narrative and performance, Goodwin argues that music videos cannot present the entire narrative of a song and instead we receive a basic understanding of the meaning of the song, allowing the audience to let their imagination run wild and interpret the song exactly as they please. This means that narrative and performance – in other words the storyline and the artist’s performance of the song – must work together to create a synergy that keeps the audience’s attention fixed, so that they don’t become bored of what they are viewing. Having the artist participate as the performer of the song and the actor in the narrative of the video increases the video’s authenticity. Goodwin says that this is hugely important as it provides a sense of reality about the video which the audience can connect with; and it is of course in the artist’s best interests to connect with their audience.
There are three main ways to relate the visuals to the song, and these are through illustration, amplification and disjuncture. Illustration is simply where music videos use images to directly illustrate the meaning of the lyrics. This is probably the most common technique used in music videos. In order to amplify the effects of the video, meanings and moods are continually repeated and drummed into our thoughts. However the lyrics are not acted out, nor is emphasis placed upon them. Use of disjuncture when making a music video involves ignoring the meaning of the song and rather focuses on an abstract visual production that has little or no relation to the music.
The technical aspects of a music video involve the use of mise-en-scene, lighting and colour and camerawork and editing techniques. Mise-en-scene is important because when effective it provides a succinct and consistent video. This includes props, location (which it is very important to relate perfectly to the genre of the track), costume and shot composition. The latter can encompass the rule of thirds, dominant lines, contrast and other such ways of constructing the frame of a scene. Lighting and colour helps to set the atmosphere of a scene by literally turning the spotlight on the key aspects of the shot – or not, depending on the genre of the video. For example, in a gothic video, something that the director might want to make the audience look at could be hidden in shadows for dynamic and dramatic effects. When combined, these technical aspects are the backbone of the music video and in order to show these at their full potential, the camerawork, editing and special effects etc. need to bring out the full effect of these techniques in such a way that our interest is maintained throughout the whole video. Editing is extremely important in any video, but particularly in music videos which need to capture the audience’s attention immediately and fully. For this reason, complex and creative editing is of paramount importance as the short video is fundamentally a promotion for the artist’s work and needs to be as unique and visually impressive as possible.
In all successful music videos, particularly in the genre of hip-hop, a ‘star image’ is developed throughout the video, adding character and personality to the spirit of the musician being represented. This development of the establishes a greater connection between the audience and the music as they find they can relate to the artist, and Goodwin therefore feels that all engaging music videos should contain a star being created or built in some way.
Music videos are primarily made in order to increase sales and promote the song and the artist; the directors are creating the video with the mind set of creating something that will sell to the desired target audience. A successful and well-made music video will extend the income of the artist and increase their popularity, because the existence of such a video means there are more ways of viewing it. With a music video the artist can display their work on the TV and the internet as well as just on the radio or in mp3 format.
There are certain ways of making a music video that extend beyond thinking of a storyline and having someone act it out. The director of the video needs to take into account the style of the song, as well as who they want the video to appeal to. This means that the genre of the song has to be considered carefully before filming so that the video can match it as closely as possible. Imagine for example a heavy metal song with a happy, colourful and bright video; or a hip-hop song with a video of headbanging rockers wearing skinny jeans: it just doesn’t fit. Stylistic conventions are hugely important when making music videos, as these are what an enormous section of the public will be viewing and judging the song by. Let’s look at some of the stylistic conventions involved with the videos for two different genres of song: rap and electronic.
Rap songs normally feature people dressed like ‘gangsters;’ with baggy clothing and jewellery and the like. This is all part of their ‘look;’ it’s how they want to be seen by the public in order to appeal to those people who favour that style of fashion. Rap videos often feature violence, sex, drugs or all of the above; and this is reminiscent of the kind of lifestyle that person might live. The actor or performer in the video shows a clear display of emotions and often expresses anger through his or her body movements and facial expressions, depending on the meaning of the song. This adds to the drama of the video and the viewer feels a connection with the performer as they can see exactly what that person is feeling. Rap videos are devoid of colour as often as they are full of it – but that again depends entirely on the meaning of the song; if the song is about a friend who was killed then the colour is likely to be cold and unsaturated, whereas if a rapper sings of how much he loves his little girl, the colours might be bright and clear. The setting might be an old abandoned warehouse with graffiti on the walls, again reminiscent of some of the neglected areas the person performing the song might have grown up in. Take a look at this video, ‘Not Afraid’ by Eminem for an example:
Andrew Goodwin developed a theoretical framework of sorts that is widely known by those involved with the making of music videos today. He identifies 5 key aspects of music videos: synaesthesia; narrative and performance; the star image; relation of visuals to song; and technical aspects of music video.
We define synaesthesia as ‘a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a colour.' Goodwin’s theory works on this and says that when listening to music, because of sensory impressions having a domino effect on one another, one imagines images. This means that it is important to try and match the style of the song to the style of the video, in order to enhance those imaginations the audience may be having as they hear the track.
As for narrative and performance, Goodwin argues that music videos cannot present the entire narrative of a song and instead we receive a basic understanding of the meaning of the song, allowing the audience to let their imagination run wild and interpret the song exactly as they please. This means that narrative and performance – in other words the storyline and the artist’s performance of the song – must work together to create a synergy that keeps the audience’s attention fixed, so that they don’t become bored of what they are viewing. Having the artist participate as the performer of the song and the actor in the narrative of the video increases the video’s authenticity. Goodwin says that this is hugely important as it provides a sense of reality about the video which the audience can connect with; and it is of course in the artist’s best interests to connect with their audience.
There are three main ways to relate the visuals to the song, and these are through illustration, amplification and disjuncture. Illustration is simply where music videos use images to directly illustrate the meaning of the lyrics. This is probably the most common technique used in music videos. In order to amplify the effects of the video, meanings and moods are continually repeated and drummed into our thoughts. However the lyrics are not acted out, nor is emphasis placed upon them. Use of disjuncture when making a music video involves ignoring the meaning of the song and rather focuses on an abstract visual production that has little or no relation to the music.
The technical aspects of a music video involve the use of mise-en-scene, lighting and colour and camerawork and editing techniques. Mise-en-scene is important because when effective it provides a succinct and consistent video. This includes props, location (which it is very important to relate perfectly to the genre of the track), costume and shot composition. The latter can encompass the rule of thirds, dominant lines, contrast and other such ways of constructing the frame of a scene. Lighting and colour helps to set the atmosphere of a scene by literally turning the spotlight on the key aspects of the shot – or not, depending on the genre of the video. For example, in a gothic video, something that the director might want to make the audience look at could be hidden in shadows for dynamic and dramatic effects. When combined, these technical aspects are the backbone of the music video and in order to show these at their full potential, the camerawork, editing and special effects etc. need to bring out the full effect of these techniques in such a way that our interest is maintained throughout the whole video. Editing is extremely important in any video, but particularly in music videos which need to capture the audience’s attention immediately and fully. For this reason, complex and creative editing is of paramount importance as the short video is fundamentally a promotion for the artist’s work and needs to be as unique and visually impressive as possible.
In all successful music videos, particularly in the genre of hip-hop, a ‘star image’ is developed throughout the video, adding character and personality to the spirit of the musician being represented. This development of the establishes a greater connection between the audience and the music as they find they can relate to the artist, and Goodwin therefore feels that all engaging music videos should contain a star being created or built in some way.
Music videos are primarily made in order to increase sales and promote the song and the artist; the directors are creating the video with the mind set of creating something that will sell to the desired target audience. A successful and well-made music video will extend the income of the artist and increase their popularity, because the existence of such a video means there are more ways of viewing it. With a music video the artist can display their work on the TV and the internet as well as just on the radio or in mp3 format.
There are certain ways of making a music video that extend beyond thinking of a storyline and having someone act it out. The director of the video needs to take into account the style of the song, as well as who they want the video to appeal to. This means that the genre of the song has to be considered carefully before filming so that the video can match it as closely as possible. Imagine for example a heavy metal song with a happy, colourful and bright video; or a hip-hop song with a video of headbanging rockers wearing skinny jeans: it just doesn’t fit. Stylistic conventions are hugely important when making music videos, as these are what an enormous section of the public will be viewing and judging the song by. Let’s look at some of the stylistic conventions involved with the videos for two different genres of song: rap and electronic.
Rap songs normally feature people dressed like ‘gangsters;’ with baggy clothing and jewellery and the like. This is all part of their ‘look;’ it’s how they want to be seen by the public in order to appeal to those people who favour that style of fashion. Rap videos often feature violence, sex, drugs or all of the above; and this is reminiscent of the kind of lifestyle that person might live. The actor or performer in the video shows a clear display of emotions and often expresses anger through his or her body movements and facial expressions, depending on the meaning of the song. This adds to the drama of the video and the viewer feels a connection with the performer as they can see exactly what that person is feeling. Rap videos are devoid of colour as often as they are full of it – but that again depends entirely on the meaning of the song; if the song is about a friend who was killed then the colour is likely to be cold and unsaturated, whereas if a rapper sings of how much he loves his little girl, the colours might be bright and clear. The setting might be an old abandoned warehouse with graffiti on the walls, again reminiscent of some of the neglected areas the person performing the song might have grown up in. Take a look at this video, ‘Not Afraid’ by Eminem for an example:
Contrastingly, electronic videos can be quite the opposite; the performers might wear futuristic clothing to look as striking and different as possible; or just generally stylish clothing. The videos are often abstract and unique, whether by using clever special effects or camera trickery. Often the style of the people is quite unique - in the video below, 'One Life Stand' by Hot Chip, they all look a little nerdy, but pull it off as cool. In this video, our attention is captivated by the abstract shot. Often in electronic videos there are very abstract shots - this reiterates their unique style and interests - it's different, which leads us to believe they aren't crowd followers - there's still some individualism there. This can be very powerful as a lot of music videos follow the same old routine and it can get boring.
Here are some professional views, which help us understand the importance of music videos.
We learn from these professionals that artist recognition is helped massively by music videos, as is artist income. Music videos provide a visual link to an otherwise purely aural experience, which helps people to remember it, and promote it if they like it.
Songs that do have good music videos tend to go up in ratings - because although the rating might be for the actual musical talent, voters might be drawn into liking the song more than they normally would due to the video. Although this next part depends on your taste in music and music videos, an example of this could be PSY's 'Gangnam Style' - with over 1 billion views in about 2 months, this terrible song would have been unlikely to survive long in the media's interest without it's video (which I consider predictably painful-to-watch). And yet, it took off. Why? Because the video is (arguably) funny. Then again, people have different tastes. I personally would have preferred deliberately choking myself with everyday household items like pen lids, or table legs than to ever hear or see the video; but that's just me. Congratulations PSY, you made a terrible song, but people loved the video so it soared. Really, well done.
Songs that do have good music videos tend to go up in ratings - because although the rating might be for the actual musical talent, voters might be drawn into liking the song more than they normally would due to the video. Although this next part depends on your taste in music and music videos, an example of this could be PSY's 'Gangnam Style' - with over 1 billion views in about 2 months, this terrible song would have been unlikely to survive long in the media's interest without it's video (which I consider predictably painful-to-watch). And yet, it took off. Why? Because the video is (arguably) funny. Then again, people have different tastes. I personally would have preferred deliberately choking myself with everyday household items like pen lids, or table legs than to ever hear or see the video; but that's just me. Congratulations PSY, you made a terrible song, but people loved the video so it soared. Really, well done.
In fairness to the guy, 1/7th of the WORLD's population knows about Gangnam Style. Good artist or not, respect. His popularity ratings have gone up BIG time. I'm not sure if this is because more people actually like the video, or if it's just because more people have seen it..... either way, that kind of reputation will help him in the future; when he releases another video, people will likely go mad for it all over again.
I can't wait.
I can't wait.
When comparing PSY's Gangnam Style - a track and video with only the smallest comedic value and zero musical talent - with Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall', a band who are widely known as the best rock band in the world, and a track with incredible music skill demonstrated constantly, there is for some reason a big difference in viewings. Why has Gangnam Style had over 1 billion views, while Another Brick In The Wall has only around 4,000? The only reason is that people have access to the internet now, unlike when Pink Floyd were in their prime, so fewer people were excited by the new release, because it's already been out for a long time. As a song is released, people talk about it - internet or not. But music channels and the internet - video sharing websites like YouTube and Vimeo - help a song on its way to fame a lot.
Now, music videos have become so popular that it's necessary for every song in the charts to have a professional music video made. In the 80s, around the time music 'promos' were becoming really popular, MTV was (and is) a channel on TV which exclusively aired music videos. It didn't only show videos in the charts - but instead aired as many varying videos as possible. This helped a lot of songs into the charts and gain interest in the public. The first music video was shown on August 1st 1981 and it was ironically titled "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Buggles - and is now a very famous song. MTV became massively popular in a very short amount of time and promoted thousands of videos. Since it was so popular, the artists' songs would be seen by countless more people, many of who might have been inclined to invest in a record of the song, thus contributing to the artists' income. MTV profited from the cable subscription cost, and from advertising companies who were all jostling for a spot on one of the most watched channels of the 80s.
Another way for artists to promote themselves is to appear in film and TV - not necessarily as a music video within the film, but rather just as the only soundtrack artist. There have been many great one-artist soundtracks for many great films, and the reason behind it is simple: everybody wins! The artist pays the filmmakers to appear as the soundtrack artist (sometimes it can be the other way around, but this is rare) and the filmmaker gets a great set of songs out of it - sometimes even custom-made for the film. Meanwhile, as the film becomes a massive hit, the artist who features the whole soundtrack leans back and watches the money roll in as people who have seen the film immediately 'have to buy the album for that'. Here's an example:
Damon Gough, who plays under the pseudonym title Badly Drawn Boy, has recorded some average music in his time, but he found a big break in Chris Weitz's wry comedy 'About A Boy'. The songs in About a Boy establish the movie's wistful tone with the perfect style - which is why you've heard the opening credits song, "Something to Talk About," in hundreds of trailers and TV commercials since then.
Damon Gough, who plays under the pseudonym title Badly Drawn Boy, has recorded some average music in his time, but he found a big break in Chris Weitz's wry comedy 'About A Boy'. The songs in About a Boy establish the movie's wistful tone with the perfect style - which is why you've heard the opening credits song, "Something to Talk About," in hundreds of trailers and TV commercials since then.