Andrew Goodwin’s Theory(Applied to music videos)

After many years of studying music videos, Andrew

Goodwin published a book containing his music theory.

He believes that they have seven characteristics.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.Goodwin identified that most genres of music had certain traits in which appeared in the majority of music videos. For example, Rock music videos tend to feature stage performances. Kiss- ‘I was made for loving you’ is an example.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

Goodwin noticed a similarity /direct contrast with what is shown in the video and the lyrics of the song. Jay Z ‘99 problems’ is a prim example of the lyrics and the visuals working together.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.

Goodwin identified that the visuals in the music video may be edited in time to the beats or rhythm of the song. Natasha Bedingfield- ‘These Words’ is a good example.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists.

The best way for record labels to sell their artists, particularly with females, is to show them regularly throughout the video (most often in a provocative fashion) Britney Spears- ‘prerogative’ is a good example.

5. The Artist may develop iconography that recurs across their work

Goodwin noticed that artists often had a trend of repeating certain actions throughout each music video they featured in. An example of this would be the JLS band members, the tend to ‘lift up their shirts’ revealing their bodies during their videos.

6. There is frequently reference to notion of looking.

Goodwin noticed that artists often looked into the camera to give a direct approach. This gives the feel of the artist singing to us, the audience. An example of this is Jennifer Lopez- ‘I’m into you’.

7. There is often intertextual reference.

Goodwin realised that sometimes you will recognise the lyrics or visuals referring to another text within it. A good example of this is The music video for Madonna's "Material Girl" (left) was inspired by Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (right), from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.