Andrew Goodwin’s Theory

Music Videos

Music videos tend to demonstrate a particular genre characteristic.

For example a typical convention of a hip hop music video would be models in bikini's ‘flaunting’ themselves.

We would expect to see choreography in a pop music video ,while a stage performance is more likely linked to metal and rock genres.

The record label which the artist is signed to tend to have certain demands.

They often include the need for many close ups.

The artist will have a particular style which distinguishes them from other artists.

A good example is Rihanna, she has a unique style which has developed as her career has developed form ‘a good girl gone bad’.

Intertextual reference to other works of art.

A good example of this beyonce’s single ‘work it out’ in which parts of the music video was from a film she featured in called ‘Gold member’.

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals

A good example is a song by Kanye west ‘Good life’ were the lyrics are shows on screen while he sings them. This is a good way of emphasising the lyrics.

There is a relationship between music and visuals.

This could be illustrative, amplifying, or contradicting. The music and visuals normally go together and in most cases with the beat. In this example the beat is quite slow so the artist moves slow and in a seductive manner.

Performance,Narrative, Concept?Most R&B Music videos have some

kind of narrative in it. For female artists the music video has a narrative based on relationship issues while male artists its all about the luxurious lifestyle.

Most Rock and pop videos are based on performance.

Conceptual music video styles are seen in genres such as indie.

There are frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the

female body.

This is seen in most hip hop/R&B and pop genre's. Women are made to be sexual objects.