Throughout my digipak, I've used various styles that are consistent across all of my products. Perhaps the most obvious of all is the orange colour scheme - the colour's connotations are such that a warmth is conveyed; this is a visual trait required by my artist's music genre, as indie-folk songs tend to share associations with warmth, summer and countryside miss en scene. Appealing to such genre conventions is ultimately beneficial for my music products as it is a key identifier for potential consumers who value this genre of music.
In addition to the colour theme, I've designed my own artist logo to further cement the brand identity of my products; AH stands for Accidental Hero, and is located on many of my digipak products. It's placement is such that the logo is seen by the media consumer, thereby becoming iconic of all of Accidental Hero's work in the consumer's mind.
Abiding by Goodwin's theory on the conventions of music media productions and products, I established a link between the title of the album and the images present on my CD casing; When considering that the album title was "Thank God I Don't Believe In God", I decided to reflect some form of religious imagery in the visuals of my digipak, adding of course the priest and devil from my music video. By abiding to the typical convention of having a thematic link between the lyrics heard and the visual content seen, I believe I am strengthening the purpose and effect of my production and digipak by having a united and consistent brand image.
When considering a record label that would produce and represent my media products, I naturally considered well-known record labels; In an ideal world, having a secure record label from which to launch your music products is a vital step in ensuring commercial success. A record label that caught my eye therefore was Atlantic Records.
Atlantic records have signed music artists such as Ed Sheeran, Johnny Cash and Jason Mraz; all of whom share many similarities with my artist, Accidental Hero. As my music artist's genre is not unknown to Atlantic Records, I can have faith in their ability to propel my artist into commercial success, as we have seen with the artists stated above.
Considered to be Pop with elements of R&B in genre, Jessie J's target audience would generally be geared towards younger audiences and in her case, generally female music consumers.
Throughout the majority of Jessie J's music products, we see that her physical image is iconic of her brand identity. This is not unusual for an artist of her genre; the typical consumers one would expect to listen to Jessie J's music would be young - individuals who interact with many other different music artists regularly through the means of internet technology and its rising accessibility. This, coupled with the concern that Jessie J is still a relatively new artist, means that her advertisement and image has been crafted in such a way that largely has her physical image positioned as centre-focus. We see this on the magazine advertisement on the left, where the close-up shot of Jessie J fills the entirety of the screen; there can be no mistaking this artist's identity.
The artist's name appears to be gold plated, while the album's title appears as informal writing located below and in a minimalistic fashion. The suggestion that her own name is 'golden' is typical of the pop and R&B genres, as a frequent theme that is present in said categories is the concept of material wealth and visual embellishment. Having one's name as gold plated is a statement of material wealth and by that, power; it's intention is to give significance to the name "Jessie J", relative to the pop/R&B consumer who will be looking for such signifiers as they are indicative of their music interests. Forming a direct contrast to the name above, the title "Who You Are" is minimalistic and takes on the appearance of being hand written; This gives the impression that this title may have been written by the music artist herself, forming, almost, a personal relationship between the design of the advertisement and the artist, which potential consumers are able to relate to. There's also the literal connection of the title and it's design; perhaps Jessie J is suggesting that the 'real her' is humble and minimalistic, and perhaps, we should all be to. This concept of finding the 'real you' can appeal to younger audiences, especially teenagers.
Forming the rough concept draft of what would later be my final poster art piece, I designed this picture after creating my CD case's front cover. I was still finding my feet in the photoshop software, experimenting with different designs and styles.
A style that I became particularly fond of was the blocky-graphic filters that applied certain filter effects on the images behind them.
This style, though possibly not original, I thought to be unusual and quite striking, given correct placement and regulated frequency.
On the left is a first draft/conceptual rough-cut of my ideal final poster art. From here, I thought that I might head in a design direction that would embellish the image more. I needed to make the image sharper; it's two figures need to stand out more.
Does it Conform?
Depicted quite clearly at the front of the image is the main artist - this is a standard convention of poster advertisement for music artists as the artist is pushing their image, declaring their very person as representative of their own music; when one sees an image of any of One Direction member, one immediately links their image to their music. Ultimately, this supports brand identity, as any music artist's product must possess clear signifiers that establish itself as its own unique brand.
The devil's place in the image - linking to the title "Thank God I Don't Believe In God", the devil figure's existence in this picture signifies a relationship between religious imagery we see in the title and the thematic direction of the music album. There's a relevance between the images displayed and the lyrics heard - a prediction made by Goodwin that encompasses almost all music videos and indeed, music advertisement/products. The devil's presence in this image is indicative of the conflict of ideals that the artist is attempting to push to the media consumer - hinting of religion, atheism, and in some part satanism. It is quite clear that the music album's title is ironic and satirical, and to some heretical, hence why the devil's place in this image can be justified.
A basic storyboard concept my music video, this animatic will serve as a platform from which the filming of my actual music video will be planned and structured.
My first priority when setting about creating my digipak was the main image of my album cover; should it be an icon? A picture of the artist? A vague picture of an object that relates to my artist? Regardless, at first, I knew that I needed something striking. I needed an image that would allow my album cover to stand out, if it were to sit on a store shelf.
As the real Accidental Hero doesn't have a brand icon, I set about at imagining an image that would suit my album's genre and intention. I sifted through my music video footage, looking for a moment that would make for an excellent screen shot. I came across this;
This is a screen shot of footage taken from the finalized version of my rough cut music video. I decided to keep the orange filter as the color grabs my attention. The foreground-background placement of the main artist and the strange devil character, respectively, indicates the importance of the artist at the while suggesting that the devil walks in his footsteps; a fitting notion, considering that the album's name will be "Thank God I Don't Believe In God" - a statement that some might argue is heretical and thereby ungodly in nature.
I began work on the first iterations of my album cover. At first, I thought about having black text with font similar to the original Accidental hero album cover:
I liked the placement of the artist name and title above the two actors, but I found my self wanting in terms of colour variety; I needed something to break the monotony.
The black boarders were only temporary at the time; I was aware that a CD case is relatively small - having a black boarder around the CD case would mean that my image would have to be even smaller, with its detail nearly indistinguishable at a glance (and that 'glance' is all my CD has to work on, if it were in a CD
store).
The iteration above was created in power point. Of course, this is not the most elite of software for this kind image editing; I used it because the powerpoint software was quick at hand and easy to use, and I was still in the rough cut process, creating concepts and not actual digipak designs.
I started afresh with the same background image, this time with the intension of removing the black boarders on the top and bottom of my digipak cover, and with the thought of adding some offsetting colour:
Utilizing some of the editing tools available in photoshop, I created this image - a design that I thought was very close to my ideal finalized digipak front cover. When experimenting with filter options, I discovered a way of adding filter overlays in the form of 'graphics' that I could manipulate into defined shapes and various opacities; For one of my graphics, I created a small, purple rectangular block. I adjusted its opacity and changed the way it interacts with the background image. The result was a pinkish overlay that formed a kind of blue when over the dark clothing of the actor at the front, providing an ideal contrast in colour.
I used a similar method when adding the grey division behind the character at the front. The grey provided yet another break in colour, while also implying something deeper; the divide in colour originating from the guitarist suggests that there is a conflict in his character and that the orange, (one can argue it's his devil side) is winning over his personality as it takes over the majority of the image.
The text's font and its colour was amended under the concern for artist identity and image clarity; again, I needed to make sure that my artist's name and album title stood out from the vivid background.
With my final image coming together, I now started to consider the technicalities of creating a CD cover. The most pressing issue was size; all of the images above are too wide to fit in the dimensions of CD cover - my issue was the background image was too wide, and I had placed my title in a fashion that had made use of this room in width. I started again, saving and using the graphics and filters I had used before, to create a digipak front cover that was suited to the dimensions of standard CD casing:
The song I have selected has been made by an unsigned artist - Accidental Hero. His music is indie, folk, and acoustic in sound, comprised primarily of his own voice and acoustic guitar. The song is called "Thank God I don't believe in God". The song title itself is not without a sense of irony, so I'm immediately inclined to creating a music video that is ironic in its visual content.
The Idea
Irony being one of the main themes at the forefront of my ideas, I thought I might interpret the song and the irony on a literal level; who better to sing a song about not believing in God, than a priest?
I was Immediately set on the priest being centre stage, therefore, in my music video; As the story goes, the priest is having a crisis of faith. He addresses his fellow church-goers in his priestly attire, and under the guise of someone who is secure in his religion - obviously, he's a priest - but secretly, to the eyes of the viewer only, he's clearly not happy and lacking conviction in the practicing of his faith. His actions are - to the people he's addressing beneath the alter - nothing of surprise and completely normal. His voice however, and his words, are Accidental Hero's lyrics "Thank God I Don't Believe In God"; the priest wants to break free from what he's currently doing/who he currently is. His mind is elsewhere and perhaps he sees it as a blessing that he does not believe in God, as those before him do.
With regards to setting, I began to think of places that I could film - a place that would not compromise the veiled production value of my music video, while at the same time being realistic as a potential location(s) to film.
I realised that the best and most usual place that one would find a priest would be in a church, perhaps leading a mass. Singing a song about not believing in God in a church however is a difficulty - I'd need permission to film there, even if they would allow media students to reserve the area for filming (Let alone that film being a particularly atheist song!). Naturally, I considered that asking them for permission would be foolish, on my part. My school/sixth form has a hall with an elevated stage, surrounded by seats; I thought this would be an ideal place to film, as it fits in with the priest's current predicament; perhaps he's going through the motions - leading a mass in a school where few appreciate him or even listen. My school has religious items that could be used as props; we're a catholic school, so there are crosses and bibles to hand, as well as an alter.
An excellent example of the mise en scene I'm thinking of creating is depicted in The Black Keys' "Fever" music video:
As I've said before, one of the main concerns when choosing an artist/band is how you fit their image - by image, I mean their genre, sound and the more obvious factors such as male/female vocal singers and the requirement of X number of band members etc... Picking a boy-band for instance would entail the recruitment of X number of male step-in actors, most of whom would have to look like boy-band members (unfortunately, not all of us have this opportunity). This brings us to the issues one can face when considering the feasibility of artist/band choice with regards to the actors that we'd have to hand. There's also the issue of organising filming sessions, where I'd be relying on people who are not being payed to give up their spare time and help me film. (As you can imagine, they're not likely to be the most enthusiastic bunch).
After deciding on the kind of music genre I'd like to select from (See Explaining Music Choice Post), I toyed with the idea of picking a solo artist; a solo artist would be ideal as I could use myself as the main actor, only needing a camera man to work behind the scenes. I decided to act on this idea when searching through unsigned artists on unsigned.com, finding indie artists whose style centred primarily around acoustic, solo performances that were well in my ability to reproduce as a music video.
I chose Accidental Hero as my artist as his songs are pleasant to the ear and realistically achievable as something that could be produced as a zero-budget music video. I selected the song Thank God I Don't Believe In God as its humor appealed to me and I thought that if I attempted to reflect this humor in my music video, I would be creating a music video that would be unique in its style through its unorthodox nature.
One of the most obvious issues with creating a music video at A-level is the lack of budget we have - that is, nothing. No budget. Of course, this means we must be realistic in the ideas and ambitions we create for ourselves and resourceful in how we go about filming and editing. Genres that are usually of high production value in appearance are usually off of the table, therefore. Music genres like R&B, Rock, Pop - these usually entail a good number of extra actors, high-quality filming locations, costumes, special effects and so on…. None of which most of us have the ability to provide. As a result, Indie, Rap, Club/dance tracks are usually quite popular - essentially, anything that we can get away with without drawing attention to our lack of budget and any mise en scene that we can readily provide and have access to.
My Decision
Out of the handful of music genres I had in mind, Indie seemed the most feasible; I'm a teenager. I have a group of friends frequently referred to as "the lads". We all look like we could be in an indie music video. We all fit the look commonly associated with the genre. Immediately, this seemed the most realistic avenue of approach by which I could create a music video where myself and the actors, even locations, in it would not seem odd and out of place. Indie music videos are often made from limited budgets, or designed to appear as such - these factors have all fallen into place perfectly. The genre suits my situation as an A-level student. That's why I have chosen to create an Indie music video.
Which kind of 'Indie'?
Of course, one needs to be more specific when talking about 'Indie' music. Again, I thought about the locations that I have to hand, the actors I have to hand and the props; at first, Indie-Rock seemed the most interesting; I have the friends to form the would-be band, and filming locations would be easily obtainable, depending on the song. Having sifted through the http://www.unsigned.com website however, I found an Indie artist who's style and songs I became particularly fond of. Accidental Hero (Found here: http://www.unsigned.com/accidentalhero), creates music that is considered 'Indie-accoustic-folk' music, with a slight twang of an american country influence present throughout. A song that I found to be very intriguing was his "Thank God I Don't Believe In God" track; The song is obviously some form of comment on religion (I've not the knowledge concerning his actual personal beliefs, however). The song is different, controversial. It's an unusual song choice, one that requires a little ambition and a lot of imagination to be able to deliver as a music video, and that's why I'm drawn to it. The Ideas I have in mind for the visual content of the music video are obtainable, therefore I consider the song a realistic song choice for my A-level music video.
Working in a group of three, we decided to select The Black Keys' "Tighten Up" as the music video had an entertaining reflection of the two band members through the actions of two children. The video's narrative was comical, clear and light-hearted. We thought this would be an ideal music video that could be drawn and animated by us, who are not exactly the most skilled of artists...
The clip above is my lip syncing test video. I chose the song "Somebody that I used to know" by Gotye as the lyrics are relatively simple to sing along to. (Not to mention the song is incredibly catchy! I couldn't help but nod my head at one point!)
An american film director, producer, screenwriter and actor, Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel) has been active in the media industry since 1989, most recently directing films such as Her and Where the Wild Things Are. Jonze is also well-known for his music video direction, directing the the following music videos, which have received high praise and stellar reception from critics:
A music video's design can be as vital as that of a film's; the music video must deliver its narrative and promotion in a relatively small time scale. Its mise en scene, and editing must all converge towards a single message, a single direction. Complicated narratives must be explained clearly and concisely on screen - this is where music video directors become invaluable - succeeding in this regard, while'st being grounded in a great song, has its rewards through critical acclaim and praise. Ultimately however, a director's success in a music video is often proportional to the quality of the song they are working with. In either case, one assists the other in a kind of synergy.
An example of a music video that was subject to heavy direction is The Shoes' "Time to Dance" :
Directed by Daniel Wolfe, "Time to Dance" has Jake Gyllenhaal play the part of a troubled young man with murderous tendencies. He stalks various nightclubs and the other places where young people gather to party, isolating and killing them to satiate some form of blood-lust or anger within him. The video itself accompanies a club/punk dance track, which seems appropriate given that his murders are linked to areas where we find people dancing. This, almost short film, received praise from critics and was rated quite highly. It was nominated for 'best music video' at the Camerimage awards 2012
Another music video of Wolfe's, "Iron Sky" was once again nominated for 'best music video' at the Camerimage awards 2014:
In both videos, we can see that although the lyrics of the song are not directly linked to the visual content of each video, they are edited and filmed in a fashion that hints of the each mise en scene's relevance to the song it accompanies. For instance, Time to Dance is club/dance music, with the video's setting and film locations such as nightclub-london with a generally dark ambiance. In Iron Sky we see that a community of people are tormented by some form of nagging pain; a kind of migraine that can only be soothed by smoking something called "Aurora". The precise nature of this pain is unclear - at a point in the video, we see a woman wearing a headscarf, bleeding from the nose; perhaps these people are suffering from brain tumors? In any case, a clear message is present; these people, be they suffering physically or mentally, want to be free from the pain and free from their suffering. The lyrics of the song refer to this, making it a relevant music/video accompaniment.
Needless to say, a good music video draws more attention to the music behind it, which is where the importance of music video directors comes in to play. Wolfe has carefully crafted a narrative in each music video that bears relevance to the music behind it, while at the same time remaining original and unique in its delivery - embellishing the lyrics of the song without conforming to the usual visual content expected of music videos of each of their respective genre and in general. The length of time in which Wolfe had to include footage for each song was relatively quite lengthy, and in both cases we see that he has capitalised and has made what appear to be short films; Both of the videos in question introduce us to a narrative - a narrative that appears to continue beyond the footage we see without an obvious conclusion, but a narrative nonetheless - it allows the viewer to invest their interest into the music video, and by that, the music.
Released in may 2009, Dizzee Rascal's "Bonkers" song caused quite a stir in the music charts of the time; it peaked at no.1 in the UK charts for dance purposes and general consumption, ending the year as the 15th most popular song in the UK. In the UK and Australia, Dizzee's album has reached platinum status.
"Bonkers" is considered to be grime, hip/electro-house in genre. In the music video, we see Dizzee dancing frequently, addressing the viewer directly as he is often looking at the camera. It is here that we can also observe the camera distortion effects that are in play; as the lyrics go, "Some people think I'm bonkers" - his possible insanity is represented through the distortion of the world around him; camera and lens effects are used to warp the shape of objects to create a sense of confusion and disorientation. This is clearly a link between the visual-audible content of the song, where we see the world through the eyes of Dizzee and that world is indeed 'bonkers'.
As is the convention of grime/electro-house music, the music video includes scenes of club dancing, albeit in strange, semi dream-state locations. The setting is that of a generally urban theme, which lends strength to the song's purpose as music for modern consumers. The content of the music video has been deliberately selected to strengthen the song's intended purpose - one of which would be its use as a club/dance track. The song's genre is geared towards this demographic of course, so including this imagery allows for the music video to appeal to the audience that would likely be watching.
Dizzee Rascal himself is centre-stage for the duration of the music video (excluding some shots of a crowd dancing). Whenever the camera warps the screen, for the most part, the screen is warped around him. Overall these are techniques of artist promotion and narrative story-telling; Dizzee is the most important thing on screen,. It's his song. It's his album. The world in the music video bends around him, it hinges on him; he's at the centre of the universe, in his video. This is promoting his power as an artist and ensures that no viewer may escape the fact that they are watching a music video made by Dizzee Rascal. His face is the symbol of his music, one might say.
As is the band's usual style, Mumford & Sons' "Hopeless Wanderer" consists of a folk/country music sound, with elements of rock. The music video itself has the actual band members singing while actors mime the song in a comical fashion. (The actors present have appeared in films such as 'Hangover' and 'Horrible Bosses'). The real band is not present throughout the video. The lyrics of the song are upbeat in their own right - perhaps this is why the direction of the music video was tailored towards a more comical performance; it's a performance that could only have been carried out convincingly by actors perhaps, whom have appeared in various comedy films prior to this video. It is a light-hearted song that seeks instill energy within the listener. The actors themselves are fairly well-known amongst mature audiences; perhaps they were also used as a means of drawing in greater attention from viewers to the real band.
The visual content of the music video is that of the dusty, seemingly American outback; the colours present are generally browns and yellows, indicating that the desired setting and indeed place of filming is that of rural locations and perhaps set in a time or place where the usually cold tones of modern, urbanised society are not present. The overall effect of this is that the music video seems warm, comfortable and light-hearted; the music video and indeed the lyrics themselves are not intended to insight any brooding thought as it is energetic, enjoyable and homely in its visual and audible content.
At the beginning of the song we see the (acting) band members walking with their respective instruments, some stumbling with them. They appear to be nomadic; traveling without a place to rest. The look exhausted. Indeed, they are wandering; The music video's title states this clearly enough. This reveals a visual-lyrical link that is present, which strengthens the narrative and lyrics of the music video as the message is being carried out by the actors on screen to bring about a complete representation of what the actual band's song stands for.
As is a convention of folk/country bands, the music video is shot in rural locations; dry-grass fields, barns, cabins; these are all locations commonly associated with country and folk music - a director's decision that was made with the intention of strengthening the song's position as a country/folk-rock musical work. The style of dress of the actors is also constructed to suit this rural image; the general mise en scene of the music video has been constructed to abide by the conventions of Mumford & Sons' musical genre - it created solidarity in the purpose of their work and in the fanbase that the band targets as its primary consumer.
The actors themselves have been directed to appear similar to each of the real band members. For instance, the lead singer and the cello player have similar facial hair to the real band members who would be in their place; The actors have been directed to mimic the behavior and appearance of the real band members, as a means of promoting the band's physical image and thereby its brand-image.
"Run Boy Run" is a track from an album called "The Golden Age", written by Woodkid. (Real name Yoann Lemoine). The song is considered to be Baroque pop in genre, as It's overall sound is heavily orchestral, yet the lyrics can be considered as mainstream with a clear and repetitive structure.
The music video itself is strong in visual theme - other tracks from the same album share the same stark colour scheme, and an emphasis on an overarching narrative linking together tracks in the album.
Analysing "Run Boy Run" Using Goodwin's Theory
As the lyrics and the name of the song state, this song is indeed about a young boy running - but to or from what? In the opening sequence of the music video, we see a cut transition from black reveal a building. The camera angle is that of a long shot, elevated slightly or far enough out to appear to be level with the centre of the building. It is here, where we can appreciate the stark, black and white post processing behind the music video, lasting throughout its entirety. As the camera zooms in slightly, we see a small figure run out of an entrance on the building's right side. There's no music yet, only the toll of a bell. This opening shot is effective in setting the tone for the rest of the music video, and gives clues and makes references to the overarching narrative behind the inspiration for the events that are to follow in the video.
Cutting to a mid-shot of the boy running with the camera in pursuit at his side, the lyrics and soundtrack of the song now kick in; Immediately, "run boy run" is spoken by the singer, and there's a literal connection between what is being sung and what we are seeing on-screen. The boy is not singing however, as the voice is almost transcendent of the action occurring on-screen - the singer, though he does not appear in the video, is guiding the boy, encouraging him to keep running. The music video conforms to Goodwin's points in that the song's lyrics are related to the on-screen imagery, and also that the tone of the song is reflected through the mise en scene of the footage we see, being an orchestral, epic dash to boy's objective.
"Rap" is a relatively new genre of music, and is incredibly popular amongst younger music consumers. Rap artists will usually perform solo, often 'rapping' about an issue or experience that a younger audience will relate to, or even aspire to. In many Rap music videos, we often find a mise-en-scene of material wealth, pool parties, private clubs and sexualized women. It is because of the latter that the target audience of rap artists are often male audiences, though the genre is still popular amongst female audiences-- female rap artists such as Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea are leading the way in this regard, though they still in some part conform to the commonly associated sexualized image of women in the rap genre.
R&B
R&B (Rhythm and Blues) has shifted in its meaning over the course of its existence as a genre of music. In R&B's early stages, the genre was considered to be comprised primarily of African-American artists, who were increasing in popularity alongside the rise of 'Jazz' and 'Rocking' music during the 1940's to 1960's. Today, R&B still carries the association that the genre generally features black artists, such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder.
Rock
Rock is an expansive genre, exploding outwards from roots held in 1940's music culture. Here are some examples of Rock Sub-genres:
A performance on stage by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
*Glam Rock *Gothic Rock *Grunge Rock *Hard Rock *Indie Rock *Heavy Metal *Emo
And many more! Rock is considered to have origins in the 1940's United States "Rock and Roll" music scene, supposedly influenced by "rhythm and blues" and country music. The most commonly used instruments of modern Rock are the electric guitar, electric bass guitar and drums.
Pop
Said to have origins in 1950's America, 'Pop' can be described most simply as 'popular music' - that is, the genre of Pop is highly accessible to audiences ranging from middle-age to the majority of young people. Often in Pop, repetition of a clear chorus is essential in allowing for a vast audience to immediately recognize and absorb the lyrics of the song; it's how the song spreads to its listeners. (A catchy song is a successful song!)
The CD album front cover to Katy Perry's "One of the Boys" album. Released 2008.
Figures such as Michael Jackson and Madonna are considered some of Pop's most renown artists, with flavors of Pop, such as 'Bubblegum Pop', being introduced by artists such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in the 1990's.
Goodwin had identified five key points that are present in music videos:
1. A Relationship between the images shown and music heard.
The music of the song will, in some form, be relevant or deliberately contradictory to the images displayed in the video. For example, you may expect to see images of grungy, dark and seemingly improvised stage surroundings when listening to heavy metal music.
2. The visual content of the video will, in some form, link to the lyrics of the song.
This has the effect of making the video and the lyrics relevant to each other and therefore allows for the amplification of lyrics, or inversely, the video's content. The relationship between the visual and audible content can also strengthen the narrative/message present in the song.
3. Music videos will usually conform to genre characteristics.
One might expect that a rap artist, for example, will often produce music videos that include images that are widely associated with the rap genre- In this case, mostly material wealth and objectified women. In conforming to/abiding by the associated characteristics of their music genre, music video creators can establish their target audience and in turn allow for that same target audience to relate to the music video they are watching, and easily identify its genre.
4. An iconic image will often be present and focused upon.
As an example, the pop boy-band "One Direction" will produce music videos that focus greatly on each of the five members, as they are well known and well liked by the majority of listeners interested in the pop genre. A similar example would also be "The Beatles". In both cases, the two appeal to their target audience through the popularity of their band members- Music videos do well to focus on their respective iconic imagery, as this will define the identity of the music video and assist in gaining attention and a maximum number of viewers.
5. The demands of the record label will include the need for close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs across their work. This is often achieved through a 'visual style'.
6. Intertextual references are often present.
Music videos may include intertextual references sourced from other music videos, or other media such as films. These references allow for the music video to tap into the culturally relevant trends/ideas circulating in a viewer's mind. In including intertextual references in a music video, a kind of synergy occurs when the viewer thinks about the film (as an example) that the music video has referred to. Ultimately, this bolsters the appeal of the music video through relating to the audience and appealing to culturally/socially significant themes present in the respective target audience demographic.
Today, music videos are a means for music producers to better advertise songs, and the artists performing them. The world's current technological advances, in areas such as smartphone technology and web 2.0, allow for many convenient methods in which the consumer may view these videos, thus, in more recent years, music videos have become highly popular.
This effort of convergence is what drives the producer's renown and the spreading of the Artist's/Music's popularity, as videos can be viewed by most the population in modern countries, where the majority of their target audience will be situated.
1890's-"Illustrated songs"
late 1800's 'Magic Lantern'
The precursor to music videos, "Illustrated songs" first emerged in 1894, where artists projected a series of still images to convey narrative/aspects of a song.
"Magic lanterns" produced the still images seen, accompanying the live musical performances heard by the audience.
1920-1960's-"Talkies", "Soundies", "Shorts"
"Talkies" were a form of musical performance comprised of projected images that were used to give meaning/expression to the music being played out of the audience's view. "Talkies" could be considered as the precursor to modern day music video media, as it was one of the first uses of visual media to express, promote and accompany sound media in a kind of synergy.
"Soundies" were a new form of media sensation, deploying the use of recorded video footage of staged and theatrical performances. The majority of these performances were of bands, as these bands dominated the music scene at the time.
The rise of MTV
Launching in 1981, MTV is an American basic cable satellite and television channel based in Los Angeles. MTV's initial purpose was to play music videos lead by well-known television personalities, with the aim of appealing to a younger audience, consisting of mainly adolescences and teenagers. MTV has been credited for tapping into and amplifying various cultural changes in the music industry, shifting regularly to meet the current demand from a dynamic audience demographic.
As of 2013, approximately 86% of american households with at least a single television receive MTV.
Modern media consumption-how has this affected the music industry?
Web 2.0-
Web users, since the introduction of 2.0, have become considerably more 'active' in the way they consume media. Users can now actively comment on and search for what they want to consume, and in some cases, thereby directly affect the producers/creators of the media themselves.
Technology-
Advancing technology has demanded a rapid evolution of the music industry; smartphones and other highly portable and convenient means of media consumption are now centre stage, and have revolutionized many aspects of modern media consumption. Because of this, in recent years CD's and other non-digitised means of music consumption have been in decline.
