What is a Music Video? (changes made)

The purpose of a music video:

Market tool –

Artists may create a music video in order to promote the track itself as the target audience will become aware of the music video, aware of the track and therefore this will encourage others to talk about it. This will lead to more people listening to it, boosting its success and will eventually do better in the charts/sales.

Short narrative/representation of artists –

Artists may want to create a music video in order for their fans/target audience to have a deeper understanding of the artist themselves. This may lead to the target audience liking the artist more and then encouraging the success of the song. It may also make the target audience want to be more like the artist as they have learnt something of them which subconsciously promotes the artist themselves as people are trying to be like them.

Attract target audience –

A music video has many ways in which it can appeal/attract to a target audience according to the genre of music and the artist themselves. For example, if Justin Bieber was to create a pop song, his music video to this track would not appeal to his target audience if he were to promote money, drugs and the derogatory exposure of women within the video, as these are conventions often seen in the genre of hip hop. Instead if he were to have himself perceived to be treating females in a flattering manner and were to have his top off, this would attract his target audience as most of this consists of teenage girls who would therefore see him as desirable. This expands his fan base making it grow and therefore so does his success.

 Buy into artist lifestyle –

This is very similar to using the music video as a market tool; however instead of promoting the track the artist will at some point in the video promote a product or brand. This encourages the target audience to buy into the artist’s lifestyle, leading them to believe that if they were to buy this product/brand they would become more like the artist themselves. However what they are really doing is making the product more successful as they would be selling more.

Audience remember video –

If the artist is to create a music video that is to be remembered by the target audience, this will help the success of the song especially within the long term. For example, after a long period of time had passed according to the initial release of the music video, people would still remember the video and therefore stimulates them to remember the song itself as an association between the two is created.

Build a relationship with the artist –

If there in interaction within the music video, this encourages a relationship built between both artist and audience. This therefore appeals to the target audience as they feel included and important in the artist’s life and will encourage them to continue watching the music video continuously and therefore are listening to the song boosting its success.

Audience understand more about the song –

Lyrics are very ambiguous and therefore can be determined on a personal level according to how you perceive them. However by releasing a music video, the artist allows the audience to have a deeper understanding of their own perception which may encourage them to listen to it more as they have a clearer understanding of what it truly means, and therefore may be able to connect with it more.

The style of music videos:

Concept –

This style of music video often promotes an idea or movement which may or may not go against the ideals of society. It frequently is used to encourage the audience to become open minded to a situation or idea i.e. homosexuality

Narrative –

A music video that has a narrative may be used to allow the audience a deeper understanding of a track as the lyrics and narrative often correlate in order to create this.

Performance –

This consists of the artist simply performing the song with the music video which is used to show the actual artist within the video in order to appeal to the audience.

The codes and conventions within each genre of music:

Dance -

The generic conventions of a music video for a dance track typically consist of a party scene showing lots of people dancing to create the illusion that they are having a good time and that the song is successful in creating this. Other conventions consists of flashing lights, girls and the showing of alcohol to reinforce the party like atmosphere. The party content is a effective convention of the dance genre, as it appeals to the target audience as it indicates that the song itself creates a good time, an ideal atmosphere for a party and therefore continue to listen to it for improve their mood.

RnB - 

Music videos for an RnB track typically are based around love between a couple, consisting of a depiction of a relationship, whether it be happy, sad or showing the stages of breaking up i.e happy, arguing, breaking up and then individuals conveyed as lost/sad afterwards as a result. This appeals to the target audience as it is a subject that they can relate to as it is a universal issue. Love is a topic in which many can relate and therefore portrays the artist as more appealing as the audience can relate, allowing them to build a relationship and maintain an interest. During the video brands/products are promoted in order for the target audience to buy into the artist's lifestyle. For example, there may be a close up of an item of clothing the artist is wearing in order to promote the brand and also provide a short representation of the artist in terms of their fashion style; an aspect that target audience are interested in in order to copy and therefore feel like the artist. Furthermore. RnB artists are known to try and push the boundaries in order to stay relevant and controversial, consequently a topic of conversation and therefore the public are more aware of the artist and therefore more likely to listen to their music. By pushing boundaries, this provides the audience with an unrelatable quality which will provide interest as the audience are unfamiliar with such behaviour.

Girl band -  

The generic conventions for a music video for a girl band consist of all members having a similar identity in order to create the illusion of unity and companionship. Each member of the band will be matching with one another in order to create and image in which the target audience can recognise and associate with the band; giving them a certain quality different from other bands to differ themselves. Typically, there is one main group member that videos typically show more of this person so that the audience have a central member to relate to rather than being unable to relate to any of them as a result of a balanced status. However, the illusion of companionship and equality is still present in order to appear happy, friendly and approachable for the audience to feel as if they were a part of the group.

Hip Hop - 

The generic conventions of hip hop music video are typically based around 3 main topics; money being one of them, often the artist emphasising their lavish lifestyle through the exposure of expensive cars, houses and clothes. This particular convention of hip hop music videos provides the target audience with an representation of the artists' lifestyle in which they find unfamiliar as they can not directly relate to it. In turn, this appeals to the target audience as it allows them to engage in a lifestyle in which they cannot in their day to day lives and therefore are encouraged to maintain an interest within the artist in order to engage with their lifestyle. There are 2 further conventions typical of the genre;alcohol and drugs, in order to create the illusion that the artist is rebellious and care free. This representation of the artist portrays them as having little worries and plenty of time to party as a result of the amount of money they have. Again, this engages the target audience as it is dissimilar to their lives. Furthermore, the exposure of the female body is also commonly evident to suggest to the target audience that as a result of their lavish lifestyle, they attract females and therefore, such aspect typically appeals to males as they aspire to be life the artist themselves.

Evaluation of music videos

Justin Bieber’s music video to his song ‘Beauty and the Beat’ adopts both performance and narrative style of music video; it consists of a pool party in which the artists and dancers are dancing to the song, as well as where their performance takes place. It doesn’t implement a concept style as there isn’t anything promoted for the audience to think about.  As a result of such style, the video creates an upbeat atmosphere rather than a serious and quizative concept, conforming to the pop generic conventions in order to appeal to the target audience as it provides the desired atmosphere. It encourages the target audience to engage in the atmosphere in order to increasingly enjoy the song and therefore associate the song with a good time in order to remember it. It begins with some personal footage of Justin playing several instruments within his free time, including the piano. The purpose of showing this is it acts as a ‘short narrative/ representation of the artist’ as it presents his personal talents rather than a typical good-looking pop sensation and therefore makes him more appealing to his target audience. It allows his target audience to know more about him through the personal footage shown; this therefore ‘builds a relationship with the audience’ as they get to see the ‘real him’. A relationship between audience and artist is also built by the use of hand held camera as it has a much more intimate interaction than simply seeing the artist of screen. This therefore makes the audience feel much more included and important while watching it. This ‘attracts the target audience’ as the use of hand held camera creates the illusion that Justin is almost singing to them individually, again making them feel more important to him personally.

Christina Aguilera’s music video to her song ‘Beautiful’ adopts all 3 styles of a music video; her performance of actually singing the song is consistently referred to throughout; there is a narrative in which ‘characters’ within the music video each have a ‘story’ relevant to the song’s lyrics and meaning; and finally, the video promotes the concept of individuality through the showing of homosexuality and the burning of a magazine, suggestive of ignoring the media’s ideologies of ‘perfection’. This encourages the target audience to ‘remember the music video’ as a result of its concept style; it presents many controversial subjects and therefore makes the audience begin to think and talk about it, subconsciously promoting both the video and song. This may appeal to the target audience as it encourages to think about the content of the music video; to act upon the concept promoted in the music video. For example, if a high end artist such as Christina Aguilera promotes individuality as significant rather to conforming to social ideologies, the target audience are swayed into thinking the same as the artist has major influence due to their high status. Therefore, the concept in the music video appeals to the target audience. It also allows the ‘audience to understand more about the song’ as the lyrics are suggestive of appearance when in fact the video opposes this. It does this through the displaying of each character’s story. For example, the presentation of homosexuality doesn’t suggest that the men who are gay are beautiful in appearance, but does in fact suggest that the relationship they have is beautiful although not entirely socially accepted, creating the film’s concept style in which the audience should think about this. Conventionally, a concept music video typically addresses a topic deemed controversial by society and therefore alluding to such topic encourages the audience to question their on beliefs on the subject. However, pop is not a genre that conventionally adopts a concept styled music video, as it is considered mainstream and therefore made to appeal to a wider audience rather than addressing a serious topic. This video subverts what is expected of it, for it evokes a though process in the audience rather than creating a conventional atmopshere that typically connotes a similar atmopshere that a party does.

Trey Songz’ music video to ‘Heart Attack’ majorly consists of a narrative style as it shows a relationship between a couple, ending in a car crash and therefore the style is very distinct, for the video has no other aspects regarding style in it's content. The viewer is shown a relationship starting well and ending in a car crash, symbolic of the relationship coming to an end as a result of them arguing. This narrative is appealing to it's target audience as the break down as romantic relationships can be related to by a large number of people as it is a common issue that happens to everyone and therefore provides the target audience with quality they may deem similar to the artist and therefore can build a relationship with the artist. The video features many brands and labels and therefore a main reason for the creation of this music video is for it to be a ‘market tool’. These brands consist of Gucci and Louis Vuitton as well as presenting the lavish lifestyle that they artist is perceived to live through the use of expensive cars, big houses etc. Brand exposure is conventional to the RnB genre as this encourages the target audience to ‘buy into artists’ lifestyle’ as they will feel as ‘special’ as the artist themselves through feeling they have a similarity with them. It also provides the audience with an incentive to remain interested in the artist as they are constantly keeping up with brands worn by the artist in order to feel increasingly similar to them. Music videos within the RnB genre are conventionally based on the subject of love, in which this video conforms to. By focusing on the subject of love, this portrays both the artist and video as easier to relate to, as love is a universal topic in which all can relate to and as a result the genre is deemed mainstream. This, in turn, indicates that that the target audience is much wider in terms of appeal. At the end of the video, the audience learn that Trey Songz is on life support because he has had a car crash, shown in the video. The lyrics alone compare love to a heart attack and therefore make the audience think this is the only comparison the artist has focused on. However, the video gives a deeper understanding and different perception as he then furthers the original comparison to associate love with a car crash. The couple are seen to be driving happily at the start of the video, and then become angry with one another and crash. This displays their relationship as stable and then becoming unstable, eventually crashing. This allows the audience to ‘understand more about the song’.