The definition of a music video states that it is a short film combining a song or imagery which is produce for either artistic or promotional purposes. It is believed that modern day music videos are specifically for promoting the sale of music recordings.
It's been said that the origins of music videos date back much further than we know but we have records of them coming to the public eye in the 1980's when MTV based their format around them. Ever since the first music video was directed, they have been evolving till this very day. New technology is being created as the years go on and the music video companies are the first to use it. Videos can be made more realistic therefore it is more entertaining to the audiences.
"Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles is well remembered as the first music video to be aired on MTV at 12.01 am on August 1st. The song has received numerous awards for example being ranked number 40 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80's and being covered by various recording artists. The video was shot in South London during the day in what looks like a destroyed room. The song is about the promotion of technology and the worrying effects it could cause. They had mixed attitudes towards the up and coming inventions for the media arts. The public found the song catchy with the unusual pop elements it contained. The video starts with a young child playing with a large radio when ironically one of the artists appears on the side of the screen as a special effect. This contradicts the song's lyrics as they are singing about the protest and anxiety of up and coming technology yet they are using a pretty advanced piece at that time, in their video. The artists are dressed in what looks like a scientist's outfit, I feel that they are making a joke out of technology by using it in the video but singing about how they do not really want it.
Andrew Goodwin had a theory that "Music videos are not primarily a commodity form, but a promotional one." There are five key features including the star image, narrative and performance, intertextual references, thought beats and technical aspects. When looking at this theory and a historical music video, we could compare "Vogue" by Madonna. It was released as the first single from her album on March 20 1990. It is said that Madonna was inspired by Vogue dancers and choreographers Jose and Luis Xtravaganza from the Harlem House Ball community. Vogue is an up beat dance and pop song which followed the trend in the 90's but also has influences of the 70's disco. The song lyrics are about people enjoying themselves on the dance floor no matter who you are. This relates with the video as all types of people are showed within the shot for example black men and women and white men and women. This backs up the idea of anyone being able to enjoy themselves. Madonna is dressed in various outfits consisting of a very revealing lace body suit, a sophisticated black suit, a white silk robe and at one point completely naked. This is a typical Madonna move as she always wears very scandalous outfits. This video is very mature for Madonna as other than 'Material Girl' a lot of her other videos are very crazy and original.
Laura Mulvey also had a theory called "The Male Gaze". The concept of the word 'gaze' is how an audience views the people that are being presented. There are three way in which people view others. These are how men look at women, how women look at themselves and how women see other women. Mulvey believes that you have to 'view' people from the perspective of a hetrosexual male. The camera tends to linger on the women's curves and regulates women to the status of objects. This can be shown in "Hard Out Here" by Lily Allen. The song was released on 17 November 2013. The video contradicts itself as the main idea for the song is that Lily's musical message is "This is who I am, I'm not changing for you", yet in the video she is seen having liposuction and shows women posing revoltingly. Critics praised Lily's lyrical content and her take on the forever evolving industry, they even named her song 'A feminist anthem through and through.' When the video was released, many critics again praised it but it also sparked minor controversy about the ethics. On YouTube the video has received 31,422,983 views which shows to us that people enjoy these types of videos. Giving that Lily Allen is not really as high up as she used to be with competition from artists like Beyonce, this is a fair amount of hits to have. The backing dancers are dressed very minimal which promotes the idea of sex.
In comparison to Lily Allen, Swedish pop group ABBA released one of their most successful songs "Dancing Queen" in 1976. All of ABBA's music videos are purely based on showing off their singing talents and their friendship as a band. Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are dressed in jumpsuits - something which would be seen as very fashionable in them days, but you rarely ever see a long shot of the artists. This is because the camera focuses on the face and their lips rather than the curves on their body. The women are shown equally as much as the men, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. This disproves Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory as "Dancing Queen" has been dubbed as one of the greatest songs of all time yet does not involve the sexual exposure of women.
Additionally Blumer and Katz had a theory called "The Uses and Gratifications Model." The basic idea is the choices which people make are motivated by the desire to satisfy a range of needs. This is so the audience understand the genre and enjoy it. I feel that the most distinctive genre is Rock due to various reasons. I have found from researching Rock bands music videos, that they tend not to involve a narrative. A lot of the videos consist of the band singing on a stage and mucking around together. There are spotlights and all of the bands equipment as if they are performing a real show. Elements of the video do contain clips of them performing in front of an audience but mainly on their own. This shows that they really are who they are - crazy rockstars! They act the same when performing in front of nobody, for example Jon Bon Jovi jumps on the piano and he will most probably do that in front of an audience as well. The video is in black and white which are colours that we would associate with Rock. All of the band members have the stereotypical hair style which is very ragged. Compared to Bon Jovi's nowadays music videos they are still practically performance based but he is starting to adapt to what the audience want which is a story line. The band members have relatively kept their ragged hairstyles but they are much shorter now. Bon Jovi's music videos are harder to establish which genre they are in the modern times but if you recognise the band you would be aware of the genre straight away.
To conclude, I feel that Andrew Goodwin's theory is true but can only be applied to certain music videos. "That Power" by Justin Bieber ft. Will.I.AM and "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus are both prime examples of a promotional video. They clearly show products that are attempting to be advertised by this artist which I believe does work. If a fan saw their favourite artist advertising 'The Pill' by Dre Beats, then they would definitely look into the product. On the other hand I also believe that artists create their music video for beauty and just to have fun. When I watch a music video like "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and "We Found Love" by Katy Perry I always think to myself how fun it would be to have made that with them. Half of the time I barely notice when the artist is holding something that they are trying to promote as I am too intrigued with everything else that is happening. Laura Mulvey's theory I feel mixed emotions too as I do believe women are portrayed as an object but this may be their own fault. Some women like to portray themselves in a negative way. If the artist did not want to wear a skimpy dress showing off her curves then she doesn't have too. Its their music video, therefore I feel that they are bringing unwanted attention upon themselves.
In my opinion I do feel that music videos have changed quite a lot since the first ever music video but I wouldn't quite say 'drastically'. It depends on the artist who's music video it is for example Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj are all most likely to create a music video which is very abstract where as bands like One Republic and 1975 still make videos purely of them performing like the historical videos. There are many ways to watch music videos whether it be on YouTube or a music channel on the TV, therefore there is a mass audience that the artists need to impress. Every music video needs to up its game to get the best response. Some artists would not suit a historical style music video as their fans would not find it entertaining and this could cause them to loose record sales.
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