Music video factsheet

As part of this unit, we were given a pack which contained some facts regarding the music industry, how music videos originated and specifically how music companies reacted to them. This pack helped aid our understanding of how music videos impacted the media industry and also how they can be structured differently depending on the artist and genre.

Notes from factsheet

• Sells products - album/film/tour/merchandise the song is a part of.
• Prior to the digital age, allowing full access to audiences was problematic.
• Top of the Pops (1964-2006, BBC) - only access to music videos in the U.K.
• Contemporary technology, such as mobile phones, allow for music videos to be viewed anywhere.
• Originally, record companies fought against music videos being free online, but more recently they've appreciated them as good marketing opportunities. E.g. Sony BMG have a YouTube channel - on that channel they can advertise any products the company have created.
• In America, there are 3 major record companies: Sony music entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media.
• Vevo is another hosting channel on YouTube which contains every contemporary mainstream music video, with YouTube and Google receiving a share of the advertising revenue for directing users to the official versions of the music videos, instead of ones uploaded by a third party. 
• Some conventions are seen throughout particular genres, with each having distinctive elements which separate their music from others. 
• Any movement in a music video works in correlation with the rhythm of the song, whether it's from the camera or actors within it, creating a sense of excitement.
• A music video may contain a narrative structure, relating directly to the lyrics or elaborating on some of the themes the song conveys across.
• Most music videos feature the band or artist, because they are also a product to be publicised and sold as a brand.
• The band or artist can be presented as either acting within the narrative or performing to showcase their talent (or occasionally both).
• Music videos can sometimes make references to previous music videos, whether it's through the visual artistic style or any other memorable and iconic traits, broadening their target audience.

Activity 1

Rihanna - We found love:

• Movement - The artist is seen as either sitting down in a melancholy manner, dancing and singing to the camera with flirtation or running around the locations ecstatically. This implies a somewhat bi-polar personality, which also relates to the fragile aspect of relationships, as apparent within the song's lyrics.   
• Narrative - The video tracks the evolving dynamic between a man and woman, who are also the two artists (Rihanna and Calvin Harris), in what appears to be a committed relationship. A majority of the scenes involve the two messing around, partying and being intimate with one another. However, as the video progresses the man becomes reckless and the woman realises he is a bad influence. By the end, she leaves him and regains control over her life.  
• Band/artist: By the two artists being in the video, the audience is able to put a face to the music and better understand their intentions within the music video. Because it conveys the artists in both a negative yet naturalistic light, the audience is able to find their characters as more relatable and therefore have more of an emotional attachment to them.
• Intertexuality: The are no specific references to other media texts in this music video, however by two well established artists uniting together to create a song they are helping to publicise one another in the music industry.

Activity 2

Generic conventions of 3 genres

• Hip hop: Low angle and close up shots, women conveyed as possessions, big crowds dancing, sport-orientated clothing, references to wealth and success, artist conveyed as part of a group, men are the dominant sex, presents an irresponsible lifestyle in a positive light, iconic traits of the artist are reflected in their music videos (e.g. Eminem) and  Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory.
• Metal/rock: Extreme hairstyles, performance-based videos, religious references (heaven/hell), focus on the instruments, dark colours within the settings and dress code to connote depression and death, use of make up, incorporate the theme of horror into the music videos, lead singer can often be the main focus if there's a narrative, set at night time and a majority of metal bands are composed of males.
• Punk: rebellion, layering instruments, gang vocals, themes of anger and romantic rejection, solitary figures, basic backdrops, narratives which closely reflect the lyrics, performance shots, contrasting colour schemes (black with pink etc.) and the use of synergy with mainstream instrument brands.

Target audience

This is a questionnaire we gave out to a wide variety of people of different age groups to make our results more reliable. What we found out from this research was that the expected target audience of the punk rock genre is predominantly males aged 16-25. We also conducted interviews of people within this age bracket to solidify our results and confirm what our questionnaire indicated, in terms of stereotypical audiences of particular genres. As a result, we now know who specifically we're appealing to with our music video, and will use this as a focal point as we consider how to present our artist within these guidelines. For example, some of the people we asked said they like to see a story with the videos they watch , to make them more interesting and give the video a higher replay value. This kind of detail is very helpful to us as we begin to narrow down how we're going to structure our music video.

Initial ideas on our music video

 

The first is a mind map which shows our thought process, in terms of how we decided which genre would best fit the requirements we have, such as a minimal budget meaning we would have to keep our music video very simple. The other is a brainstorm of narrative ideas and how we could link the storyline to our chosen genre, so that audiences will be able to identify our specific genre of music just by the narrative and it's structure. For example, the punk rock genre is stereotypically known for a lot of their songs being about love, and therefore contain story arcs which reflect that relationship dynamic.

Magazine advertisement

This is an advert from the music magazine Mojo, showing Kings of Leon publicising their new album. What stands out is the vibrant colours in the centre, strongly contrasting the black background. The fact that the name of the album is in the centre and uses a different and bigger font from the other pieces of text implies that this is the most important part of the advert and therefore hopefully the section that people remember.

The simplicity of the advert leads us to believe that this artist is already well established in the music industry and therefore doesn't need to go to great lengths to make their new album known to the public.

Music magazine front cover

This picture is the front cover of an issue of Mojo music magazine. What's striking about it is the contrast in colours, with the main picture being in black and white while the writing mostly consists of a vibrant red. Red connotes love, blood and passion, and the fact that this is used in correlation with the picture of the male artist implies that his music covers similar themes.

The name of the magazine is identified by having the largest font, being placed at the top of the page as well as being the only one with a 3D depth to the design. Another piece of text that sticks out is the word 'cash' in the middle of the page, due to it's similar size and sharp contrast to the black in the foreground of the main picture. This fact that it sits just below the artist suggests that this is either his name or is part of some kind of reference directed at him.