According to 'Tastebud's online blog, the most expensive music video was Michael Jackson's song 'Scream' in 1995. With the overall production costing $7 million (10.5 when taking inflation into account), this video contained a lot of CGI elements, by being set in a space station and therefore required a bigger budget for this complexity.
blog.tastebuds.fm/the-top-10-most-expensive-music-videos-ever-made/
Key conventions: rock, R&B and pop genre
Nickelback's song 'Far Away' is a good example of a music video from the rock genre following the stereotypical conventions. For example, it shows multiple shots of the band playing as a group on stage, as well as visual narrative that reflects the lyrics of the song (in this case the changing dynamic between a man and woman).
Usher's song 'Yeah' demonstrates an R&B song sticking to the conventions of the genre. For example the artist wears excessive and unsubtle jewellery around his neck. This sense of personal style is a typical visual indicator towards the R&B genre by having connotations of wealth as well as rebellious gangster affiliations.
Katy Perry's 'Roar' shows us the conventions of the pop genre being established visually through this video. In contrast to the other two genres, pop usually sees the artist presented in a significantly more sexual light. This is established in this music video with Katy Perry's clothing gradually becoming more revealing and thus conveying her as more sexually appealing than the previous two artists.
Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was the first music used for promotional purposes in 1975 and also the most popular music video of the 1970s, because it was brand new form of media and therefore was not originally used as a mainstream accompaniment to songs. With this music video being one of the first, it's no surprise that it was the most popular of the decade, as it set the bench mark for future videos and created a new dimension to the music industry.
4 years later, Buggle's song 'Video killed the radio star' became the first music video to appear on MTV, which quickly became a TV channel in which all mainstream artists could better publicise their music. The channel still exists to this day but now has numerous focal points other than music, such as reality shows. Despite this, MTV had inspired a new genre of television and since it's debut has created several similar channels, such as Viva and 4music.
Michael Jackson - 'Thriller' was the most watched music video of the 1980s, as a result of the unique horror element that hadn't been seen in the music industry previously. The video also begins with quite a slow pacing, as a result of the long shot times and character dialogue. This gave the narrative more depth and therefore made audiences care more about how the video evolved. Consequently, 'Thriller's video proved that music videos can be very cinematic and appear like short films, with Todorov's theory of narrative being applied here.
Britney Spears – 'Baby One More Time' was the most popular music video of the 1990s, due to her already being a well-established artist prior to the video, attracting her large fan base to the single. On top of that, since the videos release the schoolgirl costume she wears has now become a part of her distinctive look which appeals males to her music videos as a result of the sexual connotations.
Lady Gaga - 'Bad Romance' was the most popular music video in the 2000s. This is because the artist is known for having a wide variety of iconic costumes, both in and out of her videos, which also help to convey a certain tone which is reflected in her music. For example, in this video you can see a tight fitting red costume, and considering red connotes passion and love, the audience can deduce that these themes are covered within the song. This particular video is also known to be quite controversial in the topics that it covers and how they are presented on screen, such as sex slaves and the idea of murder, and it's this controversy that also invites audiences out of curiosity.
PSY - 'Gangam Style' is currently the most watched music video this decade with over 2 billion views on YouTube. This is most likely due to it's originality, specifically the dance choreography which, over course of 2 years, has now become very well known globally. This music video also features a mainstream artist: Snoop Dogg, attracting fans of his music as well as PSY's. On top of that, the ethnicity of the lyrics also publicise the Asian community and their interpretation of the music industry, which is a rarity in the U.K.
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