Here is a potential structure for your response: 1. Describe the key conventions of music videos such as illustrating/amplifying lyrics, relationship between music and visuals, close ups of artists, developing star iconography. Use two examples such as Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" and Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" to illustrate. 2. Explain the techniques of intertextuality used in music videos such as parody, pastiche and homage. Provide an example of each such as Weird Al's parody of "White and Nerdy" or Joanna Newsom's homage to Van Gogh in "Sapokanikan." Discuss why artists use intertextuality to

1. The purpose music videos

2. Overview of requirements
• Promotional
• Extension of income
• Extension of outlets (music channels, DVD and
CD sales, website, download)
• Synergy
• Producer’s strategies (major label and
independent)

3. A little history
• Modern music videos were originally made
and used as a marketing device intended to
promote the sale of music recordings
• They are often called ‘promos’

4. • In 1940, Walt Disney created Fantasia, an
animated film based around famous piece of
classical music

5. • The earliest music videos
were filmed in the 1950s
• In 1956 Tony Bennett was
filmed walking along The
Serpentine in Hyde Park as
his song ‘Stranger in
Paradise’ played. This was
distributed to TV stations in
the UK and US

6. • The Beatle’s first major motion picture ‘A hard
Day’s Night’ in 1964 arguably set out the basic
visual vocabulary of today’s music videos
• Penny Lane in 1967 used techniques borrowed
from underground and avant garde film to
illustrate the song in an artful manner

7. 1970s
• In the UK the importance of
Top of the Pops to promote a
single created an environment
of innovation and competition
amongst bands and record
labels as the show’s producers
placed strict limits on the
number of videos it would
use…therefore a good video
would increase a song’s sales

8. • Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody also started a
whole new era for using music videos as
promos.

9. 1980s
• 1981 – MTV is launched. The first
video to be aired was Buggles ‘Video
Killed the Radio Star’
• David Bowie scored his first UK
number one in nearly a decade
thanks to his catchy promo for ‘Ashes
to Ashes’
• Artists began to use more
sophisticated effects in their videos
and added a storyline or concept to
the video…

10. • Michael Jackson was the first to create the
idea of a short film – a music video with a
beginning, middle and end.

11. • Top of the Pops was censorious in
it’s approach to video content, so
another way for an artist gain
publicity and get people talking
was to produce a promo that
would be banned or
edited
• Duran Duran’s ‘Girls on Film’
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood ‘Relax’
• The Prodigy ‘Smack my Bitch Up’
and ‘Firestarter’

12. Mid-1980s
• Music videos came to play a
central role in the marketing of
an act or artist.
• Madonna owed a great deal of
her success to the skilful
construction and seductive
appeal of her videos
• Stars used music videos to
represent their star image and
star power

13. Music Videos Today
• Now, music videos have
become commonplace in the
music industry meaning that
every song that makes it into
the charts has a music video
made
• Sometimes the popularity of
the video is enough to propel
the song into the top 10

14. Promotional Tool…
The purpose of a music video is to:
1) Sell the song, and invoke a reaction so that the
audience remember the song
2) To give the audience a better understanding of
the song
3) To entertain and show off the artists talents
4) To sell CDs, DVDs and downloads by creating
memorable visuals
5) Marketing for the purposes of exposure and
expansion of the artist’s profile

15. In a nutshell
• The music video promotes a song which in
turn promotes an album
• The main purpose is to sell an image of an
artist
• The overall purpose is to help to generate
money for the record company

16. Selling an Image
• Artists will set a certain mood in
their video by attaching the song to
certain experiences
• Duran Duran Girls on Film features
sexual and erotic imagery. Kevin
Godley, the video’s director, agrees
that the video was made to
promote the song through
sensationalism in order to get
people talking about it
• The concept of selling artists
through image is carried by the
record companies

17. Promoting an Artist
• Gangnam Style
• First online video to receive 1 billion hits
• Won best video at MTV Europe Music Awards
• Social networking held responsible for making
the video popular on such an incredible scale
• Led to possible collaboration opportunities for
Psy with other artists e.g. Justin Bieber
• Caused the share price of the record company to
increase by 568.8%

18. An interesting quote
“I don’t think there are any record companies
now in the real sense of the word. We’re all in
the fashion business. You used to be able to
see records purely on music and musicianship.
Now it’s packaging, media, television, and
video”
- Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records

19. Extension of income
• Music videos can help to promote a band or
artist long after the single or album has been
released
• Some artists are remembered years later
solely because of a memorable music video

20. Extension of Outlets
• In the past, music videos would be
aired on TV shows such as the
Chart Show and on music video
channels such as MTV
(interestingly not actually a music
channel anymore!)
• Labels work together with MTV to
ensure the playing of their videos,
leading to increased sales of only
certain artists and genres

21. Active Audience
• Now, audiences can actively look for
the music videos that they want to
watch
• Word of mouth is important in the
promotion of the video, especially on
social networking sites
• Controversial videos help to create a
buzz and therefore be viewed more
times.
• This controversy might then be
reported in the wider mainstream
media leading to more exposure for
the artist.

22. M.I.A.
• Born Free video was banned
from YouTube because it
contained images of violence
• ‘Gingers’ are hunted by
soldiers, then beaten and
shot. It was intended to speak
out about the genocide and
immigration issues in the U.S.
and worldwide, and a
response to the subsequent
hysteria from M.I.A.
concluded that “people are
more moved by something
synthetic than something
real.”
• Was nominated for Best
Dance Video at UK Music
Video Awards

23. Why is controversy useful?

24. Synergy
• Where two areas of media work together
• This can relate to a music star releasing a
music video which feature scenes from a
Hollywood movie
• This helps to promote the film but also the
artist as their song will feature in the film and
probably the trailer which a wider number of
people will see

25. • This can also help to cement ideas
about the artist or acts star image.
• Paramore’s Decode was the lead
track from the Twilight New Moon
soundtrack
• This synergy will enable Paramore
to reach a wide audience which is
made up of teenage girls around
the world,
• Cements their image as
alternative, moody and visually
interesting
• Official video gained 77 million
views – the most they have
received for a music video on
YouTube

26. Synergy
• Product placement is also a way for
the record company and artist to
generate income
• Major label artists will certainly have
product placement in their videos.
• Lady Gaga’s Telephone video had
numerous product placements
including diet Coke, Virgin mobile, and
Plenty of Fish dating site
• Britney Spears Hold it Against Me had
$500,000 worth of product
placement!

27. Major Label Strategies
• VEVO have a partnership with Sony Music
Entertainment and Universal Music Group. They
host music videos on YouTube and use adverts at
the start of the each video to produce revenue.
This is good for music companies as it allows
them to regulate the online distribution of their
music videos and make money from it.
• VEVO also have applications on many devices e.g.
i-Pad. This allows many more people to access
the content

28. Impact of YouTube views
• December 2012 record labels were stripped of 2
billion video views
• YouTube wants to combat ‘black hat’ view count-
building techniques. This is when hackers
artificially build up the numbers of views or likes
on a YouTube video- enabling them to make clips
more popular than they really are and increase
exposure on the site
• The number of views are regarded as an
unofficial worldwide popular music chart

29. Independent Artists
• Artists who are signed to small record labels or
who are entirely independent do not have the
budgets that their major label counterparts have.
• The purpose of their videos is solely to increase
interest in their music – there will be no product
placement or many opportunities for synergy.
• MTV embraces major labels and in turn makes
their artists into stars.

30. • For bands that are signed onto very small
independent labels the record company knows
that if a video is made it will not make it onto
mainstream television and therefore not be seen
by very many people.
• This means that a video may result in a bad
return on an investment as not a lot of promotion
will occur. This means that it is slightly rare to get
indie music videos as the record companies do
not want to take the risk, and if they do the video
will have a very low budget.

31. Artists without a label
• Because of the proliferation of hardware and
cheap access to distribution outlets, it is easier
today than ever before to make a music video
and ensure that it reaches an audience
• Bands or artists use social media as a way of
reaching new audiences and creating a buzz
• Velveteen
• Frank Hamilton

32. Distinction
• a fuller and more extensive explanation
• better application of examples, and provision
of argument to support points made
• plus the higher quality expression, will
discriminate between this grade and the
merit.
• Learners will justify points made using
supporting arguments or evidence, develop
ideas critically

33. For example…
• One of the greatest advantages of music videos is
that they enable the performer to be seen on TV
when they are not actually performing. Obviously
you can’t play music on TV without anything
happening on the screen so the video was
developed to give viewers something to watch
whilst listening to the song. This extends the
playability of the track considerably. Sometimes
the video goes a stage further and becomes a cult
item in its own right. It’s more than likely that
Robert Palmer’s song Addicted to Love would be
forgotten by now, were it not for the video.

34. AO2
What are the styles,
conventions and
techniques of music
videos?

35. Aims
• Styles: popular music genres; in-concert and ‘as
live’ footage; animation (stop motion, digital);
interpretative; narrative; impressionist; surrealist;
pastiche; parody; referencing; homage; influence
of commercials
• Conventions: lyric interpretation; extending or
consolidating song’s meaning; allusion; links to
other artists
• Techniques: cutting to beat; effects; miming and
lip sync; playback and lip sync; multi-mage;
camera movements; camera angles; chroma key

36. Andrew Goodwin – In your intro
• A relationship between the lyrics and visuals
(illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)
• A relationship between music and visuals
• Particular genres may have their own video style
and iconography
• A demand from the record company for lots of
close-ups of the main artist
• Artist develops their own star iconography in and
out of their videos
• Reference to voyeurism (screen within screen,
binoculars, cameras…)
• Intertextual references

37. •STYLES
(not Harry)

38. Music genres
• Different music genres tend to have their own
styles in their videos
• They may all share conventions in a general
sense but they find different ways to promote
the artist and appeal to different audiences.

39. Hip Hop
• Locations tend to be a party or club location
• Use of alcohol
• Recognised brands and clothing
• Diisplays of wealth e.g. fast cars, jewelllery, large homes
• Attractive women/sexual dancing
• Daylight rather than night. Where night is used it is
contrasted with bright interior shots
• Male artists represented as having power and women
fawning over them
• Does not tend to follow a storyline but based around a
theme and performance

40. • Male artists tend to perform to camera, interacting
with it as though singing to the audience
• Frequent close ups of artists performing
• Exaggerated dance moves are performed by women to
accentuate the female form and their sexuality, and by
men to accentuate their virility and masculinity
• Studio sets are minimalist, using monochrome colour
schemes
• Low angled shots to emphasise the dominance of male
artists

41. Rock
• Males are usually the subjects, women the objects
• The use of dark colours
• The use of night rather than daylight
• On-stage performances in from of screaming crowds
• Backstage footage
• Gestures of male bonding - 'high-fiving', back slapping...
• The playing of guitars
• Costumes are dark coloured, often baggy, casual clothing
• Close ups of soulful singing into a microphone or to camera
• The justaposition of binaries of light vs dark

42. • The use of tracking/crabbing/panning shots, lots of movement
• Fast paced editing
• Montage shots of industrial/urban landscapes
• Close-up shots of vocalist during emotional moments
• Close-up shots of instrumentalists' hands playing instruments
• Use of heavy shadow
• Heavy use of visual symbolism
• Wide shot of the band together, signifying unity, a tightly knit-
group
• The use of slow-motion
• The use of studio backlighting
• Cross-cutting to a narrative performed by characters other than
members of the band

43. Intertextual References
• Parody
• Pastiche
• Referencing
• Homage

44. PARODY

45. PASTICHE

46. HOMAGE

47. Possible structure
1. Describe and explain the conventions of music
videos with two examples to illustrate your ideas
2. Describe and explain the use of referencing in
music videos with an example for each. Go
further by explaining WHY artists use
intertextuality
3. Describe and explore the stylistic conventions of
two different genres e.g. rock and hip hop, with
an example for each