Theory essay, potential sources

1. Media Theory
Daniel Morland

2. My Media Question
"What is the impact of music videos on the Music industry?"
The question I'm asking is about a certain genre of music. The genre of
music I want to focus on, is generic 'pop' music. Artists like 21 pilots,
Oliver Tree and Yeek. Music artists use music videos in a few different
ways, and I want to understand the usege and application of music
videos. Understanding the posative and negative impacts of music
videos on music is the core of this question.

3. Potential Sources
Jasleen Munsalud. (2018). The impact of music videos on pop culture. Available: https://www.newuniversity.org/2018/12/13/the-
impact-of-music-videos-on-pop-culture/ . Last accessed 20/02/2021.
Quotes:
1. "in her long-awaited video, she draws inspiration from 4 iconic movies from the 2000's." - takes actors and visuals from the 4
respective movies as an outside representation of them. It takes a narrative direction, by referencing the movies, however it takes
the direction of a performance video, by having the lead singer: Ariana Grande taking up most of the video, with the lead actors
taking a secondary role, so as to reference them. Here I can draw the connection to my question by referencing the impact of the
lead singer on the audience. The perception of being a stand out role model is an important advertising factor for success of
performance music videos. This quote would draw the connection between how the music video is attempting to portray the lead
singer and the audience's perception of the lead singer. In this example, it was clearly successful.
2. "in 24 hours, the video amassed 50 million views" - plainly shows the exposure that mainstream video by major producers
receive. The song "thank you, next" was released on 3/10/2018 with the music video release a few weeks later on the
30/10/2018. The reason for this might have been to continue the hype of the song by releasing the video later. The impact of the
later release on the audience is one of desire and hunger for extra content. Prior to the release of this music video, the primary
audience of Ariana Grande would have been listening to the song. They would be accustomed to the tune, and hopefully they
enjoy the music. This then impacts the audience in a way of hype generation. The audience already listening to (and enjoying) the
music will have a second peak of interest, in the same song. So the impact of timing, is one of audience retention.

4. Potential Sources
Jasleen Munsalud. (2018). The impact of music videos on pop culture. Available: https://www.newuniversity.org/2018/12/13/the-impact-of-music-videos-
on-pop-culture/ . Last accessed 20/02/2021.
Quotes:
1. (see last)
2. (see last)
3. "Each one (AG music videos) contains stunning visual and a positive message of hope and female empowerment"- as a mainstream artist, AG is using
her platform to create an underlying message in her music videos. At face value, it just looks like a generic performance video, however there is an
underlying tone of empowerment and feminism. Music and music videos can have a political impact on the viewing audience. Messaging that the
artists wants to portray (like female rights) can be reflected in their songs and music videos. This would have a political impact on fans of that artist,
who would either agree or disagree with the messaging. Depending on the view, this could go either way. But for AG talking about female
empowerment, this would be a message many artists at the time (and still are) using in their work to build a core following towards blustering female
impact in society.
4. "1981" – MTV creates a platform to show music videos on television to the masses. You could say this is the origin era of music videos. The creation
of MTV's impact on society was unmatchable when viewing it in a past tense. Looking backwards at MTV, we can see the larger societal and political
impact it had on its viewers and the music industry as a whole. It was a baseline to more modern streaming platforms like YouTube.
5. "The ultimate purpose of a music video is to promote the artist and their new song while entertaining the audience" - advertisement/ promotion, not
just a music video. Like I discussed about the release timing surrounding AG's music video "thank you, next," music videos can resurrect audience
interest in a song. This quote would be used alongside the statistic I used earlier, to clearly show the advertisement and hype generation impact that
music video's have across the board.

5. Potential Sources
21 Pilots. (2018). Trench. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3roRV3JHZzYrywUGDSoIeF7J9P4sWIba. Last accessed 20/02/2021. -
The story between albums, and the use of music videos to convey a narrative.
- Initially, the album Blurryface, seemed like a generic and successful album by the artists; 21 pilots about
touching issues. But with the release of their second album Trench, the story completely changed. It shifted
from the album and music videos within Bluryface being about self-containment and depression, and next the
songs and music videos in the album Trench were more about breaking free and transitioning into a lifestyle
outside out your own mind. And its this story that 21 pilots sold so successfully with their album trench. It
completed and sold the story to its following, who soaked up this style of creation like a sponge.
Yeek. (2020). Only in the West. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq0GUZXSvKE. Last accessed
20/02/2021 –
The music video reflects the song and the artist. A slow melancholic song with a slow and melancholic music
video. Here the music video compounded the emotion the song already had. One of laxity and permissiveness.
This example is so easy to draw the connection between the lyrics and visuals it's uncanny. So overall, the
impact of this music video is capitalisation and expansion of emotions.

6. Potential Sources
N/A. (N/A). How Internet Changed the Music Video. Available: https://rotorvideos.com/blog/how-internet-changed-music-video . Last
accessed 20/02/2021.
1. "Music videos replaced the need for bands to travel from city to city" - this suits the on demand culture that our generation
lives in. Instead of traveling to promote their music, an artist/band can release a music video to promote the song. Devoted
fans would encore extra devotion to see and experience what their favourite band has to offer. Music videos have the ability to
be viewed anywhere with internet connection, so the bands portrayed emotions can be reflected onto the watching audience.
This wont have the same amount of impact as a live concert, but it does allow the audience to at least find some connection
between the music they are listening to and who made the music. Especially performance music videos, but the same can be
said for any music video.
2. "(in the 1980s) music videos became a way for an artist to project an image, tell a story, extend their creativity and enhance
their message." - Artists began to explore the usages of music videos and what they could do with them to not only promote
their music, but promote a message/ brand. Again, with the introduction of platforms like MTV, artists and bands had the
ability to mentally impact the audience's view. Be it the perception of the band or what the band is referencing (political or
otherwise). A song by itself will not provide the same experience for the audience.
3. "Now we’ve reached a time when anybody can create and upload a video (to YouTube), viewers are becoming used to a certain
level of ‘YouTube quality’." - with the expansion of free streaming services, the main player being YouTube, it has allowed more
independent producers to create a music video for their songs, lowering the cost of production and therefor the quality of the
videos. This doesn’t however lower the impact they have on the viewer. What it allows, is for a more specific band choice for
music video audiences. They can pick and choose the specific band they enjoy, instead of just having to watch only mainstream
artists, like during the era of MTV. This ability to pick and choose the exact content they want to watch will provide extra
engagement and emotions for the audience as their fully connect with the specific music they love.

7. Potential Sources
Rebecca Zepeda (2018). Changing the Business: Music Videos in Society. Santa Monica: University of the Pacific. 2,8,13. -
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=backstage-pass
Quote 1 page 2 – "However, it is important to note that MTV was catering to a very specific teenage and young adult demographic" -
the group of people MTV catered to a young male audience. However, with the introduction of the internet, this shifted to both
genders. This will be in relation to the fact that streaming platforms like YouTube have the flexibility and cost reduction which allows
for this mass market approach. Being able to target specific types of people, allows for music videos to generate that extra emotional
impact on viewers.
Quote 2 page 13- "Social (media) networks such as Twitter, Instagram (YouTube), and Facebook (and YouTube) have harnessed the
very essence of what MTV created for the music industry" - Social media essentially took the market from the MTV channel. The
internet suited the demographic below the MTV era. Generation Z and below. It broke the monopoly that MTV once had on the
general population, allowing for the market to decide what they specifically want to watch.
Quote 3 page 8 – "MTV ... refused to play the videos because they did not have the qualities that they often looked for in videos –
which often coincided with production value" - which is the opposite to the internet streaming platforms like YouTube: where
independent creators have that judgement. The power of coverage was taken away from the TV channel and handed to the
independent creator. Again, discussing the monopoly that MTV lost is again down to their lack of flexibility. They choose what was on
their platform, and intern what the audience would watch. The display of premium and quality that MTV was trying to display and
portray to their audience was what eventually bit them in the neck, leading to their downfall. At MTV's golden age, this strategy
would have been incredibly effective, as it would have impacted the audience's perception of MTV as a platform which only finds the
best msuic. But ironically, sometimes the best music isn't what people want to hear.

8. Potential Sources
Matheus Siqueira. (N/A). A Brief History Of Music Video. Available: https://matheussiqueira.com/a-brief-history-of-music-video/. Last
accessed 20/02/2021.
Quote 1 – "you could see the performer playing in quick segments of a music!" - This is where the entertainment factor from
performance music videos comes from. From the combination of the short performances by the artist in conjunction with
their music. Visually seeing the artist play their own music will significantly impact the connection and perception for the audience
while observing the similarities between the band and their music.
Bill Rosenblatt. (2019). Music Industry's Revenue Continues To Grow, But Beneath The Surface Are Warning Signs. Available:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billrosenblatt/2019/03/02/the-warning-signs-among-the-music-industrys-revenue-
growth/?sh=246b68df7de3. Last accessed 20/02/2021.
Quote 1 – "Interactive streaming, through services like YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited" - the unlimited
access to music, exposes a larger audience to an artist's music videos. A mass market bands will draw a mass market of audiences.
This expansion of streaming platforms has a larger societal impact as more and more people move online to watch their favourite
bands perform.
Quote 2 – "paid downloads and CDs are continuing their slides into irrelevance" - more people shifting towards online internet
streaming of music; this will correlate with an increase of people watching online streamed music videos. The music industry shifted
from MTV (TV streaming) -> downloading/pirating of music -> to online streaming of music and music and music videos. This shift in
technological advancements developed the audience's perceptions of bands as they could grow their online impact more and more
and the internet developed. To a point where bands are making behind the scenes of the creation of music videos which themselves
carry forward emotional impacts.

9. Potential Sources
Paul Resnikoff. (2016). Music Is Just 4.3% of YouTube Traffic,
ResearchShows. Available:https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/08/16/music-5-percent-
youtube/. Last accessed 20/02/2021.
Quote 1 - "That suggests a greater appetite for music video and broader music-related content" -
streaming platform audiences are not searching for music by itself. They would rather watch a
music video over listening to the music itself. What this tells me is that the combination of audible
and visual entertainments entices an individual more than just audible entertainment. This could
be interpreted in a few ways, but overall, the combination is more entertaining for the average
viewer.
Quote 2 – "the shorter length of music videos also introduces issues of lower engagement" the
shorter the video, the less time the audience will be watching. Therefore, the video will be less
engaging. However, the length of the video is determined by the length of the song. So maybe a
more observational point would be the less reference to key references, like the band, or an
action (like a dance made for the song) will lead to less audience engagement and impact.

10. Potential Sources
Student at Highbury College. (2014). PURPOSES. Available: http://music--
videos.weebly.com/purposes. Last accessed 20/02/2021.
Quote 1 – "Synergy is where two or more forms of media combine to make a promotional
video" - 2 bands collaborating for example will be a promotion for both bands involved.
This is because of the collaborating bands audiences will be intersecting, exposing the
audience to the other band's music. The impact and emotion generation could depend on
what bands are collaborating and how successful the collaboration is. But a rule of thumb,
is that the audiences will merge and hopefully be exposed to each band's music.
Quote 2 – "A different image in an artist can change an awful lot to the success of an artist"
- audience perception of the artist greatly effects the way music is perceived. Miley Cyrus
was referenced in this quote, and she is a perfect example of changing audience
perception. She shifted from a family friendly style to her own aggressive/outgoing style
which shifted her initial younger audience to an older generation. Her music videos also
reflect the change from her younger self to the outgoing personality she had in the 2016
era. Personality of the artists essentially impacts the personalyity of the msuci video and
therefor impacts the perception of the audience viewing. This connection drawn between
artist personality and music video personality is one of significance.

11. Potential Sources
Megan Stepney. (2013). Performance, concept and narrative based music videos. Available:
https://prezi.com/yf20onzgt-_v/performance-concept-and-narrative-based-music-
videos/#:~:text=Another%20example%20of%20a%20concept,of%20You'%20by%20Foo%20Fighters.&text=The
%20narrative%20matches%20the%. Last accessed 20/02/2021.
Quote 1 – "A performance based video shows the artist/band/group performance throughout the song and
sometimes can play throughout the whole video" - a display of the band to the audience watching to remind
the viewer of the artist in question.
Quote 2 – "[concept music videos] tend to be fairly unique or utilize a particular editing or filming technique"
the unique style will attract a niche audience. This audience will be more interested in a music video which has
differing angles and techniques as opposed to performance-based music videos. Directing a music video to a
specific audience of individuals will impact the audiences perception of personalisation and create the
sensation of individualism.
Quote 3 – "A narrative based music video contains mostly footage that attempts to tell a story through the
moving image" - this style of music video takes the audience down a set narrative/story. 21 pilots did this
fantastically with their 2 albums: Blurryface and Trench. These albums had a cross story theme of depression
and mental health. A music video which builds upon the song behind it, adds an extra layer of communication
between artist and audience. The ability to leave hints between the lines for the bands audience to look for will
drive extra an impact of engagement and enthusiasm to solve the 'puzzle' that the band has hidden within the
story generated in the music video.

12. Potential books
David Croteau, William Hoynes, William D. Hoynes (2003). Media/Society: Industries, Images, and
Audiences. N/A: Performing Arts. 63/4, 73.
Quotes:
- 63/4 - "Because advertisers are doing the most important buying, the principle "products" being sold
are the audiences." - over time, the production and distribution costs of music videos have gone down.
What it means essentally is the product changed from the hosting of the video on the platform to the
consumers attention. The producers are paying the distributers for the audienes attention, so the videos
are being advertised. Allowing for less advertisements to be played between videos.
Initially, the sole aim of music videos were just to promote the band, with costs of production and
hosting of their music videos on previous platforms like MTV. But now, music videos have a secondary
target, which is revenue generation. Videos with hundreds of millions of views will have the extra
benefit of revenue generation. This impacts the producer of the music video to keep their product
within family friendly guidelines so as it can generate that extra bit of cash for the band.
- 73 - "MTV was economically viable because it had virtually no programming costs" - incetivising the
creation of music videos benefited 3 stakeholders. The distibuter, producer and consumers all recive
benefits. The consumer benefits from free music video services. The producer benefits from cheap
distribution costs and a mass audience. And last the distributer benefits from the profits and promotion
it receives from hosting the music videos.

13. Potential sources
Calum Corser (2015). Live Performance, Touring and Music in the Digital Age. The University of Salford: The University
of Salford School of Arts and Media. 57, 84, 86. - https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/36897/1/Final%20-
%20Live%20Performance%20and%20Touring%20in%20the%20Digital%20Age.pdf
Quote 1 page 57 - "feel of romanticism towards live performance and nostalgia from musicians retired and current" - a
performance by a band draws the connection between the audience and the band. The connection itself is romantic
and therefore exciting and exhilarating for the audience watching. Live audiences and performance based music
videos are similar in the fact that both display the band as entertainment. The end goal for both performances is to
promote the bands connection to the music and provide an entertaining product.
Quote 2 page 84 – "People growing up now will probably take for granted how technology has developed and how
easy it has made music" - the introduction of the internet expanded the amount of money in the industry. The
accessibility has become so accessible to first world nations, that it feels like a necessity resource. All that the internet
generated, was freedom. Freedom for the artist's choice to make music videos and the audience's choice to watch
said music videos. This freedom allowed for the vast impact on the first world (primarily English-speaking nations) and
was immediately ignored once a generation had been born with it. Because how would you know what it was like
before if you never lived in that period. The expansion of freedom is now a human right, until the point of complete
individualism.
Quote 3 page 86 – "Listeners have the free will to choose what they want to listen to with access to do this being the
easiest it has ever been" - the free will of the audience allows for an expansion of niche genres which in the past
would not have been as successful as they are today. Hip-hop/Rap was an underground genre of music until the
coverage on the internet. MTV having a monopoly never allowed music which would negatively impact the audience's
perception of their brand. And therefor never allowed Hip-Hop and Rap. Ironically, this led to negative perception
because they didn’t allow those types of music videos. Which itself lead to the development of the music industry
towards downloading of music and music videos.

14. Potential books
Siu-Lan Tan (2013). The Psychology of Music in Multimedia. Oxford: OUP Oxford. 9,
10. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Psychology_of_Music_in_Multimedia/89m5EyX5
9ugC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=impact+of+music+videos+on+the+music&printsec=frontcover -
Quote 1, page 9 – "the impact of physical appearance … on musical ability… [forms an]
interrelationship ... perception by the audience" - essentially drawing the connection to
more physical appearance translates to better audience perception of your music. Physical
appearance can be in many forms, but an example would be beauty and pop culture. Artists like
Katy Perry potentially wouldn’t have been as successful, if she didn’t have the looks she has. No
sexism intended.
Quote 2, page 10 – "sound plays an important role at capturing [children's] attention" - while
playing with toys and watching the tv, children would look back at a TV intermittently. And from the
quote you can understand that the role of sound plays an important role at returning their
attention. Music videos capitalise on this fully by literally playing sounds throughout their music
videos. Interesting, dynamic and engaging sounds to say the least.
Quote 3, page 9 – "the experience of music videos is for the purpose of artistic expression" - plainly,
the reason for music videos boils down to the core usage: which is the added visual expressions the
artist can input into the music video. Music artists are limited to audible expressions with their
music. But the music video can use visuals to add depth and meaning on top of the audible music.

15. Potential books
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science. Subcommittee on Basic Research
(2010). Information Technology for the 21st Century. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office.
220,222. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Information_Technology_for_the_21st_Cent/H2XGVkKV
QNUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=music+videos+in+the+21st+century&pg=PA220&printsec=frontcover
Quote 1, page 220 – "the internet lies at the heart of our communications revolution." - the 21st centry has
been built around the development of the internet. Music video popularity would not be on as high as it is,
it wasn’t for the internet growing as fast as it did. We again have to think of the music industry prior to the
expansion of the internet. Because before free streaming platforms, there was the pirating and
downloading of music and music videos. This had a major negative impact on the music industry, because
their work was being stolen by the people who they were trying to generate money off of (the audience).
Once the internet figured out a way to make streaming planforms 'free' while also generating income for
the artists, that it when we can say that the 21st centry impacted the music industry for the better.
Quote 2, page 220 – "[Internet] Systems will require interfaces accessible to both experts and novices or
infrequent users regardless of physical ability, education or culture." - essentially, what this the quote is
explaining; the internet should be designed for anyone regardless of their background. This shows that the
internet is indiscriminate to any person using it.
Quote 3, page 222 – "Companies are using information technology to get closer to their customers and
suppliers" - In turn, having the gap between stakeholders reduced will increase the amount of activity on
the internet. The reduced time is from refining platforms on the internet such as e-commerce, allows the
customer to find the product/service as quickly as possible.

16. Potential books
Ruth Wright (2016). 21st Century Music Education. Canada: Canadian
Music Educators' Association. Music Video Production and new musical
literacies.
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/21st_Century_Music_Education
_Informal_Le/UbwtDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=music+videos+in+the+
21st+century&pg=PT205&printsec=frontcover
Quote 1, page "Music Video Production and new musical literacies" –
"Free video-sharing websites... are cehicles which provides showcases for
numerous amateur music videos created by youth." - continueing from the
point of reducing the time between stakeholders; even youth can create
any quality video and release it online for free on many different video
services. Freedom rarly found in other areas of culture, but this freedom
has allowed anyone from any background to share their productions.