Andrew Goodwin's Theory explained using Music Video examples!

1. Andrew Goodwin and his
Theory

2. Theory on Genre
• Andrew Goodwin says that music videos will feature certain genre
characteristics in terms of style and iconography.
• This will be extremely important in setting up expectations for the
audience and communicating the meaning of a song. An example
would be Migos – Versace. He uses the common conventions of Rap
in his video featuring money, women and jewellery.
• Not only that but in the video of becoming something from nothing is
expressed through his materialistic goods.

3. The Beat, Music and Sound
• The structure, speed and beat of the song will be visually represented
mainly through chorus and verse footage. Thus a song with a fast
tempo will have a series of fast cuts between the shots. Uber
Everywhere uses thought beats in the quicker chorus and verses to
stimulate the audience for a more exciting video.

4. The Artist
• Music videos must also represent the artists “voice”, style and brand
identification that is obvious to the audience.
• This an important step as it can form trademarks, which can work well
with the star image.
• Roland Barthes theory of the Grain of Voice can be related to this. He
sees the singing voice as an expressive instrument and therefore able
to make associations of its own.

5. Narrative and Performance Videos
• Music videos act as advertisements for the artist but can also tell a
story for the song also. Narrative and performance should be able to
coincide with each other; this means the are able to keep the
audience watching without them losing interest. This therefore
encourages repeatability.
• When an artist acts as both the narrator and a participant of a story,
whilst helping create authenticity. Although the lip-sync aspects
remain the bulk of the video.

6. Relation of Visuals to a Song
• Disjuncture – The meaning of the song is completely ignored; the
images shown in the video have no relation to the lyrics: Fall Out Boy
“Sugar, We Are Going Down”.
• Amplify – The meaning of the song is exaggerated through the use of
visuals: Rae Sremmurd ”Drinks On Us”.
• Illustrate – The meaning of the song is made clear though the video. It
clearly illustrates the lyrics or a story within the song; sets of images
are used to illustrate the lyrics: Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever
Getting Back Together”.

7. Star Image
• Music videos are generally used to promote the artist. Produced by
record companies allows an increase of sales for the artist and their
profile, thus promoting the artist/ band.
• This is achieved through making the artist the metaphorical star of
the video by giving them the most screen time. Specific camera shots
are used to emphasize the star though “money shots”.

8. Voyeurism
• This idea is present in many music videos more in the representation
of females, but can also be present in terms of systems of “looking”:
• Screens within screens; eyes; mirrors; sunglasses; cameras and close-
ups.

9. Technical Codes
• Media language for example camera angles, movement, lighting,
editing and visual effects put in at post production all work together
to create meaning for a music video.
• The atmosphere, the tone and the mood are reflected in videos with
the use of colour, cut speed of editing and the transitions used.
• The setting is often used to communicate meaning and is important
towards the authenticity of the video.
• Editing creates a sense of flow for the lyrics and the beat. Cutting to
the beat allows this to happen without it looking out of place.

10. Intertextuality
• In music videos there will usually be intertextual references; either to
other music videos or films and TV shows. These can provide further
pleasure for the audience as they can recognize the references.