Representation of pop genre

2. One perfect music video that really
helps sum up the evolution of a
genre or more holistically music itself
would be Pretty Girl Rock by Kerry
Hilson.

3. I have chosen 3 music videos within
the pop genre that were created
during the 1980’s. These help to
represent every aspect of the pop
genre that can be seen from the
music videos of that decade.
Mel & Kim –
Respectable.
Cyndi Lauper – Girls
Just Wanna Have Fun.
Bananarama – Love
In The First Degree.

4. I have chosen 3 music videos within
the pop genre that were created after
2000. These help to represent every
aspect of the pop genre that can be
seen from today’s music videos.
Rihanna –
Umberella.
Jedward – Bad
Behavior.
The Saturdays –
Missing You.

5. If you compare Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ to Cyndi
Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, you will
straight away see many obvious differences
between the two music videos. These differences
are what signify the change in representations of
Pop music videos over 3 long decades. One of
these differences would be how dominated
‘Umbrella’ is with flaunting a woman’s sexuality.
Rihanna is seen in many different dresses all with
plunging necks as well as using an umbrella
provocatively throughout the video. This indicated
how the Pop genre has become much more
explicit from 30 years ago, where Cyndi is seen in
a not-so-provocative pink dress and also
pajamas, which reflects the more innocence and
comedy of the videos of that time.

6. Another difference that can be seen between music videos
is the complexity of Rihanna’s video in contrast to Cyndi’s,
and what this means about the message being given. As
seen above, Rihanna’s video features shots such as her
naked and covered in silver paint. Compare this to Cyndi’s
video which has a small storyline within it, clearly showing a
linear narrative from beginning to end. This storyline is
reflected by the main message of the song, which is that
girls just want to have fun, shown by having her dancing
around and partying, est. This shows a clear link between
the content of the video and the message of the song,
however Rihanna’s video is much more pointless in the
sense that hardly anything that is shown in the video is
reflected by the words of the song, except the frequent use
of an umbrella. This ultimately tells you that Pop songs 3
decades ago had a little more meaning in their music video
with the use of a linear narrative, in comparison to videos
nowadays which are a little less meaningful or in connection
with the song, but rather symbolic or metaphorical if any.

7. If you now compare the differences between The
Saturday’s song ‘Missing You’, and Bananarama’s
song ‘Love In The First Degree’, you will see other
differences in the way the Pop genre has changed
not only for artists but also bands. Again we see how
more literal the older Pop videos are between the
connection of the video and the lyrics by having them
in jail due to talking about jail in their song, however
The Saturdays talk about missing somebody, but are
set on a beach, with the amount of shots used being
another difference. One thing I noticed immediately
was how all of the dancers were male and had very
little clothes on in Bananarama’s song, this shows an
ovbious contrast to Pop songs today where females
are much more frequently exposed sexually as are
The Saturdays. This shows how the Pop genre has
changed so that men are hardlyas exposed as they
were.

8. Another interesting point to make would be that if you
look at the photo above of Bananarama’s song that
was also shown on the previous slide, it is very similar
to shots that’s are used in Rihanna’s video in which
she is crouched down to further show her in a sexual
way (shown above). This a clear example of how the
representations of different genders in the pop Genre
have changed. A similarity between both music videos
going back to The Saturdays would be that they both
include choreographed dancing during sequences of
the song where all of the band members stand beside
each other and perform in sync. But going back to how
older Pop videos are more literal than the videos we
have now, Bananarama’s dance sequence would act
act words that were being said in the lyrics were as
The Saturdays dance was more subtle.

9. One final comparison that I feel had to be made was
between Jedward and Mel & Kim by showing the other
main differences between the Pop genre then and now.
One very obvious difference which can be noticed straight
away is how in Jedward’s video, many different shots are
used with many different scenes in the music video.
Compare this to Mel & Kim’s video in which 2 main scenes
are used throughout the video (being in the alleyway and
on the catwalk) and many of the same shots are used
such as a long shot of the girls as they dance in the
alleyway and also as they dance down the catwalk. One
similarity I did notice however are how the two videos both
promote acting badly in some way. Firstly this is seen
obviously by Jedward as they are having a party as their
parents are away, and also Mel & Kim as they explain how
you can like us or not like us were never going to change
for you and are seen ruffling up a police officer in the
alleyway. One final difference I noticed was how in
‘Respectable’, the video is mostly focused on their
performance and less on the storyline which is
contradictory to what I mentioned previously. This
contrasts to Jedward’s video which focuses less on the
performers but on the message of the song, which in
essence promotes acting badly. This could tell you that
Pop music has changed by becoming more influential to
the audience than decades before.