Andrew Goodwin, Sven E Carlsson, Richard Dyer

1. Music
Theories

2. Andrew Goodwin
“Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially
advertisements. As consumers, we make up our own meaning of a song
in our minds: a music video can anchor meaning and givers the record
company/artist a method of anchoring meaning”
Andrew Goodwin’s theory consist of six key features which are present
within music videos –
I. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
II. A relationship between the music and the visuals though beats, which illustrate, amplify or
contradict the music.
III. Narrative and Performance in relation to the genre’s style and iconography.
IV. The creation of a star image to promote a recognisable brand image, though the use of multiple
close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
V. Technical aspects such as camera movements and mise-en-scene engages the target
audience.
VI. Relation of visuals to song. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.

3. Lyrics and Visuals – A music video's visuals in contrast to the
lyrics either display similar or direct visuals which relate to
or contradict the meaning of the song. In Katy Perry’s ‘Last
Friday Night’ the lyrics of the song state “Last Friday night,
Yeah we danced on tabletops” these lyrics are paired with
a scene of party go-ers dancing in the background whist
Katy dances on a table with a red cup in her hand.
Music and Visuals – Music
video’s can be edited to fit the
pace of the music, lyrics or
visuals . Visuals are usually
repeated within a chorus to
emphasise the repetition of the
lyrics and beats.
Examples :
Narrative and Performance – The artists/performers
that are present within the music video act as the
narrator/narrators of the song. Though their lip
syncing, choreography and other actions they
portray the meaning of the song or video as a story
and therefore must make it authentic and
believable. For example In “Rolling in the Deep”
Adele portrays the pain she felt from a broken
though her sombre paired with
Technical Aspects – Camera
movement is strategically used to
capture a songs emotions or to
portray the artist in a certain way, for
example lose ups of body parts such
as lips or back are often used to
sexualize the artist.
Intertextual references – Video’s
often contain intertextual media
references, often due to its familiarity
as well as to engage with its target
audience.
Star Image – The portrayal of an artist though
their music, video visuals and overall
presentation of themselves can increase the
audience's awareness of the artist. Artist such as
Lady Gaga and Katy Perry have built their star
Image though their interesting choice of
outrageous outfits. Nowadays star image is
greatly important for artist as it is a means of
securing fans and media attention.

4. Sven E Carlsson
“One of the most common methods of analysis is to break up the music
video into black and white boxes. Almost everything is then perceived
as opposites – trash or art, commerce or creativity, male or female,
naturalism or antirealism, etc”
Sven E Carlsson proposes that binary oppositions drive the narration of
music videos. Carlsson believes that music videos fall into two categories:
Performance –
A performance clip displays the
artist/performer(s)in various
locations. This type of music
production focuses on portraying
an artist/group within a staged
performance or setting. There are
three types of performances:
song, dance and instrumental.
Carlsson theory also highlights
that the performer is displayed as
a ‘commercial exhibitionist’ and
materialisation of what fans
aspire to be.
Conceptual -
A conceptual clip contains visuals
which stem from a single idea or
whole concept. The audience are
presented with images beyond
the artists means. These videos
often contain exaggerated
settings and focuses more on
scenery than artist performance.

5. Richard Dyer
“A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other
aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising,
magazines etc. as well as films [music]).”
Richard Dyer’s theory is split into three sections –
Stars such as Rihanna and
Ke$ha are constructed for
commercial purposes. They
are imaged to gain media
attention and fans which
ultimately results in the artist
and music company making
millions. As the artist brand
identity increase so does the
overall benefits they obtain
from being on this media
platform.
Dyer believes that all stars
are built with the intention of
attracting an audience rather
than staying ‘true’ to their
selves. Artist often create a
specific thing such as
different hair colours and
crazy costumes so that they
can set themselves apart
form others in the industry.
Hegemony refers to how
audiences relate to a star
because they admire them or
believe they have something
in common. This admiration
turns into an idolization and
in some cases influences the
fans to replicate the star in
their behaviour or
appearance which can have
negative consequences. This
audience interest ultimately
increases their star quality.
Audiences
and
Institutions
Constitutions Hegemony