Andrew Goodwin identified 6 key features of music videos in his book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory". These include: 1) The relationship between lyrics and visuals, 2) Demonstrating genre characteristics, 3) The relationship between music and visuals, 4) Frequent references to notions of looking, 5) Intertextual references, and 6) The male gaze. Goodwin also outlined 5 ways to analyze music videos, including examining the thought beats/structure of the song, the narrative and performance, the star image, the relationship of visuals to the song, and technical aspects like camerawork, editing, and lighting.

1. Andrew Goodwin (1992)
A mediatheoristwhowrote abookcalled Dancinginthe DistractionFactory
In thishe suggeststhere are:
6 key features of a music video:
Relationshipbetweenlyricsand Visuals
Demonstrate genre characteristics- Certainfeatures are expectedoutof avideodependingonthe
genre,forexample agirl bandare expectedtohave dancersandclose upsof singers
Relationshipbetweenmusicand visuals.The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflectsthat of
the music.
The demandsof the record label will include the needfor lots of close ups of the artist and the
artist may developmotifswhichrecur across theirwork (A visual style)
Frequentreference tonotion oflooking (Screenswithinscreens,mirrors,stagesetc) and
particularly voyeuristictreatmentof the female body
Oftenintertextual reference (Tofilms,TV Programmes,othermusicvideos,popularculture etc)
The Male Gaze:
Three parts of the male gaze:
1: Menlookingat women
Men tendto lookat the ‘curvyparts’ of women.Like the ideathatmendon’ttendto lookwomenin
the eyes,butat otherparts of theirbodies.
2: Womenlookingat themselves
Womenare made to lookat themselvesinanegative way,pickingfaultwithpartsof their
appearance whentheysee howwomenlook inthe media;whentheyhave beenairbrushed.It
triggersa lack of self-esteemandmakeswomenaspire tobe like modelsinmagazinesoronTV.
Womenbecome reflective.
3: Womenlookingat women
Womencan lookat anotherina sexual way.Butmainlytheyjudge andcompare themselvestoother
girls.EG: Lookingat what anothergirl iswearingandthencomparingitto your ownclothing.

2. 5 ways to analyse a music video:
1: Thought beats- Seeing the sound
Step 1: To lookat the musicitself.We musttake intoaccountthe structure of the song
Step 2: The voice of the song.The artist’svoice isextremelyunique andcanformidentificationor
trademarksthat workwell withthe starimage
Step 3: Goodwinpointsoutthe artist’smode of address.Songscan be seenas storiesandthe artist
the storyteller,makingthe musicvideoatwocommunicationdevice-themtellingusa storyand us
listening.
2: Narrative and Performance
Songsfail to give usthe complete narrative
We onlytendtoget a gistof the meaning of the songand thentendto make up our ownideaof
whatis beingtold- Annegotiatedview of text
Goodwinexplainsthatmusicvideosshouldignore commonnarrative.Itisimportantintheirrole of
advertising.
Music videosshouldhave coherentrepeatability.Narrativeandperformance workhandinhandto
make it easierforthe audience towatchoverand overwithoutlosinginterest
The artist actingas both narrator and participanthelpstoincrease the authenticityhoweverthe lip
sync andothermimedactionsremainsthe heartof musicvideos.
The audience needtobelieve thisisreal.
3: The star image
The star image isanothervital aspectof musicvideos
Meta narrative (Whichisa big storythat describesthe developmentof the starovertime) hasan
importantpart to playinthe musicvideoproductionprocess
How isthe star represented?
4: Relation of Visuals to the song
there are three waysin whichmusicvideosworktopromote a song;
Illustrate:Music videoscanuse a setof imagesto illustrate the meaningof lyricsandgenre,thisis
the most common.
Amplify:Thisis similartorepeatability.Meaningsandeffectsare manipulatedandconstantlyshown
throughthe videoanddrummedintoourvision.
Disjuncture:This iswhere the meaningof the songiscompletelyignored

3. 5: Technical aspects
These holdthe musicvideotogetherthroughthe use of camerawork,movement,angles,editing,
soundand special effects.The mise-en-sceneandsettingplayakeyrole toattain professionalismto
whetherornot the musicvideolooksreal andbelievable.The editingshouldinvolve makingthe cuts
go intime withthe music(beat/rhythmetc) whichwill make the musicvideomore entertaining.
Lightingandcolourare usedto create atmospheresandtoemphasise keypartsof the songwhich
needtobe dramatised.