Andrew Goldman analyzed key features of music videos in his 1992 work "Dancing in the Distraction Factory". He identified 6 main elements that are typically present in music videos including: 1) Visuals that link to the lyrics and tell the song's story, 2) Genre-specific characteristics, 3) Visuals that match the music, 4) Frequent close-ups of the artist to promote their image, 5) References to other media, and 6) Frequent depictions of looking and the "male gaze". When analyzing a music video, there are 5 main aspects to consider: thought beats, narrative and performance, the artist's image, the relationship between visuals and song, and technical production elements like camerawork

1. AndrewGoldman Music Videotheorists
AndrewGoodwin –Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992)
He noticedthere were 6keyfeaturesina musicvideo,these were…
1. The visualslinktothe lyrics – tell the storyof the song
2. Genre characteristics – conformto the genre of music,eg tone of video
3. Visualsmatchthe music– visualsoftenmatchingbeats
4. Star image – Record label needsclose upsof artistsregularly,demandof the label
5. Intertextual references tofilms,television,othermusicvideos
6. Frequentlyreference tonotionof looking(screenswithinscreens,mirrors,stages
etc) and voyeuristictreatmentof the female body.Describedasthe ‘Male Gaze’by
theoristLauraMulvey.
Whenyou analyse amusicvideo,these are the 5 aspectsyoumust consider
1. Thought beats – ‘seeingthe sound’Step1: To lookat the music,we musttake into account
the structure.Step2: The voice of the song. The artist’svoice isextremelyunique and
conforms and can formidentificationtrademarks.Step3:The artist’smode of address.
Songscan be seenasstoriesandthe artist,the storytellermakingthe musicvideoatwo
communicationdevice –themtellingusastory andwe listening
2. Narrative and performance.Songs fail to give usthe complete narrative,we only getagist
of the songsstory.Music videosshouldhave coherentrepeatability,wantingyouraudience
to watch the videooverandoveragain.The artist isacting as both narrator and participant,
helpstoincrease the authenticityhoweverthe lipsyncandothermimedactionsremainsthe
heartof musicvideos.The audience needsto believe thisisreal.
3. Star Image:The star image isanothervital aspectof musicvideo.Metanarrative (whichisa
bigstory that describesthe developmentof the starovertime) hasanimportantpartto play
inthe musicvideoproductionprocess.How isthe star represented?
4. Relationof Visualsto the song: These are three waysinwhichmusicvideosworkto
promote the song.Illustrate:Musicvideoscanuse a setof imagesto illustrate the meaning
of lyricsand genre –thisisthe mostcommon.Amplify:thisissimilartorepeatability.
Meaningsandeffectsare manipulatedandconstantlyshownthroughthe videoand
drummedintoourvision.Disjuncture:Thisiswhere the meaningof the songiscompletely
ignored
5. Technical Aspects: Technical aspectsholdthe musicvideotogetherthroughuse of camera
work, movement,angle,mise-en-scene,editing,soundandspecial effects.Speed,camera
movement,editing,cuttingandpostproduction.Mise-en-scene,the settingof the music
videosisvital,itneedstolookauthentic. Beats,musicvideosuse cutstogo withthe beats.
6.