Country music originated in the southern US in the 1920s and is characterized by acoustic guitar and vocals. While it maintains some traditional conventions like rural settings, it has modernized over time by incorporating other genres and appealing to wider audiences. Common conventions of music videos include narratives, rural settings, and featuring the artist. As genres blend, conventions are adapting with more urban locations, different editing styles, and varied cinematography. Core conventions remain, such as showcasing the artist, song, costumes, and live or lip-synced performances.

1. CONVENTIONS
OF GENRE.
COUNTRY.

2. HISTORY
Country music is one of the oldest music genres to date. It
originated in the Southern parts of the US in the 1920s and
slowly made its way to all the parts of the world. It is most
popular in the States and because of this it usually wins
Grammys over other music genres we would usually
consider ‘mainstream’. The defining characteristic of country
music is mostly the acoustic guitar, along with the vocals to
accompany it. Although this convention has been twisted
through the years as country music has modernized and
mixed with other genres in order to appeal to a wider range
of audiences.

3. CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC
VIDEO GENRE. (COUNTRY)
• Tend to have some narrative aspect.
• Usually set in rural locations.
• Mise-en-scene tends to be very traditional.
• Artist features in the video.
Pop is now incorporated within the country genre so the usual
raw conventions sometimes vary and differ to suit the artist’s and
audience’s needs. This means the new conventions can include:
• More urban locations.
• Can incorporate more of a performance narrative.
• Faster editing.
• Different uses of cinematography

4. CONVENTIONS OF
FORM.
The conventions of a music video that the audience most commonly recognize
are:
• Costume – a range of costumes throughout the music video gives it more
of an interesting look.
• Performance – live, lip-synced or dance, usually depends on the genre.
• Narrative – can be a story or purely abstract.
• Artist feature – the artist will be seen throughout the video usually,
promoting the artist image through the video.
• Music/song – the artist’s song would be played throughout the music video
to promote the song.
Other things such as a range of cinematography and a range of images are
also conventions that we would use in music videos.
• Rhythmic editing – editing that goes the beat of the song will usually be
used throughout the video.
• A range of cinematography – wide shots, pans, 360 degree shots, high and
low angles, etc.
• A range of editing techniques – fades, overlaps, dissolves, slow motion or
reverse edits may be used instead of just the standard cut.

5. PERFORMANCE.
An artist will perform in their music video conventionally to
promote themselves as an image. Here are some examples of
artist performance within their own music video’s:
• Live performance within Florida Georgia Line’s music video
Cruise.
• Live performance within Rascal Flatts’ music video Sara Beth

6. ARTIST FEATURE.
Typically artists will feature in their own videos. The purpose
of this is so that the artist can create themselves a certain
marketing image and be able to sell themselves as a brand.
• Carrie underwood features in her own music video ‘Blown
Away’.
• Jana Kramer features in her own music video ‘Whiskey’.