MARSHMELLO
“ALONE” ANALYSIS
Alone is a song produced and written by American DJ and record producer ,
Marshmello. It is his major hits which was released on May 13th 2016. Upon
its release, it has managed to achieve over 300 million views on YouTube
and was charted on the US and Canadian top 100 billboard. The genre of
this song is just over 3 minutes long so it foes with the convention of other
songs which are in the same genre as most of the songs are between the 3-
4 minutes band. The genre of this song is electronic/dance music.
This song specifically links to the EDM category as it has a “clubbing” theme to it
due most of the song has no narration but the video its self tells the story of
the main character looking for something. The DJ, Marshmello is commonly
seen in this music video as he is the one who creates the storyline of this
song. This music video, I believe is a hybrid and falls under the category of a
concept and narrative because the artist is mainly involved as he is the one
who is telling the story.
Marshmello- ALONE
This video takes starts of in a high school which is where the story of the songs starts. In the beginning of the video, the location
is introduced by the use of a long shot showing the artist has just started the first day of this new school. This segment
challenges the codes and conventions of a dance/ electronic song as this genre is mostly associated with clubbing and partying.
On the other hand, the beat of this music video is fast paced and this goes with the codes and conventions of this type of music.
Due to the fact that there are a lot of characters in this music video, this grabs the audiences attention making them more
interested and engaged wanting to know why is it set in this location and what is the hidden story of the song. This will make the
audience watch the entire music video to see the ending so they can analyse and understand the entire story which had been
presented to them.
However, towards the ending of the music video, it is completely different. The camera shot here shows the audience that
the classmate of the artist are now with him and partying at his house. This goes strongly with the codes and conventions of
this genre as EDM music is based on partying and clubbing. As we can also hear in this part, the beat gets faster and faster
which connotes more excitement. The lyric “trying to find my way back to you is played” this shows the DJ is pulling out his
record deck. This goes with the codes and convention as that is what DJ’s use at parties.
Marshmello’s song “Alone” fits in the electronic dance
genre which mainly is a narrative/ concept based music
video. The story for the music video “Alone” stereotypes
the convention by having a story line throughout the
entire music video. A clear story is being created as the
main character who is also the artist, who starts of in a
brand new school and he isn't liked as he is the odd one
out in the class. This music video is very energetic and
would get the audience pumped due to the fast beat of
the video. This made the visuals more interesting and
made the video look very good. This music video also
links to Andrew Goodwin’s theory which is having a
relationship between the visuals and the music. In
addition, this music video tries to focus on the main
character as well as the surroundings. When the music
video is fast paced, it makes the audience feel more
energetic and pumped as they want to feel as if they’re in
a party or a club. Overall, although this is a EDM music
video, comparing to similar genre based songs, this one
Styles
Codes and
Conventions
This video shows the stereotypical codes and
conventions of what they audience expects too see
from this genre. When looking at this video, there
were different locations displayed, for example the
school and the actors house. The house stood out
the most as this genre is mainly linked with partying
and clubbing. This is also supported based on the
fact it being a narrative rather than a performance
which is like most other EDM music videos. In the
music video, there is only one main character which
shows that this is is an EDM music video. This
relates to modern youth as they are the ones who
are seen a reckless and wild. The stereotype of
females being objectified is not available in this
music video as this means that it goes against the
stereotype of this genre. However there are some
parts of the video which go with the conventions
such as the house part. The actor who is in the
music video is also a DJ.

Marshmello (1)

  • 1.
  • 2.
    Alone is asong produced and written by American DJ and record producer , Marshmello. It is his major hits which was released on May 13th 2016. Upon its release, it has managed to achieve over 300 million views on YouTube and was charted on the US and Canadian top 100 billboard. The genre of this song is just over 3 minutes long so it foes with the convention of other songs which are in the same genre as most of the songs are between the 3- 4 minutes band. The genre of this song is electronic/dance music. This song specifically links to the EDM category as it has a “clubbing” theme to it due most of the song has no narration but the video its self tells the story of the main character looking for something. The DJ, Marshmello is commonly seen in this music video as he is the one who creates the storyline of this song. This music video, I believe is a hybrid and falls under the category of a concept and narrative because the artist is mainly involved as he is the one who is telling the story. Marshmello- ALONE
  • 3.
    This video takesstarts of in a high school which is where the story of the songs starts. In the beginning of the video, the location is introduced by the use of a long shot showing the artist has just started the first day of this new school. This segment challenges the codes and conventions of a dance/ electronic song as this genre is mostly associated with clubbing and partying. On the other hand, the beat of this music video is fast paced and this goes with the codes and conventions of this type of music. Due to the fact that there are a lot of characters in this music video, this grabs the audiences attention making them more interested and engaged wanting to know why is it set in this location and what is the hidden story of the song. This will make the audience watch the entire music video to see the ending so they can analyse and understand the entire story which had been presented to them. However, towards the ending of the music video, it is completely different. The camera shot here shows the audience that the classmate of the artist are now with him and partying at his house. This goes strongly with the codes and conventions of this genre as EDM music is based on partying and clubbing. As we can also hear in this part, the beat gets faster and faster which connotes more excitement. The lyric “trying to find my way back to you is played” this shows the DJ is pulling out his record deck. This goes with the codes and convention as that is what DJ’s use at parties.
  • 4.
    Marshmello’s song “Alone”fits in the electronic dance genre which mainly is a narrative/ concept based music video. The story for the music video “Alone” stereotypes the convention by having a story line throughout the entire music video. A clear story is being created as the main character who is also the artist, who starts of in a brand new school and he isn't liked as he is the odd one out in the class. This music video is very energetic and would get the audience pumped due to the fast beat of the video. This made the visuals more interesting and made the video look very good. This music video also links to Andrew Goodwin’s theory which is having a relationship between the visuals and the music. In addition, this music video tries to focus on the main character as well as the surroundings. When the music video is fast paced, it makes the audience feel more energetic and pumped as they want to feel as if they’re in a party or a club. Overall, although this is a EDM music video, comparing to similar genre based songs, this one Styles
  • 5.
    Codes and Conventions This videoshows the stereotypical codes and conventions of what they audience expects too see from this genre. When looking at this video, there were different locations displayed, for example the school and the actors house. The house stood out the most as this genre is mainly linked with partying and clubbing. This is also supported based on the fact it being a narrative rather than a performance which is like most other EDM music videos. In the music video, there is only one main character which shows that this is is an EDM music video. This relates to modern youth as they are the ones who are seen a reckless and wild. The stereotype of females being objectified is not available in this music video as this means that it goes against the stereotype of this genre. However there are some parts of the video which go with the conventions such as the house part. The actor who is in the music video is also a DJ.