The document provides an overview of different types of pop music videos and analyzes examples of each type. It discusses the conventions of conceptual, narrative, and performance music videos and analyzes Billie Eilish's "Hostage", Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?", and Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" videos respectively. Key conventions discussed include portrayals of happiness, relationships, dancing, partying, and sexualization of the artist. The target audiences are also identified.

1. Pop music video research
Lauren Johnson

2. Conventions of pop music videos
• Artists are clothed in fashionable, stylish and
mainstream outfits
• Artists are having fun and portrayed as happy and
content with their lives
• The lyrics are normally based around love and
relationships
• Pop music is usually conveyed through the video
dressing and setting
• The videos are stereotypically based on partying or
dancing as that is what this genre of music is
intended for
• Artists present themselves in a sexual and seductive
way to lure in an audience and create a sexual
atmosphere

3. Conceptual music video
Hostage- Billie Eilish
https://youtu.be/skHbZBsS7hM

4. This music video is not a conventional pop music video although the song meets
the criteria to be considered a pop song. Firstly, the artist is not portrayed as happy
and having fun as the video incapsulates a downbeat atmosphere. The video
involves a young man and woman performing a contemporary routine implying that
there is an emotional, romantic connection between them. There are parts of the
video where the walls engulfs the male character reflecting the meaning of the
song; to be so fixated on someone you want to keep them prisoner like a hostage
and never let them escape. The visuals of this video; the idea of the walls
embracing the character and the contemporary routine makes this a non-
conventional pop music video because it doesn’t distinctly tell the typical love story
of a young couple or sexualise the artist or characters in the production which are
common pop conventions of music videos. The artist and other character are
dressed in all-white designer clothes, both with gold chains to accessorise which is
very mainstream, suited to the genre, however the female is dressed similarly to
the man which is very uncommon as the women are usually dressed seductively to
engage an audience. On the other hand, this video is conventional in the sense that
there is a clear use of colourful lighting and the actors are dancing to the music
which is a trend that can be seen in many stereotypical pop videos.
CONVENTIONS
Hostage- Billie Eilish
Conceptual

5. MEDIA LANGUAGE Hostage- Billie Eilish
Conceptual
Eilish's songs have a noticeable meaning usually relating
to mental state whether that is insecurity or fear they all
signify her mental health. The costume choice of all-white
loose-fitting clothing in the 'hostage' video could have
been used to connote hospital patients as white is a
clinical colour and the style/fitting of the clothes is similar
to a patients. The artist may have done this to
symbolise the intensity of her feelings and emotions.
In the 'hostage' video you can see the male character
being captured and engulfed by the walls, he is caught by
the walls stylised arms and unable to escape. This
symbolises the meaning of the song; wanting to capture
the person you love so much so that they can never leave
you. The walls animate this idea by keeping the character
hostage in the same place as Billie Eilish, the narrative
voice, so that they are together and he can't leave.

6. TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for this music video would be primarily 13-25 year
old females in the socio-economic group E.
The psychographic for this product would be mainstreamers because the artist
is a very popular pop musician and the demographic would be white, English-
speaking females aged 13-25

7. Narrative music video
What do you mean- Justin Bieber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK_0jXPuIr0

8. CONVENTIONS
What do you mean?-
Justin Bieber​
Narrative
The first convention used in this video is the use of
colourful lighting to set a more vibrant and, in this case,
sexual atmosphere. Once the atmosphere is set, the two
characters, Justin Bieber and a seductively dressed girl
are seen sat on a bed together briefly before they start
to kiss and take off clothing. The video is instantly
employing the convention of sexualisation of women
here to engage an audience. Sterotypes are also
demonstrated in this music video later when the story
begins to unravel, Justin is seen to be saving the girl
from these men who are looking for her, this shows the
stereotypical idea that women have to be saved by men.
After the narrative takes an unexpected turn when the
'bad guys' turn out to be good, the couple end up at an
underground party with bright colours, more sexual
scenes and groups of people dancing in time to the
song, all of which are pop music video conventions.

9. MEDIA LANGUAGE
What do you mean?-
Justin Bieber​​
Narrative
Throughout the video there are many scenes where the male artist is on control of how
the narrative progresses. This represents the woman
in a stereotypical way as she is shown to be weaker and in need of a male to save
her and she is sexualised which is another very commonly used technique. Also the
meaning of the song and video presents women to be confusing and out of control of
their emotions, another stereotypical and derogatory representation. This is shown
when Justin Bieber and the girl lean to kiss and then she turns away.

10. TARGET AUDIENCE
Demographic- white English-speaking
females aged 9-16
Psychographic- mainstreamers
Socio-economic- group E

11. Performance music video
7 rings – Ariana Grande
https://youtu.be/QYh6mYIJG2Y

12. CONVENTIONS 7 rings- Ariana Grande​
Performance
The 7 rings video is a very stereotypical pop music video as it includes many of
the genres conventions. Firstly, the artist starring in the performance video is
dressed seductively in a short dress and high boots and dancing in a sexual
way, this is an extremely popular technique used in pop culture to entise an
audience in with a sexualised woman. Secondly, the video is shot with a neon
pink lighting throughout the entire video, the use of loud colours and brightly
coloured washes are commonly used in music videos usually to make the
setting seem like it has fun atmosphere and to set a party scene. The idea of
setting the pop music video at a party is a major convention because it
glorifies the artists life making it seem as if they are always enjoying
themselves and happy. Ariana Grande is seen with a lot of money symbols and
friends throughout the video which increases her social status making her
more popular and admirable to some people.

13. INTERTEXTUALITY 7 rings- Ariana Grande​
Performance
There are many intertextual links in Ariana Grande's '7 rings'
music video the first one being a reference to her 2016 hit song
'dangerous woman' which was illustrated by her iconic latex
bunny outfit. There is a brief shot in the '7 rings' video where a
group of silver bunnies pose behind Ariana, this is a clear
intertextual link to the 'dangerous woman' image. The artist
probably produced this link with the intention of making her
audience gain some sort of gratification by being familiar with the
characters/costumes. Ariana ,also, is seen wearing some costume
ears in parts of the video emphasising this theme even more.
Cleverly, the artist makes a second intertextual link to her new
album by displaying the name of one of the album songs, 'Nasa',
on the side of a sports car in graffiti. This makes the audience
think about the song and the album and intrigues them into
buying/listening to the album. Much like the first link, this also
provides the viewers and fans with a sense of gratification.

14. MEDIA LANGUAGE 7 rings- Ariana Grande​
Performance
The artist is representing her wealth throughout this video by
employing the use of money symbols in many of the scenes. These
include; sports cars, diamonds and champagne. Ariana Grande
even includes a scene where she pours champagne into a tower of
glasses allowing them all to smash in front of her as she smiles
showing how she can afford to be so careless with expensive
things. She and her friends are also seen being draped over some
other luxury items in this pink barbie-style mansion setting,
implying that they own everything. The artist has chosen to use
this type of media language for this video because the song is all
about how much money she now has. All of her careless actions
shown in this performance music video result in the audience
gaining the understanding that she is representing and symbolsing
her social status and wealth.

15. TARGET AUDIENCE
Demographic- white English-speaking females
13-25
Psychographic- mainstreamers
Socio-economic- group E