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PITCH : Music Video

  Link to song choice Only in my dreams - The Marias

Includes : moodboard, shotlist, narrative, location list, themes, visual plans, camera movement, inspiration, artist persona 

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Analysing music videos

                 

Subterranean Homesick Blues music video here

Bob Dylan : Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)

-          SUMMARY : Bob Dylan’s music video for 60s song ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ consists of a woman standing in what looks like a city backdrop. As the song progresses, the woman is seen to display the lyrics of the song alongside.

• Considered one of the first music videos incorporated with the lyrics
•  Fulfils Andrew Goodwin’s points for amplifying the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.
• The single one take shot, combined with the mundane mis-en-scene arguably emphasizes the lyrics.

 

Know Me From music video here

Stormzy : Know me from

-          SUMMARY: With only a single cut, the music video is mostly a single cut featuring Stormzy performing and rapping to the camera with the assistance of different pictures and objects that are reflective of the lyrics.

• -          This can possibly be seen as a modern day adaptation of Bob Dylan’s 1960s music video, with more zeitgeist references to current pop culture and media.

o    Intertextuality, a key convention of music videos as proposed by Goodwin, is present in this music video with a scene cut from the British soap opera ‘Eastenders’. Fitting with the target demographic and interests of Stormzy fans, this intertextual reference can make audiences feel more fulfilled when understanding the reference, creating a sense of comedy in the mostly gritty music. It is also culturally reflective of Stormzy who is a British artist.

• -          This video clearly has a well-choreographed performance that makes the song have a more of an impact on audiences who will be astounded by this. Stormzy has had different actors directed to do new actions, sometimes changing costumes and wardrobe.
• -          The mis-en-scene is identifiable as a mundane council estate. Interestingly, despite Stormzy’s large popularity and ability to make a studio music video, he has purposely chose a low-budget music video set in a casual/ordinary place. Possibly because this fits with the generic conventions of grime music inheriting the causality of neighbourhoods in places such as South London which is not high-class. Another possibility could be that it is a display of Stormzy’s humility, wanting to ‘connect with his roots’ and pay tribute to the kind of place he grew up in. The fact that he included his mum in the video, also supports this point.

 

Thank U, Next music video here

Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next

-          Ariana Grande’s social-media-breaking music video is the greatest example of intertextuality The entirety of the video has references to iconic coming-of-age films, cliches and famous, recognisable figures. Early 2000 films such as Bring It On and Mean Girls and 90s classics such as Clueless, all have clear references in the music video. Grande made the great choice of also including recognisable cultural icons such as Kris Jenner and her co-stars from her hit tv show Victorious which would make fans and the target demographic very happy upon seeing their reunion.

o   Postmodernism and Irony are also explored in the music video such as when Ariana is performing the Jingle Bell scene from Mean Girls and Kris Jenner is filming extravagantly on a camcorder. Kris Jenner is a reality tv show icon who has had the most part of her life filmed. By having her be the one who is now filming is not only ironic but also humorous.

Andrew Goodwin, codes and conventions of music videos

 From a theoretical point of view, Andrew Goodwin's theory can help me to produce a video that adheres to the key ideas that are perceived by music videos. In following this framework, I will not only be more educated on the purpose of different aspects of music videos but also consider more creative ideas.

Andrew Goodwin : 7 key ideas to identify 

1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (E.g. Stage performances in metal videos, dance routines for boy/girl groups)

2) There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (Either  illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)

3) There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (Either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)

4) The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)

5) There are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic (sexual) treatment of the female body

6) There is often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)

7) Whether the video is primarily performance-based or concept-based and how an element of each is used in it

INDUSTRY context : Universal Music Group

 Universal Music Group (UMG) is a leading music corporation with a dominating global presence due to it’s offices being in 72 countries.

-          As it is a major record label, it’s main ethos is arguably more focused on money than the actual artist.

-          This also means that it has more sources of income than independent record labels, enabling them to support multiple artists.

-          Being a global conglomerate means that they have access to a global market and global audiences.

Distribution:

-          Digitally: streaming platforms (Spotify, iTunes), preferring one track over full albums

-          Physically : CDs and vinyls with stocklists including GAME and HMV

-          Merchandise

-          Produced ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and produced it’s soundtrack

-          Some of it’s artists feature on games such as Guitar Hero.

Promotion:

-          Found that social media is the best way for promoting artists – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram

UMG is a co-developer of VEVO, alongside Google and Sony- an example of cross media convergence.

            CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE = when media products are promoted across other platforms such as social media. It may be that many different types of media products are produced and distributed.

Ownership : UMG is mostly owned by the French media corporation Vivendi but it is based in the US

 

^How UMG define themselves- found on their website

 

Artists that are signed to Universal Music Group include : Lady Gaga, The Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse and Shawn Mendes.

INDUSTRY research : contemporary context of music videos

   CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT  

Who are the major players in this industry?  

Major record labels are usually owned by Multinational media conglomerates (MNC; these are large and powerful businesses that sell products or services in different countries). The major labels are known as the ‘Big Four’: 

• EMI 

• Sony BMG  

• Universal Music Group 

• Warner Music Group 

Other labels are called independents. Sometimes large conglomerates create subsidiary which are smaller companies that will be considered as ‘independent’.  

 

 

How do companies finance, distribute and exchange their products? 

FINANCE – Companies first starting can get financing from start-up loans, art grants, sponsorships or crowd funding. Once established, record labels would usually make money from artists’ release cycle where they gain profit from sales or marketing (EG merchandise). 

• Artists who are signed to a record label will have their music video financed by them. Major record labels usually invest 20% of the total amount into promotion whilst independent labels may only invest 10%.  

DISTRIBUTION – Music videos can be distributed easily through different social platforms such as YouTube or can be distributed by an official company such as Vevo, Apple music of Tidal. Music in general can be distributed by the record label and a distributor agreeing to a contract which allows the distributor to have rights to the products. However, the music industry has been ehavily impacted with the introduction of downloading and easily accessible platforms which differ from the before-used cassettes, CDs and physical albums. Platforms such as Spotify and iTunes have warped the structure of music distribution and revenue.  

 

How do audiences access these products? 

Audiences can access music videos from many sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. Successful music videos, however, also incorporate other mediums to increase the exposure and engagements audiences have with the music video release. This can take the form of social media (Instagram, Twitter etc) promotion, countdowns to the release, pre-release pictures/teasers etc. Music videos are easily accessible and usually free viewing as well as having features that allow audiences to directly interact with the content: such as likes, comments and sharing.