Music Video introduction

1) What is the purpose of a music video?


Music videos are an unusual form of marketing as they allow the audience full access to the product they are selling. When a music video is shown, the audience is able to hear the song the video is for so they are ‘getting’ the product that is being
promoted.

2) How has the digital age changed the production and distribution of music videos?

Prior to the digital age, allowing the audience full access to the product in the marketing was not too problematic. Videos could be uploaded to video hosting sites like YouTube and viewed using portable media devices such as mobile phones and iTouch devices, allowing audiences to see the video and hear the song whenever and wherever they liked.

3) Which three major record labels are behind VEVO? What is VEVO and why was it created?

Vevo is a video hosting site specifically for music videos, such as Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media.

4) What are the key conventions of a music video?

Movements of the camera and the actors, the narrative behind the music and the storyline.

5) How can narrative be used in music video? Give an example of a music video that uses a narrative.

The storyline can relate to the lyrics of the song and illustrate what is being said or is independent of the song and tell a different story. A good example is Woke Up Late by Drax Project. The main character is the Singer and the lyric can be an actual script of the video.
6) What examples are provided in the factsheet for intertextuality in music videos?

Music video is a genre that provides a lot of intertextuality. Such references may be very obvious, such as how the Blink 182 video for All the Small Things makes references to pop artists like Backstreet Boys (I Want That Way) and Christina Aguilera (Genie in a Bottle) by copying scenes directly.

7) Why do audiences enjoy intertextual references in media products?

People like familiarity, the audience feels the pleasure from recognising the text. It's easier to create meaning that the audience understand. It makes the audience feel as if they relate and connect with the characters and the artist.

8) Read the music video example analysis on page 3 of the factsheet. Select a music video of your own choice and write your own analysis using the following headings:

• Conventions (movement/narrative/artist) - There's a clear narrative of the music video, with the climax and the artist playing that main role. The song is about a woman asking a man if he'll still remember her after their breakup. The narrative of the music video matches with the lyrics and the artists combines the movie with the song.
• Intertextuality - the whole music video is the behind the scenes of making a film. The video starts off on the set and end at the premiere. At some point the music video and the film in making is combining into one thing. The movie set is in the desert and kind of reminds me of Indiana Jones, with the mise-en-scene.
• Representation - the singer is represented as a feminine woman, who falls in love with a man. The movie set looks like a typical western/adventurous set and is has a feel of 60's film. The woman is feminine and is quite vulnerable and meets with the stereotypes of a 60's woman. 
• Audience - the target audience is a young women. The typical love-story of the actors on and off screen is what teenage girls expect from a music video of a song like that. The magic feel to it is what they have in mind when they think about love and romance, and an artist like Taylor Swift has a specific audience that expects exactly that from her music video.
• Institution - the song is a part of an album called 1989 and was one of the biggest hits. Taylor had her own, original style to her music and has a huge, world-wide audience that expects her to deliver that type of music videos, with the pop song. 

9) Watch the video for Ice Cube's It Was A Good Day (1993). How did this video set the conventions for later hip-hop music videos?



We have the usual sets and props like the car that he's driving, or the basketball field. There's also a lot of shots with low lighting, there's a continuous shot of the artist singing with a blue background, dressed up in a very 2000, hip-hop style. At the end there's a police reference, which represents the struggles that the hip-hop community had with police over the years. The setting is his neighbourhood that is one of the key conventions when it comes to the community; the unity of people. 

10) How important do you think music videos are in the marketing and promotion of music artists in 2018? Are music videos essential to a band or artist's success?

I feel like music videos use to define the popularity of the artist and were very essential to the popularity of the song. Now music videos pay an important role, with the song having 2B views on YouTube, but now every artist can create music video.
I still think that music videos are important in music industry and let the artist express themselves in a different way and explain the song,or simply create another art piece.