UNITS 1,16,29

TASK 2A L I S TA I R P E A R L M A N

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF

MUSIC VIDEOS

PROMOTION

Music videos allow new artists a greater reach of media, as music videos are not exclusive to radio, but can also be seen on TV. This means more people who maybe don’t buy albums, or individual songs, get to know the artist through their greatest hits, and become fans because of this, meaning they have a larger chance of buying the music created by that artist. Videos being a visual medium mean that well made videos can propel a decent or good song into stardom. An example of this is Psy’s Gangnam style a Korean pop song that became famous in the west due to its humour and distinct video. It gets the public used to the appearance of an artists, and puts focus on aspects of the artists that need to be shown, this allows studios to give those artists “star power”

http://www.vevo.com/watch/psy/Gangnam-Style/USUV71201410

LABELSometimes the music video will show the label the artists works for. This means that it promotes the label, as people who enjoy the music will search for other musicians under the label, giving them more profit. Admittedly many videos don’t feature the logo literally, but nether the less the same logic applies, if they enjoy the band enough, they may check out other bands under the same label, assuming they would be of similar quality. This means musicians under a label will benefit from the success of other artists music videos, leading to profit for everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwBBaL0_Xw

Example: Trinidad James's “Def Jam”, is a song in witch the label is literally the title. The video features the label heavily and the entirety of the song is about him getting the label, thinly veiled advertisement for an already popular label.

REPRESENTATION• Music Videos can create an idea of the artist that the studio wants to

promote. They represent that artists in a certain way so people who watch the video come to create an image of that artist. Weather or not the image is correct is another thing entirely. Having a certain image for an artist can make them seem better than they actually are, and can lend people to either idolising them. Or making them as relatable and likeable as possible. Leading to more sales as people grow to enjoy their image, and want more of it.

Example: Jammer’s Dagenham Dave, this video was created to show the artist as down to earth and relatable (cant get more relatable than rapping outside a local chicken shop), it has shots of him walking down a local street and in what appears to be his local pub. Most of Jammer’s Videos look armature and lead to an idea of him being a relatable, leading you to be more interested in him than you would be a more professional rapper, most people feel kinship wish him, he feels like he is doing it for him. http://www.vevo.com/watch/jammer/Dagenham-Dave/GBEU71600024

EXAMPLES OF REPRESENTATIONKanye west- Only One

This video show Kanye with his kids, showing how he cares about them. For an artist often accused of being self centred, this was a good move to represent him as a loving father. He likely is but now the entire world knows it.

Slipknot- The devil in I

Slipknot wants to be viewed as satanic and scary , so in their music videos they use horrifying imagery to create an air of fear around themselves. Representing themselves as demon like creatures

STAR POWERA large part of music videos is creating or giving an Identity to musicians. Having their characters be presented through music videos allows listeners to grow attached to them on more than one level, and with that attachment comes better sales as they grow in popularity. Showing the “stars” face is a good way of getting the public used to their appearance, and therefore making them recognizable.

Example: Fallout boy: IrresistibleBuilds up a character for every member of the band and gets listeners attached to the members, making them want to see more.

http://www.vevo.com/watch/fall-out-boy/Irresistible-(Official)/USUV71403009

STAR POWER- CLOSE UPS ON FACE

Isombard- Declan McKenna

Justin Bieber- what do you mean

Kanye west- stronger

Sia- The Greatest

CO-STARRING AND FEATURING Having different members of the same studio or

label collaborate exposes these artists too the other artists fans. This means both groups or individuals profit from these collaborations. Having it as a music video allows for easier accessibility, being able to find it on MTV or YouTube means more people will find it, exposing them to both artists under that label, and creating more buyers for both groups. Pairing a smaller Artist with a bigger one can give the smaller artist more popularity.

Example: Daft punk and Pharrell Williams’s get lucky. A collaboration with two of the giants of Sony music. Fans of Pharrell got exposed to daft punk, and daft punk fans get exposed to Pharrell Williams. This means that both groups end up with more frequent watchers.

http://www.vevo.com/watch/daft-punk/Get-Lucky-(Official-Audio)/USQX91300884

COLLABORATIONS AND FEATURING EXAMPLES

Destiny's child ft. little Wayne- Soldier

Mark Ronson ft Bruno mars- Uptown funk

Tedashi ft Tripp lee and Lecrae- Nothing I cant do

Borgeous & Rvssian & M.R.I ft. Sean Paul- Ride it

MALE GAZE THEORY

Its no secret, sex sells. Therefore the same applies to music videos. Male Gaze theory states that the visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view, presenting women as objects of male pleasure. This means that having a conventionally attractive woman in your music video will greatly boost the amount of popularity it has. This does not just affect men, but woman will treat these stars as idols, fans will want to look like them, meaning these stars can sell clothes lines, makeup and other beauty products to capitalize on their success.

Example: In Nicki Minaj’s “anaconda”, the sexualized lyrics and strong sexual images consist of exclusively females. While some would argue that its her music and video, and therefore not the result of male gaze, she definitely understands that more straight men are likely to watch the video solely due to the sex appeal she brings. http://www.vevo.com/watch/nicki-minaj/Anaconda/USCMV1400044

MALE GAZE THEORY EXAMPLES

Nicki minaj- Anaconda Fifth Harmony- All in my head

Ariana Grande- Side to side Beyoncé- yoncé

SYNERGY Synergy is the stretching of a brand over several forms of media. Sometimes a brand will commission musicians to create music for them. This artist will often create a video, and feature that brand in it as part of the video. This means fans of the brand will be attracted to the video, and therefore may watch other videos by the artistAn example of this happening is Sam smith’s “writing on the wall”. This song was written for Spectre, the latest instalment in the James bond franchise. The video makes use of this brand, featuring images of Daniel Craig's bond and the villain of the movie. Even Smith dresses up in a tux (classic bond style) and uses very bond like imagery, such as the line of coffins featuring British flags shown to the right. http://www.vevo.com/watch/sam-smith/Writings-On-The-Wall-(from-Spectre)/GBUV71500792

SYNERGY Another example of synergy is shown in Eminem’s “lose yourself”. The song was made for 8 Mile, a movie about an aspiring rapper, featuring Eminem as the main character. The song was made for the movie, but the movie was made with the artist in mind, meaning Eminem’s brand is shown through the video. The Video features shots of the movie, and while the song advertises the movie and fans of Eminem will go to see it due to this song, the movie also advertises the song for casual moviegoers who went to see it. They might hear the song in the movie and choose to go out and watch it, creating further sales for the track

Link to Eminem’s “lose yourself”

EXAMPLES OF SYNERGY

The Beatles: Help movie, Is essentuly one giant paid for music video, a call back to the music serials of the 1920’s

Pink Floyd: the wall movie was the entire album visualised, most consider this to be a collection of music videos